North Carolina has a rich history with the Oscars. Here are some of those connections
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North Carolina’s history of making movies
The way North Carolina’s current film incentive program is structured, the state is unlikely to host the production of another blockbuster movie like “Iron Man 3.” But the film industry here, which spans more than 100 years and just set a record in 2021, seems to have found a sweet spot by producing TV shows and smaller movies. And it isn’t just North Carolina’s locations on screen. One famous face could win an Academy Award this weekend. Are you, or the places you love, the state’s next screen gem?
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North Carolina not only has a rich history when it comes to productions filmed in the state — and artists born here — but sometimes the ultimate magic happens and those productions (or people) get recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Here’s a look at some of North Carolina’s connections to the Oscars.
Ava Gardner
The highly regarded actress (married at various times to Frank Sinatra, Artie Shaw and Mickey Rooney), was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in the 1953 movie “Mogambo.” Audrey Hepburn won that year for “Roman Holiday.”
NC connection: Gardner is a native of Grabtown, an unincorporated community about nine miles southeast of Smithfield in Johnston County.
‘Deliverance’
This terrifying 1972 movie, based on the book by James Dickey, was nominated for three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing. It didn’t win.
NC connection: Most of the movie was shot in Georgia and South Carolina, but according to Screenrant, scenes in the “rundown town” of Aintry were shot in Sylva, NC.
‘Being There’
In this highly acclaimed dark-comedy, Peter Sellers starred as Chance, a simple-minded gardener who is struck by car and taken to the estate of wealthy business mogul (Melvyn Douglas) to recover. There, he is mistaken for a highly educated businessman and his simple observations are taken as the most profound words of wisdom. Douglas won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Sellers was nominated for Best Actor.
NC connection: The grand estate where Chance recovers after his accident is the Biltmore House in Asheville.
‘The Color Purple’
Hard to believe this powerful Stephen Spielberg-directed film, released in 1985, had 11 nominations (including Best Picture, Best Actress for Whoopi Goldberg and Best Supporting Actress for Oprah Winfrey) and didn’t win a single one. And no nomination for Spielberg.
NC connection: The movie, based on the Alice Walker novel, filmed in Anson, Union, Mecklenburg and Rowan counties.
‘Blue Velvet’
David Lynch was nominated for Best Director for his critically acclaimed 1986 mystery. Oliver Stone won that year for “Platoon.”
NC connection: “Blue Velvet” was shot in Wilmington and Lumberton.
‘Crimes of the Heart’
This 1986 movie, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, starred Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Tess Harper and Sam Shepherd. It got three Oscar nominations: Best Actress for Spacek, Best Supporting Actress for Harper, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It did not win.
NC connection: The movie was filmed in the Wilmington area, including Southport, Caswell Beach and Winnabow.
‘Dirty Dancing’
This is one of the most well-known movies to ever film in North Carolina — and it did win its Oscar. The 1987 movie starring Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey and Jerry Orbach, won the Oscar for Best Original Song: “I’ve Had the Time of My Life,” performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.
NC connection: The movie was set in upstate New York but filmed in at Lake Lure in Rutherford County. According to Wikipedia, the Lake Lure scenes were filmed at the former Boy Scout Camp, Camp Occoneechee (now a private residential community), and in the ballroom of the Lake Lure Inn. (Some scenes were filmed at Mountain Lake in Virginia.)
‘Bull Durham’
The 1980s were a great time for filming movies in North Carolina and one of our all-time favorites is this 1988 film starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. The movie received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay (written directly for the screen) but did not win (“Rain Man” took the prize).
NC connection: This movie was not only shot in Durham, but set in Durham and based (loosely) on the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team. The movie was also filmed in Raleigh, Burlington, Greensboro and Wilson.
‘The Last of the Mohicans’
This 1992 historical drama directed by Michael Mann and starring Daniel Day-Lewis won the Academy Award for Best Sound, the only Oscar won by a film directed by Mann.
NC connection: “Mohicans” is set up upstate New York during colonial times, but it was filmed in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Waterfalls in the movie include Hooker Falls, Triple Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, Linville Falls and others. Scenes set in Albany, NY, were shot in Asheville at The Manor.
