2003 Oscars 75th Academy Awards

2003 Oscars 75th Academy Awards

  • Winners Announced: March 23, 2003
  • Held at: Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, California
  • Host: Steve Martin
  • Eligibility Year: 2002

Trivia

  • Chicago won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, making it the first musical to win the coveted title since Oliver! in 1968.
  • Nicole Kidman won Best Actress for her role in The Hours, where she donned a prosthetic nose to portray writer Virginia Woolf.
  • Adrien Brody became the youngest actor ever to win the Best Actor award; he was just 29 when he won for The Pianist.
  • Eminem’s song Lose Yourself from 8 Mile snagged the award for Best Original Song, marking one of the rare instances a hip-hop song received this honor.
  • Pedro Almodóvar won the Best Original Screenplay for Talk to Her, marking another high point for international cinema.
  • Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine won Best Documentary Feature and caused a stir when Moore used his acceptance speech to criticize President George W. Bush.
  • Martin Scorsese was a frontrunner for Best Director for Gangs of New York, but he lost out to Roman Polanski for The Pianist.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers* was nominated for six awards but only won two, setting the stage for the sweeping victories of its sequel the following year.
  • Spirited Away*, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, won Best Animated Feature, becoming the first (and so far, only) hand-drawn and non-English-language animated film to win the award.
  • Chris Cooper won Best Supporting Actor for his role in Adaptation, while Catherine Zeta-Jones won Best Supporting Actress for Chicago.
  • U2’s song The Hands That Built America, from Gangs of New York, was another nominee for Best Original Song, adding some rock flair to the category.
  • Frida, a biographical film about Frida Kahlo, won two Oscars for Best Makeup and Best Original Score, but Salma Hayek missed out on the Best Actress award.

