It's been quite a journey to the 2023 Oscars—just ask these nominees.
Whirlwind awards season aside, stars like Austin Butler, Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Yeoh spent years—decades, even—working and honing their crafts before landing their nods. From the time of their acting debuts to now, these Academy Award hopefuls experienced a rollercoaster of emotions both on and off the screen.
Take Ke Huy Quan, for example, who broke out into Hollywood at just 12 years old in 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The actor went on to nab a part in the beloved coming-of-age flick The Goonies, but said he struggled to secure work as he got older due to a lack of Asian American roles in the industry. Eventually, he graduated from film school and pursued a career behind the camera—only to find success again in the critically acclaimed Everything Everywhere All at Once.
"When I stepped away from that dream, all the dreams that I had of imagining one day walking down the red carpet at the Oscars, those dreams dissipated," Quan, who is up for a Best Supporting Actor award, recalled in a recent interview with Good Morning America. "They were so distant that I didn't think they would ever come back."
Likewise, Quan's former Encino Man co-star and fellow nominee Brendan Fraser didn't think he would ever have a shot at an Academy Award. His performance in 1992's School Ties launched him into stardom, though he spent much of 2010s out of the spotlight, working on smaller films and TV shows.
"I feel so much more receptive and gratitude for the positive attention that I'm receiving at this time," the Best Actor nominee explained on Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist. "It's really humbling."
For more humble beginnings, keep reading to see this year's nominees in their earliest roles.
Nomination: Best Actor, Elvis
Early Role: More than a decade before stepping into the blue suede shoes of Elvis Presley, Butler appeared on an episode of Hannah Montana as Derek Hanson, a teenager who is set up on a blind date with Miley Cyrus' Miley Stewart character. The actor went on to have roles on beloved tween shows like iCarly and Zoey 101—gigs that he has no regret taking.
"I'm so grateful for all those stepping stones that I had throughout my career," he told Variety's Awards Circuit podcast. "Zoey 101 was a big turning point for me, because it was the first time I was ever a series regular on a show, so I got to be part of an entire season."
Nomination: Best Supporting Actor, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Early Role: Quan was just 12 years old when he made his silver screen debut in 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as Short Round, the spunky sidekick to Harrison Ford's titular hero. Though the part led him to find success in late '80s and '90s, appearing in works like The Goonies and Head of the Class, Quan stopped acting in the early aughts due to a lack of roles for Asian Americans. In fact, Quan said he lost his health insurance before the release of Everything Everywhere All at Once because "nobody wants to hire me."
"I called my agent and I said, 'Can you please get me anything? It doesn't matter, I just need one job to make the minimum requirement so I can qualify for health insurance the following year,'" he recalled. "And I could not get one single job."
Nomination: Best Supporting Actress, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Early Role: As the daughter of Hollywood icons Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, Curtis acknowledges that she was already in a priviledged position when she kicked off her acting career during the late '70s. As she explained during the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards, "I got SAG card when I was 19 years old, when I signed a seven-year contract to Universal Studios and starred in an ABC TV series called Operation Petticoat, which was based on a movie that my father Tony Curtis—nepo baby—starred in."
While Curtis was let go from her role of Lt. Barbara Duran after 23 episodes, the firing led her "to audition for a little, tiny, no-budget horror movie called Halloween, which changed my life." Throughout her illustrious career, the actress starred in five movies from the slasher franchise, including 2022's Halloween Ends.
Nomination: Best Actor, The Whale
Early Role: You could say that 1992 was Fraser's year. His comedy Encino Man—which coincidentally also features fellow Oscar nominee Ke Huy Quan—hit theaters in May. It was just four months later that School Ties, an ensemble drama starring future Academy Award winners Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, premiered. Despite finding continual box office success during the late '90s and early aughts, Fraser largely stayed out of the limelight until experiencing a resurgence in his career with his role in The Whale.
"I've never been that far away, but I did step out of the spotlight for a spell there to sort some things out in my life and to take stock of who I am, where I'm going, and what my aspirations are," he explained of his time off. "I've learned that it's going to do me good to work smart instead of work hard."
Nomination: Best Actor, The Banshees of Inisherin
Early Role: Farrell kicked started his acting career in the late '90s with a role in Falling for a Dancer, a television movie centered around a community in rural Ireland. In what seems to be a full circle moment, the Irish actor is nominated for his first Oscar decades later for his performance in The Banshees of Inisherin, a film set on a remote island off the coast of his home country.
Nomination: Best Supporting Actress, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Early Role: Prior her now-viral audition for the Oscar-nominated film, Hsu held bit parts in a variety of projects, including the role of a protestor on a 2016 episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Since then, the actress has experienced what she describes as "high highs" and "low lows" in her journey to the Oscars.
"It's a little dip, now it's suddenly a freefall. Suddenly Splash Mountain, and you're wet and you don't know why," she told E! News. "It's been a complete rollercoaster and, but also so beautiful."