‘The Fugitive’
In 1993, you could “search every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse” and not find a more exciting movie. Tommy Lee Jones, the FBI agent giving the search orders referenced above, won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
NC connection: The movie was shot in Swain, Graham and Jackson counties. And the wreckage from one of the film’s most exhilarating scenes — the scene in which Harrison Ford (the fugitive) escapes from a train vs. bus crash — was left behind (at the request of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad) and is now a tourist destination.
‘Forrest Gump’
Much of modern American history unfolds onscreen in this 1994 movie, all through the perspective of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), an Alabama man with an IQ of 75. The movie also starred Sally Field, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise. It was nominated for 13 Oscars and won six: Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Zemeckis), Best Actor (Tom Hanks), Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects.
NC connection: During Forrest’s three-year “jog,” one memorable shot shows him on NC’s Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain. The area is so recognizable it’s known to some as “Forrest Gump Curve.”
‘Patch Adams’
This 1998 Robin Williams movie, based on the true story of a man who wanted to become a doctor and use humor to help patients, was nominated for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score.
NC connection: Much of the movie was filmed on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville (as well as along the Blue Ridge Parkway ) and on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
‘The Green Mile’
This 1999 Tom Hanks drama (based on a Stephen King story) was nominated for four Oscars: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Michael Clarke Duncan), Best Sound and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Published.
NC connection: The nursing home from which the Paul Edgecomb character tells the story of his time at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary is actually Flat Top Manor, located in the Moses Cone Memorial Park in Blowing Rock. The 20-room mansion was built in 1901 for Moses Cone, a textile entrepreneur.
‘Iron Man 3’
The 2013 Robert Downey Jr. blockbuster got an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects in 2014.
NC connection: This movie had lots of locations, including many in the Wilmington area and scenes at the Epic Games offices in Cary.
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore won the Best Actress Oscar in 2014 for playing an Alzheimer’s patient in “Still Alice.” She had previously been nominated for her work in “Boogie Nights” (1997), “The End of the Affair” (1999), “Far From Heaven” (2002) and “The Hours” (2002).
NC connection: Moore was born at Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville, N.C., but grew up in multiple states across the U.S. and attended high school in Germany.
‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’
This 2018 drama received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Best Original Screenplay for Martin McDonagh, and Best Supporting Actor nominations for Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. McDormand and Rockwell both won.
NC connection: Most of the movie was filmed in Sylva, and the actual billboards used in the movie were put in a pasture near Black Mountain. Town Pump Tavern in Black Mountain was used as a set.
Emily V. Gordon
The 2018 romantic drama “The Big Sick” was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, which was written by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon. (Jordan Peele won the Oscar for “Get Out.”) The movie is based on the real-life love story of Nanjiani and Gordon.
NC connection: Gordon is a native of Winston-Salem.
‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’
This biopic, released in 2021, portrays the marriage of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker against the backdrop of the scandals that toppled their evangelical empire, the PTL. The film is nominated for two Oscars: Best Actress (Jessica Chastain) and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
NC connection: The majority of the movie is set in Charlotte, and the entire movie, according to the film’s director, was shot in and around Charlotte between September and December of 2019. The Charlotte Observer — which also plays an important role in the movie — reported that areas of the Queen City and its suburbs play themselves while also standing in for settings in California, Minnesota and Virginia.
Ariana DeBose
The 31-year-old dancer/singer/actress, previously best known for her work on Broadway (including a role in “Hamilton” and a Tony nomination for “Donna Summer: The Musical), won an Oscar in 2022 for her role as Anita in the 2021 “West Side Story” remake, directed by Steven Spielberg.
NC connection: DeBose was born in Wilmington and grew up in Raleigh and Wake Forest, graduating from Wake Forest-Rolesville High School. Her mother still lives here and is a teacher at Wakefield Middle School. On a “West Side Story”-related note, Paul Tazewell, an alum of the UNC School of the Arts (and costume designer for for Broadway’s “Hamilton”), is nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design.
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "North Carolina has a rich history with the Oscars. Here are some of those connections."
