MovieChat Forums > Paper Moon (1973) Discussion > Tatum O'Neal as supporting actress?

Tatum O'Neal as supporting actress?

posted 10 years ago by Zuider_Zee
6 replies | jump to latest

I think not. Her role was major and she was in nearly every scene in the movie. Even the source material for the movie carried her name in the title.

[–] FranLovesBetteD 10 years ago

I fully agree. She clearly co-starred in it, and without her wonderful performance, it wouldn't have been half as memorable.

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[–] TMC-4 (19416) 5 years ago

https://www.datalounge.com/thread/23297770-bogdanovich-spills-

Bogdanovich DID have to wring a performance out of Tatum O'Neal (he actually had to bribe her to get her to say her lines) but that didn't take any particular genius. It just took persistence. At rate, Tatum O'Neal's Oscar win was a travesty. The wonderful Madeline Kahn should have won that year. Tatum O'Neal winning the Oscar was a fluke. The Academy probably thought "let's give it to the little girl who smokes and curses in that movie! So cute!" Anyway, Tatum O'Neal's acting career went nowhere very quickly, due to her lack of talent. No way was she ever deserving of an Oscar.

—Anonymous

reply 156 a day ago

[–] newt_jorden 9 years ago

As far as i'm concerned, Tatum was the lead actress of Paper Moon.

[–] strntz 9 years ago

My guess is that the Academy wanted to give her an award, but didn't want it to be the lead actress version.

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[–] Mikey (404) 5 years ago

The studio campaigned for her in the Supporting Actress category because they knew she had a far better chance of winning there than in the Best Actress category. Regardless, her performance in PAPER MOON is one of the greatest performances by a child actor ever preserved on film.

[–] Mikey (404) 3 years ago

Yes, Tatum's performance here is a revelation. And she did do other very good work. Her performance in Bad News Bears is very solid, and she did a (not very good) movie with Kristy McNichol where she was very good as well. She obviously had some talent but is more famous now as just being a celebrity.