Thanks to his stunning performance in Wild Horse Nine, John Malkovich has not only won the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival 2026, but could also, according to many, seize his first Oscar. It may sound strange, but the actor has never clutched a golden statuette, the prize for which he has been nominated twice in the best supporting actor category: for The Seasons of the Heart (1984) and In the Crosshairs (1993). Obviously it is early to make guesses, since there is still quite a bit of time before the Academy Awards ceremony, but the prospect pleases journalists, who have another topic to debate with the star, even though assuming certain victories can bring bad luck. But we say this, belonging to a people of superstitions, and indeed Oscar talk surfaced at the London Film Festival, where Malkovich met the audience and said first of all that thinking about cinema’s most coveted recognition gives him a different effect than in the past, and this because in the past “there existed a film industry”:
(The Oscars) preserved – in my view undeservedly, but that’s how it is – a fundamental role in our cultural landscape. And when I say undeserved, I mean that there weren’t so many Chinatown, The Godfather, The Godfather – Part II. Now (talking about the Oscars) is the only way to bring people to the cinema. This situation has been going on for months and months.
Looking back 30 years in memory, the actor stated:
When I was nominated for an Oscar, they would tell you: “You’ve got the Oscar nomination” and that was the end of it.
In any case, John Malkovich has never been a fan of awards ceremonies, and in fact he only attended the one where he was competing for The Seasons of the Heart:
I had a manager named Phyllis Carlyle, and we were heading toward the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. She was a bit authoritative and told me: “Darling, when we get there, there will be a huge crowd.” I replied: “Okay, but can we go in through a side entrance?” and she: “Darling, it’s the Oscars! There is no side entrance!” This is to give you an idea of how I react to such abruptness.
Then John said that Hollywood has changed a great deal in the last 30-40 years and that the shift has been driven mainly by the advent of streaming platforms:
Both Screams of Silence, which was a film nominated for several Oscars, and The Seasons of the Heart had already been released, had done well at the box office and had found success. The same goes for In the Crosshairs. It was a different world. Now (the Oscar campaigning) is the only way to bring audiences into the theater.
Thankfully the actor welcomes the change with open arms:
I am 72 years old, things change. I don’t like thinking that things aren’t what they used to be. They simply change, and you either change with them or you die, and I prefer to change. I will die anyway.
In Wild Horse Nine, a project bearing the signature of Martin McDonagh, John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, two CIA agents who, shortly before Chile’s 1973 coup, are sent from Santiago to Easter Island on a mission, star. The cast also includes Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and Parker Posey, and the film will arrive in our cinemas on November 5, distributed by The Walt Disney Company Italia.
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