Real (Reel) People Win Oscars: 2009 Edition

When it comes to win an Academy Award, recent years have shown that not any bio-pic performance means a guaranteed nomination, but if you get nominated for your performance playing a real person, then there is a good chance you will win.

Of the past 18 Lead Actor/Actress winners, 11 of these winners have won for playing real life people. That's 61% of winners since 2000.

• In 2008 Sean Penn played controversial politician Harvey Milk and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• In 2007 Marion Cotillard played French singer Ediath Piaf and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
• In 2006 Helen Mirren played Queen Elizabeth II and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
• In 2006 Forrest Whitaker played Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and won the Oscar for Best Actor
• In 2005 Reese Witherspoon played country music celeb June Carter and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
• In 2005 Philip Seymour Hoffman played author Truman Capote and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• In 2004 Jamie Foxx played musician Ray Charles and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• In 2003 Charlize Theron played prostitute/serial killer Aileen Wuornos and won the Best Actress oscar.
• In 2002 Adrien Brody played Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman and won the Best Actor oscar.
• In 2002 Nicole Kidman played author Virginia Woolf and won the Best Actress oscar.
• In 2000 Julia Roberts plays the unlikely activist Erin Brokovich and won the Best Actress oscar.

The non-biopic winners: Kate Winslet (The Reader), Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby), Sean Penn (Mystic River), Denzel Washington (Training Day), Halle Berry (Monster's Ball), Russell Crowe (Gladiator).

2008 had only a few bio-pic nominees with only Frank Langella as Richard Nixon and Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, and Sean Penn won.

Through 2009 I will collect the real life stories behind the cinematic performances that actors and actresses will be capturing.

A few previous Real (Reel) People entries include actors who could potentially be 2009 eligible..I'll begin the series listing those films.

2009 Real (Reel) People Performances:

• Reel People: Quinton Aaron is Michael Oher
• Reel People: Amy Adams is Julie Powell
• Reel People: Drew Barrymore is Edith Bouvier Beal (aka Little Edie)
• Reel People: Paul Bettany is Charles Darwin
• Reel People: Emily Blunt is Queen Victoria
• Reel People: Matt Damon is Francois Pienaar
• Reel People: Matt Damon is Mark Whitacre
• Reel People: Johnny Depp is John Dillinger
• Reel People: Jamie Foxx is Nathaniel Ayers
• Reel People: Morgan Freeman is Nelson Mandela
• Reel People: Logan Lerman is George Hamilton
• Reel People: Demetri Martin is Elliot Tiber
• Reel People: Helen Mirren is Sofya Tolstoy
• Reel People: Sophie Okonedo is Sandra Laing
• Reel People: Haley Joel Osment is Helmuth Hübener
• Reel People: Christopher Plummer is Leo Tolstoy
• Reel People: Meryl Streep is Julia Child
• Reel People: Hilary Swank is Amelia Earhart
• Reel People: Hilary Swank is Betty Anne Waters
• Reel People: Audrey Tautou is Coco Chanel
• Reel People: Emily Watson is Evgenia Ginzburg
• Reel People: Ben Whishaw is John Keats

See the 2008 and 2007 Real (Reel) People projects.