2003 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Picture:
Chicago – Martin Richards, producer (WINNER)
Gangs of New York – Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, producers
The Hours – Scott Rudin and Robert Fox, producers
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh, and Peter Jackson, producers
The Pianist – Roman Polanski, Robert Bunmussa, and Alain Sarde, producers
Best Director:
Roman Polanski – The Pianist (WINNER)
Rob Marshall – Chicago
Martin Scorsese – Gangs of New York
Stephen Daldry – The Hours
Pedro Almodóvar – Talk to Her
Best Actor:
Adrien Brody – The Pianist as Wladyslaw Szpilman (WINNER)
Nicolas Cage – Adaptation as Charlie Kaufman / Donald Kaufman
Michael Caine – The Quiet American as Thomas Fowler
Daniel Day-Lewis – Gangs of New York as Bill “The Butcher” Cutting
Jack Nicholson – About Schmidt as Warren R. Schmidt
Best Actress:
Nicole Kidman – The Hours as Virginia Woolf (WINNER)
Salma Hayek – Frida as Frida Kahlo
Diane Lane – Unfaithful as Constance “Connie” Sumner
Julianne Moore – Far from Heaven as Cathy Whitaker
Renée Zellweger – Chicago as Roxie Hart
Best Supporting Actor:
Chris Cooper – Adaptation as John Laroche (WINNER)
Ed Harris – The Hours as Richard “Richie” Brown
Paul Newman – Road to Perdition as John Rooney
John C. Reilly – Chicago as Amos Hart
Christopher Walken – Catch Me If You Can as Frank Abagnale Sr.
Best Supporting Actress:
Catherine Zeta-Jones – Chicago as Velma Kelly (WINNER)
Kathy Bates – About Schmidt as Roberta Hertzel
Queen Latifah – Chicago as Matron “Mama” Morton
Julianne Moore – The Hours as Laura McGrath Brown
Meryl Streep – Adaptation as Susan Orlean
Best Original Screenplay:
Talk to Her – Pedro Almodóvar (WINNER)
Far from Heaven – Todd Haynes
Gangs of New York – Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan
My Big Fat Greek Wedding – Nia Vardalos
Y Tu Mamá También – Carlos Cuarón and Alfonso Cuarón
Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Pianist – Ronald Harwood based on the book by Wladyslaw Szpilman (WINNER)
About a Boy – Peter Hedges, Chris Weitz, and Paul Weitz based on the book by Nick Hornby
Adaptation – Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman based on the book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
Chicago – Bill Condon based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins
The Hours – David Hare based on the novel by Michael Cunningham
Best Animated Feature Film:
Spirited Away – Hayao Miyazaki (WINNER)
Ice Age – Chris Wedge
Lilo & Stitch – Chris Sanders
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – Jeffrey Katzenberg
Treasure Planet – Ron Clements
Best Foreign Language Film:
Nowhere in Africa (Germany) in German – Caroline Link (WINNER)
The Crime of Father Amaro (Mexico) in Spanish – Carlos Carrera
Hero (China) in Mandarin – Zhang Yimou
The Man Without a Past (Finland) in Finnish – Aki Kaurismäki
Zus & Zo (Netherlands) in Dutch – Paula van der Oest
Best Documentary Feature:
Bowling for Columbine – Michael Moore and Michael Donovan (WINNER)
Daughter from Danang – Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco
Prisoner of Paradise – Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender
Spellbound – Jeffrey Blitz and Sean Welch
Winged Migration – Jacques Perrin
Best Documentary Short Subject:
Twin Towers – Bill Guttentag and Robert David Port (WINNER)
The Collector of Bedford Street – Alice Elliott
Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks – Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston
Why Can’t We Be a Family Again? – Roger Weisberg and Murray Nossel
Best Live Action Short Film:
This Charming Man – Martin Strange-Hansen and Mie Andreasen (WINNER)
Fait D’Hiver – Dirk Beliën and Anja Daelemans
I’ll Wait for the Next One… (J’Attendrai Le Suivant…) – Philippe Orreindy and Thomas Gaudin
Inja (Dog) – Steven Pasvolsky and Joe Weatherstone
Johnny Flynton – Lexi Alexander and Alexander Buono
Best Animated Short Film:
The ChubbChubbs! – Eric Armstrong (WINNER)
Das Rad – Chris Stenner and Heidi Wittlinger
Katedra – Tomek Baginski
Mike’s New Car – Pete Docter and Roger L. Gould
Mount Head – Koji Yamamura
Best Original Score:
Frida – Elliot Goldenthal (WINNER)
Catch Me If You Can – John Williams
Far from Heaven – Elmer Bernstein
The Hours – Philip Glass
Road to Perdition – Thomas Newman
Best Original Song:
“Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile – Music by Eminem, Jeff Bass, and Luis Resto; Lyrics by Eminem (WINNER)
“I Move On” from Chicago – Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb
“Burn It Blue” from Frida – Music by Elliot Goldenthal; Lyrics by Julie Taymor
“The Hands That Built America” from Gangs of New York – Music and Lyrics by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen
“Father and Daughter” from The Wild Thornberrys Movie – Music and Lyrics by Paul Simon
Best Sound Editing:
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn (WINNER)
Minority Report – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Road to Perdition – Scott Hecker
Best Sound:
Chicago – Michael Minkler, David Lee, and Dominick Tavella (WINNER)
Gangs of New York – Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty, and Ivan Sharrock
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, and Hammond Peek
Road to Perdition – Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, and John Patrick Pritchett
Spider-Man – Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, and Ed Novick
Best Art Direction:
Chicago – Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim (WINNER)
Frida – Art Direction: Felipe Fernández del Paso; Set Decoration: Hania Robledo
Gangs of New York – Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee
Road to Perdition – Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
Best Cinematography:
Road to Perdition – Conrad Hall (posthumous award) (WINNER)
Chicago – Dion Beebe
Far from Heaven – Edward Lachman
Gangs of New York – Michael Ballhaus
The Pianist – Pawel Edelman
Best Makeup:
Frida – John E. Jackson and Beatrice De Alba (WINNER)
The Time Machine – John M. Elliott Jr. and Barbara Lorenz
Best Costume Design:
Chicago – Colleen Atwood (WINNER)
Frida – Julie Weiss
Gangs of New York – Sandy Powell
The Hours – Ann Roth
The Pianist – Anna B. Sheppard
Best Film Editing:
Chicago – Martin Walsh (WINNER)
Gangs of New York – Thelma Schoonmaker
The Hours – Peter Boyle
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Michael Horton
The Pianist – Hervé de Luze
Best Visual Effects:
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Alex Funke, and Joe Letteri (WINNER)
Spider-Man – John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones – Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll, and Ben Snow
Academy Honorary Award:
Peter O’Toole