Movie casts with impressive Oscars pedigree

It feels normal now, but comic book movies didn’t always have such impressive casts. Now, every notable actor seems to be in a Marvel or DC movie. “The Dark Knight Rises” has a crazy cast for Oscar winners. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Marian Cotillard all have major roles, and Liam Neeson also has a cameo. The same year that “The Dark Knight Rises” came out, Anne Hathaway also starred in “Les Miserables,” which won her an Oscar. Gary Oldman has one now too. You’re slacking, Tom Hardy!

In terms of sheer prestige, few casts can match this movie. Granted, longtime couple Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn made a few movies together, though this would be their last as Tracy would die before the film even came out. Both of those multiple-Oscar winners were joined by Sidney Poitier, who won Best Actor in 1963. Hepburn would add another Oscar to her collection with “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”

Sure, there are only two Oscar winners in “The Post.” However, those Oscar winners are Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. Streep has more nominations than any actor and has won three times. Hanks famously won Best Actor in back-to-back years. Even if it’s just the two of them, that prestige is huge. Plus, Steven Spielberg, a two-time winner, directed this compelling drama.

OK, this is the last Meryl movie we’ll include, we promise. She’s been in so many films with so many great actors this could be an all-Meryl Steep list probably. The showy play adaptation “August: Osage County” went with the all-star cast plan. In addition to the likes of Sam Shepard and Character Actress Margo Martindale, three Oscar winners co-star in the movie: Streep, Julia Roberts, and Chris Cooper. Cooper, by the way, won his Oscar for “Adaptation,” which co-starred two Oscar winners in Streep and Nicolas Cage.

Frances McDormand only had one Oscar when she was in Nancy Meyers’ movie about her favorite film subject: Being a divorced woman of a certain age. Now McDormand has three, but she’s not the star of this film. Instead, it’s a love story between Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, the latter an Oscars staple for many years.

OK, Cher won her Oscar for “Moonstruck” in 1987, so technically she didn’t have it yet. However, she was oh-so-close. We still wanted to include it because of the film’s pedigree. Nicholson is in this one as well, but so is Susan Sarandon, who would win an Oscar herself a few years later. That’s close enough for us.

This story of an elderly couple finding love was the final movie for Henry Fonda and one of the last for Katharine Hepburn. They both won Oscars for the movie, Fonda’s first and Hepburn’s fourth. That’s not all, though. Jane Fonda is the one who bought the rights to “On Golden Pond” to make the movie with her father, and she already had two Oscars as well.

Hollywood used to make a lot of epics that had massive casts, and “How the West was Won” is definitely one of those. In addition to Spencer Tracy doing the narration, Jimmy Stewart, Karl Malden, and Walter Brennan are all in the film. On top of that, Gregory Peck is in the movie, and in 1962 he also won his Oscar for “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

For a forgettable comedy, “Last Vegas” has a truly incredible cast. All five of the primary cast members have at least one Oscar win. Robert De Niro is the headliner there, of course, but Michael Douglas, Alan Arkin, Kevin Kline, and Mary Steenburgen all have an Oscar to their names.

In terms of superhero movies with Oscar pedigrees, “Thor: Ragnarok” is up there, even though Natalie Portman doesn’t return from the first two films. Anthony Hopkins has a brief role and he just added a second Oscar to his name. Cate Blanchett brings incredible gravitas to the villain role. Finally, Matt Damon has a cameo, and technically he has an Oscar, albeit for screenplay. Shout out to "Thor: Love and Thunder," which brought back Portman and also added Oscar winner Christian Bale replacing Blanchett as the villain.

Actors probably love working with Robert De Niro, which may be why he was able to get such a prestigious cast for his directorial offering “The Good Shepherd.” In addition to De Niro being in the movie, the film also features Oscar winners Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci, William Hurt, and Timothy Hutton. Oh, and Matt Damon stars. Not bad for a largely forgotten movie.

“JFK” is a crazy movie, but it also has a crazy-talented cast. While star Kevin Costner won his Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture, that’s certainly notable. In terms of acting Oscars, though, there’s Joe Pesci – who had just won in 1990 – as we well as Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Additionally, Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Oldman would add Oscars after the movie was released.

Speaking of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, those two made several films together. That means a lot of movies with two Oscar winners in it. However, the “Grumpy Old Men” sequel added one more Academy Award winner to the mix: Sophia Loren.

With his turn as Cliff Booth, Brad Pitt finally won an acting Oscar in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” That means the movie currently boasts three Oscar winners. In addition to Pitt, both Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino already had Oscars to their name, and honestly had Leo added another one for this movie it would have been totally justified.

OK, so we’re throwing in a couple actors that have gotten mentioned previously, but “The Irishman” was just dripping with such Oscars pedigree we had to include it. This is the movie that got Joe Pesci basically out of retirement to costar with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Oh, and it was directed by Martin Scorsese as well. Also, someday when Jesse Plemons wins an Oscar you will be able to add him to the list. Yes, we’re calling our shot there.

While there are only two Oscar winners in the cast of this movie, we just think it’s funny that two Oscar winners are in an unfunny Seth MacFarlane vanity project Western. Both Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson are in “A Million Ways to Die in the West.” Jamie Foxx has a cameo as well as his character from “Django Unchained.”

Christopher Nolan knows how to get a cast together. Well, also he seems to always cast Michael Caine, so he always has at least one Oscar winner around. On top of that, though, both Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway were fresh Academy Award winners when they made “Interstellar.” You could also add Matt Damon in if you want to, and future winner Casey Affleck is in the movie as well.

This Ridley Scott crime epic is headlined by a dynamic duo of Oscar winners. Denzel Washington leads the way, as he often does, but he was joined by Russell Crowe for “American Gangster.” Also in the cast in a smaller role is Cuba Gooding Jr. Surprisingly, Ruby Dee never won.

It’s surprising how many of these films are comedies when you look at the list. Usually the Oscars and prestige drama go hand-in-hand. Comedies rarely do well with the Academy. However, Oscar winners don’t mind doing comedy evidently. In Mike Nichols’ remake of a French farce, you can see Oscar winners Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, and Dianne Wiest.

In 1953, both William Holden and Audrey Hepburn won Oscars. The next year, they costarred in Billy Wilder’s romantic comedy. Joining them in the movie? That would be Humphrey Bogart, who was a longtime star but finally won an Oscar in 1951 with “The African Queen.” You know who else was in “The African Queen,” by the way? Katharine Hepburn, of course.