Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/the-shortest-performances-to-win-an-acting-oscar/
Most people picture an Oscar winner as someone who carries a film from the first scene to the last. Plenty of trophies have gone to actors who barely seem to be in the movie at all.
The record books on this are a little untidy. Screen time is counted by hand, and different outlets land on slightly different totals. The figures below come from published tallies, and I’ve flagged where they disagree.
Beatrice Straight in Network
Straight won Best Supporting Actress as Louise Schumacher in Sidney Lumet’s 1976 satirical drama Network. She holds the title for the shortest Oscar winning performance.
The exact length depends on who’s counting. One tally gives five minutes and 40 seconds, while another puts it at five minutes and two seconds. Either way, it’s a little over five minutes.
Why Her Scene Worked
Straight’s time on screen is built around one scene. Almost four of those minutes are a single soliloquy, delivered after her character learns her husband is having an affair with a much younger woman.
That is why the performance sticks, even though it’s brief. She was one of three Oscar winners in the cast, alongside Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch, who won posthumously.
Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love
Dench plays Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love and appears for only about eight…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-10-14 11:01:00
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