HOLLYWOOD, CA – MARCH 04: : Academy Award Winner of Best Actress for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, Frances McDormand attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards Governors Ball at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
By Jenna Moloney
Frances McDormand was born in 1957 in Chicago, Illinois. She was adopted by Canadian-born parents, and was raised near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. She received her B.A. in Theater from Bethany College and earned her MFA in Theater at Yale University. Although she started with roles on stage, she quickly moved over to the film scene. The first movie she starred in is titled “Blood Simple”: (1984). The filmmaker, Joel Coen, she married the same year. She has been nominated for five Academy Awards, winning Best Actress for “Fargo”: (1996) and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”: (2018). McDormand and Coen adopted a son from Paraguay in 1994. The three currently live in Manhattan, New York. Last night, during the 90th annual Academy Awards, McDormand won Best Actress for her role in the movie “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” This movie touches upon so many important subjects, including rape, domestic violence, cancer, suicide, the tough lives/jobs of police officers, and different levels of family love. The movie also shows some graphic scenes including fire and violence, and does a great job of communicating the saying “what goes around comes around” with the side story of Sam Rockwell’s (Best Supporting Actor 2018) character.
Frances McDormand played the mother of the young woman who was raped and killed outside Ebbing, Missouri. Her character is funny and sad, heartwarming and heartbreaking, smart and simultaneously clueless. She is determined and stubborn; she makes sure people hear her roar. McDormand played this role with such genuineness, her work truly had audiences laughing and crying (sometimes at the same time) throughout the movie. She can evoke a strong emotion from her audience just with her eyes alone. Her confidence radiated through the screen.
Her speech upon winning the Oscar called for all women in the room to stand up. She acknowledged women of all job titles: actresses, singers, songwriters, screenwriters, designers, and many more. She made it clear that women in this field deserve their jobs. They work hard and they are successful. Fearless women like McDormand allow us to rise, and we will continue to rise.