Frances McDormand is a wonderful American actress who has been in films since the eighties of the last century. During her long career, she was nominated for an Oscar five times and was awarded the coveted statuette two times. Usually McDormand plays active women with strong character.
Childhood, study and the first serious role
Francis Louise McDormand was born in the summer of 1957. When the girl was one and a half years old, she was adopted by a devout family from Canada. The identity of the artist's biological mother is still unclear; Francis herself believes that, most likely, she was a parishioner of the church in which her adoptive father Vernon McDormand served (he was a Protestant pastor).
In 1975, Frances Louise graduated from high school, and in 1979 she received her bachelor's degree from Bethany College in West Virginia. Then, following the recommendation of one of the college teachers, the girl continued her education at the Yale School of Drama. Interestingly, Holly Hunter, who later also became famous as an actress, was Francis's dorm roommate during her years at Yale. And in 1982, after graduation, they moved together to New York and rented an apartment there.
To earn a living in a huge city, Francis McDormand had to be a restaurant cashier for some time and even starred in a beer commercial. McDormand's first really serious acting work was acting in a play, which was staged at his own expense by the poet (and in the future Nobel laureate in literature) Derek Walcott. There was little public interest in the production (performances were sometimes canceled due to lack of spectators), but for the actress it was still a rewarding experience.
Meet the Coen brothers and a role in "Fargo"
In 1984, Frances' girlfriend Holly Hunter advised her to audition for Blood Simple. It was Joel and Ethan Coen's debut feature film. McDormand's audition was successful, she was approved for the role of one of the heroines - the Texas girl Abby. The neo-noir thriller "Just Blood" could have been a failure and put an end to the career of Francis and the Coen brothers in the cinema, but everything worked out - the audience greeted the picture very favorably, it even won several prizes at various festivals.
On the set, a romantic relationship began between the actress and Joel Cohen, which eventually turned into a strong creative and marriage union (it continues to this day!). In 1994, Joel and Francis adopted a child - a boy from South American Paraguay named Pedro (at that time he was about six months old, now, of course, he is already an adult). Thanks to this step, the actress, by her own admission, learned Spanish.
In 1996, another masterpiece by the Coen brothers, Fargo, was released. Here, Frances played the shrewd female police officer Marge Gunderson, who, despite her pregnancy (in order to fake her, the actress had to wear a fake belly), successfully tracked down the criminals. This acting work was highly praised by professional film critics. As a result, for the role of Marge McDormand received her first Oscar, as well as several more awards (in particular, the Independent Spirit Award).
Further achievements of Frances McDormand
In 2000, the film academy again nominated Francis for an Oscar - this time for the role of an overly caring mother in the youth drama "Almost Famous." In 2001, Frances McDormand took part in the crime film The Man Who Wasn't There. Directed by the Coen brothers again, this film was subsequently recognized by the famous Cannes Film Festival. In 2003, Francis appeared in the melodrama "Love by the Rules and Without", and in 2005 - in the fantastic action-packed thriller "Aeon Flux". But, perhaps, the most successful role of this period should be considered the role of Glory Dodge - an iron mine worker in the film "North Country". In 2006, McDormand was again nominated for an Oscar for her.
At the end of the 2000s, Frances McDormand showed herself on the stage of Broadway. And here her talent was also appreciated: for her role in the production of "Country Girl" McDormand was nominated for the Drama Desk Award, and for the performance "Good People" she was awarded in 2011 the oldest and most prestigious award in the field of theatrical art - Tony.
In 2013, McDormand appeared in the film by Wes Anderson, which is known in the Russian box office as "The Kingdom of the Full Moon." The plot of this film tells the story of two teenagers who voluntarily left the summer scout camp. In addition to McDormand, stars such as Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and Harvey Keitel were involved in minor roles in Anderson's film.
In 2014, Frances McDormand starred in the four-part miniseries Olivia Kitteridge. Moreover, in this project, she was also engaged in producing.
Three years later, in 2017, Frances McDormand again loudly declared herself, playing in the drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. In the image of Mildred Hayes, a middle-aged provincial whose daughter was raped and killed, she was remembered by many viewers. In March 2018, for this work, McDormand was solemnly awarded the second Oscar in her brilliant career.
