The Gold Rush

Everything you gotta know about this years awards season race.

Save this article to read it later.

Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.

Article image

The 2002 race for Best Actress started out as Sissy Spaceks to lose.

Doubly so after a win at the Golden Globes.

Enter Nicole Kidman, whose performance in the Best PicturenominatedMoulin Rougewas winning raves even from skeptics.

In fact, she was campaigning for two lead roles this year:Moulin Rougeand the terrifically creepyThe Others.

But she was certainly popular enough to capitalize on a split-vote scenario between Spacek and Berry.

What if the breeze blew just slightly different in Hollywood that season?

Ourlast forayinto fantasy-casting alternative timelines for the Academy Awards got us thinking.

Heres what you might expect from the mirror universe where Kidman won the Oscar in 2002:

1.

Both are nominated (Julianne Moore is not).

Instead, the backlash hits, and the reviews for her are savage.

Bey storms past Meryl StreepsThe Devil Wears Pradaperformance to take the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy.

Helen Mirren (The Queen) upsets Beyonce for 2006 Best Actress.Goddamn it, Oscars!

Never underestimate the Academys fondness for British monarchs or Helen Mirren.

Okay, so at this point everybody just goes completely bananas.

The Beyhive is incensed.

There are dozens upon dozens of editorials.

I wont even get into what Kanye West does.

So when Jai Ho wins Best Original Song at the 2008 Oscars, Beyonce joins A.R.

Rahman onstage and accepts her first Oscar.

However, the Best Actress front remains noticeably white.

This time, her hyperventilating acceptance speech includes Beyonces name.

Natalie Portman wins Best Actress for 2016sJackie.ThatBlack Swansnub gives Portman crazy Shes overdue!

Faye sawLa La Landon the card, read it, and it was Oscar infamy from there.

In this timeline, Portman wins forJackie, which wasnt even a Best Picture nominee.

(Olivia still gets to star inThe Crown, though.)

Thats quite the mirror universe.

More From This Series

Tags: