Ever wonder what actors did following a surprising Oscars win?

Quan has had a remarkable career. He was a child actor in the ‘80s, then worked behind the scenes for decades. Then, he was in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and that movie was an Oscars sensation. Quan won Best Supporting Actor, and now he’s back at it. While he had roles in the TV shows “Loki” and “American Born Chinese” in 2023, Quan has now gotten a chance to be the star of an action movie in 2025’s “Love Hurts.”

Rylance was a working British character actor for years, but then he won Best Supporting Actor for “Bridge of Spies.” He’s certainly been in bigger films since then. In the couple of years after “Bridge of Spies,” Rylance was one of the many British actors in Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” and then he had a key supporting role in “Ready Player One,” a reunion with “Bridge of Spies” director Steven Spielberg.

By the time the Oscars rolled around it wasn’t a surprise that Waltz won the Oscar for “Inglourious Basterds.” He was a lock. When the Tarantino movie debuted, though, Waltz was a revelation to American audiences who were almost definitely seeing him for the first time. “Inglourious Basterds” came out in 2009, and then all of a sudden he was in four movies in 2011. That includes playing the villain in “The Green Hornet.”

Gooding’s Supporting Actor win for “Jerry Maguire,” and his speech in the wake of it, is a memorable Oscars moment. He was just never really able to build upon it. Sure, in 1997 he was in “As Good as It Gets,” but in a slight supporting role. It was probably 1998 where Gooding’s win yielded the most “fruit,” but even then it was “What Dreams May Come” and the forgotten “A Murder of Crows,” which he also produced. By 2002, he was in “Snow Dogs.”

Palance was one of those late-in-life wins, but while he had been around for years, it was still a surprise he won. While he had been nominated twice early in his career, Palance won for the comedy “City Slickers,” a movie he’s only in for a handful of minutes. Either Palance or Hollywood didn’t really know what to do in the wake of the win. He was in “Cyborg 2” in 1993 and the sequel to “City Slickers” in 1994

Moving to Best Supporting Actress winners, the Emmys have long adored Janney. She’s won seven, yes seven, Emmys. However, that’s television, and it’s not like David Hyde Pierce or Candice Bergen ever really got Oscars love. Janney, though, grabbed her Oscar for playing Tonya Harding’s mom in “I, Tonya.” While she’s done some film work since, she just kept on making “Mom” for a few more years and made the HBO movie “Bad Education.”

In 2004, Hudson finished seventh on “American Idol.” She’s one of those people you might just assume, what with her being an EGOT winner. “Dreamgirls” was Hudson’s first movie. She won an Oscar. That didn’t really give her the acting bug, though. She did have a supporting role in 2008’s “The Secret Life of Bees,” and also that year her first album came out.

The 1997 Oscars were all about “Titanic,” but memorably the movie didn’t take home a single acting Oscar. Basinger had been a fake Bond Girl and a love interest in “Batman,” but wasn’t really considered a “serious” actor. However, she pulled off a Supporting Actress win for “L.A. Confidential.” Nothing really changed, though. Basinger wouldn’t be in a notable movie until 2002 when she played Eminem’s mom in “8 Mile.” She did get to play herself on “The Simpsons,” though, alongside then-husband Alec Baldwin.

It’s the Oscar win so surprising that for years there was a conspiracy that Tomei hadn’t actually won and Jack Palance had read the wrong name. This was unfair to both Tomei, who is a delight in “My Cousin Vinny,” and also Palance, portraying him as a doddering old man. In 1994, Tomei got to reap the benefits. She hosted “Saturday Night Live” and co-starred in “Only You” and “The Paper.”

Whoopi was already a famous comedian, and also had been a movie star in “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” She wasn’t seen as a “serious” actor, though, even with her appearance in “The Color Purple.” Winning for “Ghost” was recognition of her acting chops. Goldberg did capitalize, though, starring in “Sister Act” in 1992 and its sequel in 1993.

Glenn Close was finally going to win an Oscar. Or maybe it would be Lady Gaga for “A Star is Born.” Instead, Colman won Best Actress for “The Favourite.” She was then in five films in 2021, but that may be partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Colman also was a party to another Oscar surprise. She was in 2020’s “The Father,” the movie for which Anthony Hopkins infamously won Best Actor over the late Chadwick Boseman.

While men tend to win Oscars later into their careers, and live, the Academy does seem to have an affinity for younger actresses showing promise. Larson won for “Room,” but then got swept up in the modern era of moviemaking. That is to say she was in “Kong: Skull Island” and then joined the MCU as Captain Marvel. However, winning for “Room” definitely gave Larson the cache to star in and direct 2011’s “Unicorn Store.”

In a stacked year for Best Actress, Cotillard surprisingly won for playing Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose,” a movie most Americans had not seen. While she was famous and successful in her native France, Cotillard was mostly unknown to American audiences. That changed in a major way. In 2009 she was in “Public Enemies” and “Nine,” and then in 2010 she was in “Inception.”

Bates wasn’t long removed from descriptive roles in films (such as “Furniture Man’s Wife”) when she won Best Actress for “Misery.” Winning for a horror movie was a surprise, but Bates’ career was picking up. That was one of four 1990 movies she was in. She was also in four movies in 1991, though those could have already been in the works. Bates just kept on being in supporting roles in films, so it feels like “Misery” didn’t really impact her career.

As a musician and variety show star, Cher wasn’t necessarily taken seriously as an actor. Winning Best Actress for “Moonstruck” bolstered her resume to be sure. While she would continue her music career, Cher didn’t take off as an actor. She only starred in one movie in the decade after “Moonstruck,” 1990’s “Mermaids.” To be fair, there is an entire section of her filmography’s Wikipedia about movies she was attached to/offered but, well, Cher was not exactly the easiest person to work with.

Malek’s win for playing Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a surprise, and for a lot of people a disappointment. The amount of vocals in the film that he didn’t provide only has bolstered that in the ensuing years. Malek’s career didn’t take a hit, though, especially when you factor in the hit the industry took due to COVID. He still managed to do a voice in “Dolittle” and play the villain in a James Bond movie in the couple of years after winning.

Remember “The Artist?” It didn’t just win a “Hooray for Hollywood!” Oscar, Dujardin won Best Actor. He did score a couple notable American roles in the wake of that win. Dujardin is in “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “The Monuments Men.” He plays a guy named “Jean” in both.

Foxx has had a fascinating career. He was a sitcom actor and comedy guy but then he started to do some dramatic work and won Best Actor for playing Ray Charles. The next year he was in the woeful “Stealth,” but that feels like a pre-Oscar decision. In 2006 he was one of the stars of “Miami Vice,” a cult favorite that was a rough production, and also “Dreamgirls.” Foxx infamously left in the middle of production of “Miami Vice,” which may help explain why his movie career tapered off and he’s now hosting game shows and doing gambling ads.

Brody’s journey from “The Pianist” to “The Brutalist,” in terms of Oscar wins, was a long one. That win for “The Pianist” was not just a surprise, but historical. Brody remains the only man under 30 to win Best Actor. The first thing of note Brody did after winning an Oscar? Allegedly getting himself banned from “Saturday Night Live.” Then in the next couple years he was in “The Village” and “King Kong,” though movie stardom didn’t really happen.

Few people had heard of Benigni, or even his movie “Life is Beautiful,” when he won the Oscar. It’s one of the most-famous surprise wins in the history of the awards, and the Italian actor’s reaction to winning is also well-remembered. Suddenly people were paying attention to Benigni, so people knew he was writing, directing, and starring in an adaptation of “Pinocchio.” As Pinocchio. You know, the little wooden boy? It was a flop and pretty much nobody in America thought of Benigni ever again.