From Nicolas Cage To Salma Hayek, Here's The 2003 Best Actor & Actress Nominees And Winners And What They've Been Up To Since

Let's take a stroll down the Academy Awards memory lane.

It's been 20 years since the 2003 Academy Awards. Chicago took home a slew of awards including Best Pictures and the ceremony was hosted by Steve Martin.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

So, let's check out the winners and nominees for Best Actor and Actress in a Leading Role and what they've been up to in the two decades since.

Nominee: Salma Hayek – Frida

Miramax Films

Salma both produced and starred in this biopic about Frida Kahlo and her extraordinary life. Her portrayal of Frida also earned her a nomination for Best Actress. While she didn't win the award, the film itself won two Academy Awards for Best Makeup and Best Original Score. 

Watch the trailer for Frida here:

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What's Salma been doing?

Warner Bros. Pictures

Salma has been keeping busy since Frida, that's for sure, and has starred in a wide variety of movies than span various genres. She's voiced Kitty Softpaws in the Puss In Boots movies, given more powerful performances in films such as Beatriz at Dinner, and can soon be seen dancing with Channing Tatum in the new Magic Mike movie. 

Watch the trailer here:

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Nominee: Nicolas Cage – Adaptation

Sony Pictures Releasing

Nicholas got his second Academy Award nomination (after his win in 1996) for his performance as the screenwriter riddled with self-loathing and struggling with writer's block. 

Here's the trailer for Adaptation.

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So, what's Nicolas been up to?

Lionsgate

Well, 20 years on, he looked pretty sharp in his most recent movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. And ~sharp~ will be the theme of his next project when he will play Dracula in Renfield. In the 20 years since Adaptation, Nick has garnered somewhat of a cult following and starred in a wide variety of films including the critically acclaimed Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Pig, and Mandy.

Check out the trailer for Renfield:

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Nominee: Diane Lane – Unfaithful

20th Century Fox

Diane was the highlight of Unfaithful, which received a mixed, but generally poor reception upon release. What people did agree on, however, was that Diane raised the movie considerably with her superb performance. 

Watch the trailer here:

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What's Diane been up to?

Warner Bros. Pictures

Diane's most recent roles have been her part as Martha Kent in the Man of Steel, Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, and Zack Synder's Justice League. She has also entered the Disney universe with her part as Riley's Mom in Inside Out.

Check her out in Justice League here:

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Nominee: Daniel Day-Lewis – Gangs of New York

Miramax Films

Daniel Day-Lewis returned from a three-year acting hiatus where he apprenticed as an Italian shoe-maker, to star in Gangs of New York next to a young Leonardo DiCaprio. Not only did his performance get him an Academy Award nomination, but it also won him a British Academy Film Award.

Have a look here:

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What's Daniel been up to?

Universal Pictures

Daniel went on to have a stellar two-decade run, with the massive successes There Will Be Blood and Lincoln winning him two Best Actor Academy Awards. He went on to reunite with There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson for the 2017 movie Phantom Thread (pictured above), for which he was nominated for another Academy Award, and then announced his retirement from acting. 

Here's Daniel Day-Lewis' last performance here:

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Nominee: Julianne Moore – Far from Heaven

Focus Features

Julianne and the entire film received high acclaim after its release. The period melodrama focused on a variety of socio-political issues from the mid-20th Century and created a wonderfully shot, emotive movie which was held up by strong performances.  

Watch the trailer here:

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What's Julianne up to now?

Apple TV+

Since Far From Heaven, Julianne's most critically praised performance came with her role as Alice in Still Alice, for which she won a Best Actress Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe. She also became a part of the Hunger Games series, where she starred as President Alma Coin. 

Julianne's next release sees her alongside Sebastian Stan in Apple TV+'s psychological thriller Sharper. She will also be acting alongside Natalie Portman in the upcoming rom-com May December. 

Here's the Sharper trailer:

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Nominee: Michael Caine – The Quiet American

Miramax Films

Michael's portrayal of Thomas Fowler, a reporter in Saigon in the 1950s, was strong enough to get him a Best Actor nomination. The movie was initially supposed to be released a year earlier, but due to the film’s themes and the September 11 attacks, the release was pushed to the following year.

Watch the trailer here:

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What's Michael been doing?

Bioscop

The veteran actor has continued to appear in multiple big hitters and has teamed up with director Christopher Nolan on many occasions in the last couple of decades, including the Batman trilogy, The Prestige, and Interstellar. Michael's most recent film was the historical drama Medieval (pictured above). 

Take a look at Medieval here:

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Nominee: Reneé Zellweger – Chicago

Miramax Films

Chicago made some waves at the Awards in 2003 and of course, Renée's performance as Roxie earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. This was her second Academy Award nomination in consecutive years after her performance in Bridget Jones's Diary.

Watch her as Roxie here:

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What's Renée been up to?

20th Century Fox

The string of nominations continued for Renée in 2004 where she won Best Supporting Actress for Cold Mountain. Since then, she's continued to be a Hollywood regular, and most recently won high praise and a number of acting awards, including an Academy Award for her portrayal of Judy Garland in Judy in 2019.  

Look at the trailer here:

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Nominee: Jack Nicholson – About Schmidt

New Line Cinema

Jack Nicholson got his nominee for his touching performance as the retired Warren R. Schmidt which really highlighted Jack's versatility as an actor.

Watch the trailer here:

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Since About Schmidt:

Sony Pictures Releasing

Jack's most prominent role since About Schmidt has to be his part in the Best Picture-winning film The Departed which also secured him Best Supporting Actor nominations for the BAFTAs and Golden Globes. Jack hasn't publically announced his retirement, but he hasn't starred in anything since his 2010 appearance in How Do You Know.

You can see Jack in How Do You Know here:

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Winner: Nicole Kidman – The Hours

Paramount Pictures

Nicole won the Best Actress Award for her starring role in the psychological drama The Hours. Alongside Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore, Nicole played one of three women of different generations who were all connected by Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway. The movie as a whole received high praise and won seven Academy Award nominations including Best Pictures, with Nicole taking home Best Actress! 

Watch the trailer here:

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What's Nicole been doing?

Warner Bros. Pictures

Nicole has revisited the Academy Awards three times since her 2003 win, with Best Actress nominations for Rabit Hole and Being the Ricardos and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Lion. In 2023 we'll see Nicole reprise her role as Queen Atlanna in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom!

Watch the trailer here:

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Winner: Adrien Brody – The Pianist

Pathé Distribution

The winner 20 years ago went to Adrien for his harrowing performance in The Pianist, which also took home Best Director and Best Adapted Screen Play.

Watch the trailer here:

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What's Adrien been up to?

HBO

In the last two decades, Adrien has continued to impress. He's teamed up with director Wes Anderson for various projects including; The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The French Dispatch. He's also appeared in the hit series Succession, for which he was nominated for an Emmy. His most recent role was his part as Arthur Miller in Blonde. His upcoming movies include the drama/thriller Manodrome with Jesse Eisenberg.

Watch a clip from Manodrome here:

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Who are you rooting for in this year's awards? Let us know in the comments!

Thumbnail credits: Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images, Searchlight Pictures