Oscars mystery: How did Anna Paquin (‘The Piano’) pull off that Best Supporting Actress shocker?

I recently wrote about the fascinating Best Supporting Actor race of 1993, which saw Tommy Lee Jones in “The Fugitive” get his man — and the Oscar. While there was fierce debate about the category at the time, most oddsmakers considered Jones the frontrunner. Ralph Fiennes in “Schindler’s List” was a close second. John Malkovich in “In the Line of Fire” was perhaps third in line and a definite wild card.

Interestingly enough, there seemed to be less interest in the Best Supporting Actress lineup. It consisted of Holly Hunter as a chain-smoking private investigator’s secretary in “The Firm,” 11-year-old Anna Paquin as the precocious Scottish daughter of a mute woman (also played by Hunter) sent to 19th century New Zealand in “The Piano,” Rosie Perez as a guilt-ridden plane crash survivor in “Fearless,” Winona Ryder as a seemingly innocent 1870s New York socialite in “The Age of Innocence,” and Emma Thompson as a determined British defense lawyer in “In the Name of the Father.”

Hunter (in “The Piano”) and Thompson (in “The Remains of the Day”) were also cited for Best Actress, making it the first (and thus far only) year in Oscar history with two double acting nominees. Host Whoopi Goldberg joked in her opening monologue that Hunter and Thompson were to blame for the lack of opportunities for actresses, “because they found all the good parts for women and played all of them.”

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Ryder was widely seen as the favorite. Some even claimed that she was a lock. She had won the Golden Globe, was Hollywood’s it-girl at the time, and was the only major nominee to emerge from the highly-touted “The Age of Innocence.”

If there was going to be a Best Supporting Actress shocker, most believed that it would be Perez.

So when 1992’s Best Supporting Actor for “Unforgiven” Gene Hackman opened the envelope and read Paquin’s name, there was genuine shock — both in the auditorium and at Oscar parties across the globe. (No one was more surprised than Paquin, whose jaw literally dropped as she jumped out of her front row seat.)

So how did she do it? I actually predicted Paquin at the time. It’s unfortunate that Gold Derby wasn’t around back then, because site Founder and President Tom O’Neil and I would have had a blast analyzing the contest. (O’Neil also smartly picked Paquin.) But because I couldn’t write this up 10 years ago, I’ll do it now.

Here are five reasons why Anna Paquin won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “The Piano.”

1. Her role was not only sizable – it was the most challenging.
As the child of a woman who didn’t speak, Paquin’s character Flora was tasked with interpreting the sign language of her mother, Ada. Not only did Flora have to speak for Ada, she had to understand Ada’s thoughts and project her anger, her sorrow and her love (particularly for her dear piano). Paquin actually had more lines than anyone in the film, and appeared in key scenes with all of the main cast members — including Hunter, Harvey Keitel and Sam Neill. And despite being a novice, Paquin’s delivery was uncannily skillful and alarmingly natural. Entertainment Weekly wrote in its annual “Total Oscar” issue that she “held her own against a cast of heavyweights in a two-ton movie.” Academy members clearly agreed.

2. There was a great deal of passion for “The Piano.”
It won the prestigious Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and became the critics’ darling of 1993. “The Piano” earned an impressive eight nominations – including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Jane Campion, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress (for Hunter and Paquin, respectively), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Film Editing. Had it not had the misfortune of going up against “Schindler’s List,” “The Piano” would have almost certainly won Best Picture plus Best Director for Campion. Voters made it up to the film by checking it off in the few places that they could. That included Best Actress for Hunter and Best Original Screenplay for Campion — as well as Best Supporting Actress for Paquin.

3. She had the killer scene.
If you haven’t seen “The Piano,” I suggest that you stop reading this article and immediately watch it. But if you insist on reading, major spoilers ahead. Near the end of the film, Flora screams in horror as she watches her stepfather (played by Neill) commit a heinous act of violence on Ada after learning of her continued unfaithfulness. Paquin’s shriek and subsequent reaction were nothing short of astonishing. In other words, it was a scream that simply “screamed” Oscar.

4. The other contenders all had serious disadvantages.
Not only was Hunter a sure thing for Best Actress in “The Piano,” her teensy role in “The Firm” hardly warranted further recognition. (The late film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel both firmly called Hunter’s nod for “The Firm” the worst of the year.) Thompson had been named Best Actress for “Howards End” the previous year, and her screen time in “In the Name of the Father” was severely limited. Perez had earned excellent reviews for “Fearless,” but she was the lone nominee from the under-seen film. And Ryder was hurt by a lack of enthusiasm for “The Age of Innocence,” which missed Best Picture, Best Director for Martin Scorsese and Best Actress for Michelle Pfeiffer. That gave Paquin a distinct advantage, despite her age of innocence.

5. It was the chance for voters to do something crazy.
Remember, Marisa Tomei in “My Cousin Vinny” had managed an out-of-left-field victory in the same category just one year earlier. And Paquin’s scenario was actually quite similar. “Schindler’s List” was a foregone conclusion for Best Picture as well as Best Director for Steven Spielberg. Tom Hanks in “Philadelphia” was the heavy favorite for Best Actor. And as I explained earlier, Hunter was highly unlikely to lose Best Actress for “The Piano” after her awards season clean sweep. That left Best Supporting Actress the only place where academy members could go off script and have a little fun. That meant a night of fun for the pint-sized Paquin, a truly deserving and inspired Oscar choice for 1993’s Best Supporting Actress for “The Piano.”

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