Amy Madigan’s victory for Best Supporting Actress at the 98th Academy Awards for her role in the horror film Weapons represents an unusually rare outcome for the genre at the Oscars.
Madigan beat fellow nominees including Teyana Taylor, prompting renewed interest in when a horror performance last earned an Academy Award in an acting category.
The most recent occasion prior to Madigan came in 2010, when Natalie Portman won Best Actress for Black Swan at the 83rd Academy Awards. Black Swan was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing but did not win in those categories.
That 16-year gap highlights how seldom the Academy rewards horror performances. Before Portman’s win, the genre’s previous acting victories dated back to 1991, when both Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster won for The Silence of the Lambs. Foster’s award followed just one year after Kathy Bates’s Best Actress win for Misery in 1990.
Every acting Oscar awarded for a performance in a horror film (by year of award):
- Best Supporting Actress – Amy Madigan for Weapons (2026)
- Best Actress – Natalie Portman for Black Swan (2010)
- Best Actress – Jodie Foster for The