Is there such a thing as an Oscar 'curse'? These stars won big and then goofed up

Winning an Oscar is not always synonymous with success. There are many actors and actresses who saw their careers take a nosedive after winning the Academy Award. Or, at least, they didn't shine as brightly as they thought they would.

This is the case of Halle Berry who, after winning the Oscar for Best Actress in 2002 for 'Monster's Ball', began to lose some of her fame in Hollywood.

The actress made Oscar history by becoming the first black woman to win the award in the Best Actress category. After that, however, things changed. She got Razzie awards for Worst Actress - for example in 2004 for 'Catwoman' - as well as bad reviews and box office flops.

A good example of a big fat flop was 'Gothika' alongside Penélope Cruz and Robert Downey Jr.

Another big name who saw his career plummet after winning an Oscar is Adrien Brody. His award for 'The Pianist' in 2003 was well deserved, but after winning it he seemed to disappear from Hollywood.

Some might think it was a hidden hand that prevented Adrien Brody from achieving more success after 'The Pianist'. He never managed, to date, to get a role on a par with his Wladyslaw Szpilman (the main character in Roman Polanski's film).

Other disappointing movies were 'King Kong' (Peter Jackson's 2005 version) and 'A Matador's Mistress' (a film that was never released). In 2022, however, he appeared in one episode of the HBO series 'Succession' and immediately scored an Emmy nomination with it. So he's still got it, after all.

'Dreamgirls' won Jennifer Hudson an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2007, and everything suggested that she was one of Hollywood's up-and-coming young stars. But nothing could have been further from the truth. After the film, only a few projects ended up in her hands and many of them were failures.

A clear example of how things don't necessarily go well after winning an Oscar is Jennifer Hudson's time in the film version of 'Cats.' There, let's be honest, no one was spared.

Another example is the 2020 film 'Respect', where Hudson gave life to Aretha Franklin and even got criticism from one of the late singer's sons, Kecalf Cunningham. It was not directly aimed at her acting, but he claimed that Aretha Franklin's family had never been asked permission to make the film.

Here is an actor who went from winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1997 ('Jerry Maguire') to starring in films such as 'Boat Trip' and 'Snow Dogs'. Luck has not been on Cuba Gooding Jr.'s side after winning the Academy Award.

In addition to his fall into professional oblivion, he's entered a personal hell. After leading a life full of excesses, the actor was accused by 30 women of sexual assault in August 2020. Their claims referred to abuses committed over the course of more than a decade.

For many, Gwyneth Paltrow's inclusion on this list will be debatable. After her Best Actress Oscar in 1999 for 'Shakespeare in Love', she has continued to work with some success. That is, if we focus on the box office.

Some might have thought that her career, after winning the Oscar, would be a smooth road to success. That's not what happened. Failures included 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.'

Successes on the small screen include her Emmy for 'Glee' in 2011, however. And moneywise, she did well in roles like Pepper Potts in 'Iron Man.' So, all in all, do we consider her a victim of the Oscar curse? It depends on how you look at it.

Ben Affleck has two Oscars to his name, but neither of them are for his acting skills. The first came in 1998 for the screenplay of 'Good Will Hunting' and the second in 2013 for 'Argo' as Best Picture. While he is not an obvious 'Oscar victim,' he does have a history of comings and goings in Hollywood.

Ben Affleck either gets all the bad reviews for his acting in films like 'Armageddon', 'Pearl Harbor' and 'Gigli,' or he impresses critics and public with films like 'Gone Baby Gone' or 'Gone Girl.' And then there's his time in the 'Batman' saga where, surely, he earned a lot of money, but his acting wasn't always a subject of praise.

Here's a clear example that an Oscar doesn't have to be a stepping stone to Hollywood glory. Mo'Nique won Best Supporting Actress in 2010 for 'Precious' but, after her win, she was rarely seen in a major project.

Mo'Nique has claimed in several interviews that her departure from these big projects was "intentional." In other cases, she was certain that there were people who had "vetoed" her name in Hollywood.

Either way, she ended up with a career full of discreet titles such as the TV Movie 'Bessie' (HBO, image), the Christmas movie 'Almost Christmas' and a collaboration in the TV film 'Donald Glover Presents'.

In 1984, the American actor F. Murray Abraham won the Oscar for Best Actor with his wonderful role as Antonio Salieri in 'Amadeus'. However, after winning the golden statuette, he did not have a lot of success. Most of his visibility has come from television roles.

On more than one occasion, he was described as a "difficult actor to deal with." The actor signed some interesting roles (such as the inquisitor Bernando Gui in 'The Name of the Rose') but he had to move to television to continue his acting career.

Some of the series he played in were 'Saving Grace', 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', 'The Good Wife' and 'Homeland'. They are all great places to be, but they have less Hollywood brilliance than was expected of him.

To remember the Oscar won by Tatum O'Neal, we have to go back to 1973. There we see how this young girl, 10 years old, won the award for Best Supporting Actress with her role in 'Paper Moon'. Although she was destined to be the new Hollywood sensation, very little came of it after the Oscar.

After winning the award, Tatum O'Neal fell off the map. After several small and unsuccessful roles, the actress ended up making a few appearances in TV series such as 'Sex and the City' and 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'. She also participated in talent TV shows such as 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2016.

After years and years of hard work, with roles like the unforgettable 'Roots' and 'Travels with My Aunt,' Louis Gossett Jr. won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1982 for his performance in the film 'An Officer and a Gentleman'. Once the night of glory was over, though, everything began to decline for the actor.

Critics and audiences gave him the cold shoulder and even nominated him for a Razzie Award for 'Jaws 3-D'. Eventually, though, he made the switch (again) to television. Things went better for him there and he even got an Emmy nomination for the series 'Watchmen' in 2019.

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