Nomination: Best Actress, Blonde
Early Role: Before her breakout role in 2019's Knives Out, de Armas found success in Spanish-language works like Una Rosa de Francia, El Internado and the 2009 film Sex, Party & Lies (Mentiras y Gordas). "To even think that I was going to work in anything to begin with was pushing it," she said of her move to Hollywood in an interview with C magazine. "But at the same time, I guess I kind of knew [it could happen] because that's why I moved to L.A. Something inside me knew I was going to be able to do it."
Nomination: Best Actress, Tár
Early Role: While Blanchett is now known as a titan on the silver screen, she first got her start playing small parts on Australian TV. She appeared in a 1993 episode of Police Rescue, before finding work on shows like G.P. and Bordertown. It wasn't until 1999 when the actress received her first Oscar nomination for playing Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth.
Nomination: Best Supporting Actress, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Early Role: Bassett started her acting career in the '80s, appearing in 10 episode of the soap opera Search for Tomorrow. She continued to do TV work before becoming widely recognized for her performances in movies such as 1991's Boyz n the Hood, 1992's Malcolm X and 1993's What's Love Got to Do With It—which earned the actress her first Oscar nod.
Nomination: Best Actress, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Early Role: Despite not knowing how to speak Cantonese at the time, Yeoh was offered a contract with Hong Kong-based production company D&B Films when she was 22 years old, after appearing in a commercial with Jackie Chan. She quickly learned the language, allowing her to make her screen debut in 1984's The Owl vs. Bumbo. By the following year, Yeoh was starring as the lead in 1985's cop drama Yes, Madam.
"I didn't read or speak [Cantonese] very well," she told The Hollywood Reporter of her early acting days, "but I'm a bit of an adventurer. The easiest thing is to say no. For sure, you won't fail, but you won't get anywhere either."
Nomination: Best Actor, Aftersun
Early Role: Unlike some of his fellow nominees, it didn't take Mescal long to earn his first Oscar nod. Three years after earning a degree in acting, Mescal nabbed his first leading television role in the 2020 miniseries Normal People. After gaining recognition for his portrayal of Connell Waldron, a college student struggling with depression, Mescal went on to make his film debut in 2021's The Lost Daughter.
Nomination: Best Actress, The Fabelmans
Early Role: Before her breakout role in the beloved '90s teen show Dawson's Creek, Williams appeared on two episodes of Baywatch. She made her film debut in 1994's Lassie, playing the love interest of Tom Guiry's Matthew Turner character. "I went to a lot of auditions as a kid," she told Vanity Fair of her child actor days. "To get something that wasn't an infomercial was a big deal."
Nomination: Best Supporting Actor, The Banshees of Inisherin
Early Role: Just a little over 10 years ago, Keoghan was getting his start in the movie business, appearing in mainly Irish productions like 2012's Stalker. He found fame in his native Ireland in 2013 when he landed the role of Wayne in the fourth season of the crime drama Love/Hate.
Nomination: Best Supporting Actress, The Banshees of Inisherin
Early Role: Condon made her silver screen debut in Angela's Ashes, the 1999 film based on author Frank McCourt's memoir of the same name. But despite going on to appear in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Better Call Saul and Ray Donovan—as well as providing voicework as Iron Man's A.I. assistant F.R.I.D.A.Y. in the Avengers franchise—Condon would rather stay out of the spotlight and not be stopped by average fans on the street.
"I don't want to be recognized," she told ABC. "I'm perfectly happy."
Nomination: Best Supporting Actress, The Whale
Early Role: Chau's acting career began in 2006, when she starred in an iaTV miniseries called Finding My America. The actress made appearances The Sarah Silverman Program, How I Met Your Mother, Treme and Big Little Lies before landing her breakout role opposite of Matt Damon in 2017's Downsizing.
Nomination: Best Actor, Living
Early Role: Almost 50 years ago, Nighy made his debut on the British procedural Softly Softly: Task Force. During his decades-long career, the actor starred in beloved blockbusters such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Shaun of the Dead, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hot Fuzz, Love Actually and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 before landing his first-ever Oscar nomination for his performance in Living.
Nomination: Best Actress, For Leslie
Early Role: A last-minute bid from A-listers succeeded in Riseborough landing her first Oscar nomination, though the actress has been around the scene for quite some time. In 2007, she starred as one of the leads the BBC Two series Party Animals.
Nomination: Best Supporting Actor, The Banshees of Inisherin
Early Role: Like his co-star Colin Farrell, started his acting career starring in Irish productions before entering the Hollywood scene. One of his earlierst roles was playing Irish revolutionary Michael Collins in the 1991 TV movie The Treaty, though it took him time to embrace the craft altogether.
"I really did think that the professional stage was for other people," Gleeson, who began acting full-time during his '30s, told The Guardian. "I'm not sure why, it just felt as if it was a little … exotic. And I would go then to plays and think: ‘I'm not sure that was the right take on that at all.' I kind of felt like: ‘I could do better than that.'"
Nomination: Best Supporting Actor, The Fabelmans
Early Role: Hirsch nabbed his first leading role as defense attorney Murray Stone in the 1974 TV movie The Law. He reprised the character when the film was spun off a miniseries of the same name in the following year.