In Hollywood, prevailing wisdom dictates that the more work you put into a role, the more likely it is to garner an Oscar nomination. As a result, musicals that require live singing, dancing or (in Ryan Gosling’s case for La La Land) piano playing, often produce acting wins. This was true for Gosling’s La La Land co-star Emma Stone, Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl), Liza Minnelli (Cabaret), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago), Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables) and Renée Zellweger (Judy).
8. In the supporting actor category, play a villain
While Best Actor Oscars are generally reserved for those playing solemn characters who overcome adversity, the Supporting Actor category rewards more idiosyncratic performances. One recurring role is that of the quippy villain: think of George Sanders’s ruthless critic in All About Eve; Joel Grey as the sinister master of ceremonies in Cabaret; or J.K. Simmons’s brutal bandleader in Whiplash. Want to guarantee a win? Go darker and play a supervillain à la Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men or Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds.
9. In the supporting actress category, play a concerned (or irresponsible) mother
The image of the devoted mother might have become a cinematic cliché, but try explaining that to the Academy—over the past decade, eight out of 10 winners of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar have played parents. Some are unfailingly supportive (Regina King in If Beale Street Could Talk), some hopelessly stressed (Patricia Arquette in Boyhood) and others misguided (Allison Janney in I, Tonya, Mo’Nique in Precious), but all of them remembered for their meditations on motherhood. Even last year’s recipient, Laura Dern, secured her win for Marriage Story with a scene in which she talks about how society expects mothers like her to be perfect.
10. Commit category fraud (running a lead actor in a supporting category)
