Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1999
Gwyneth Paltrow Shakespeare in Love 1999
SEX WORKER ROLE
Clementine in Hard Eight 1996
Character Is A Prostitute
Gwyneth Paltrow in Hard Eight 1996
“Hard Eight” chronicles the relationship between an experienced gambler and his inexperienced apprentice. Gwyneth, the female protagonist in this film, portrays the role of the protégé’s girlfriend. Her character, a cocktail waitress and part-time hooker, defies conventional expectations. Critics agreed that Gwyneth’s casting in this role exceeded expectations and praised her extraordinary performance. Some of the critics reviews are below.
The L.A. Times would write of Gwyneth’s performance:
“In her best role yet, Paltrow is so convincingly damaged she takes on the properties of fine china. A wrong move and we’re all goners.”
The Chicago Tribune wrote:
“Paltrow, a brilliant British intellectual in “Emma,” here plays, just as convincingly, a stupid, pretty Reno hooker. (More than Elizabeth Shue in “Leaving Las Vegas”), Paltrow gets a whore’s body language, wary smile and cliche patter.”
Watch scene from the film “Hard Eight”
To read more about other Oscar-winning actresses playing characters working in the sex trade industry, please continue perusing Oscar Hookers