Frances McDormand, and other Oscar-nominated actresses’ ties to LI
Frances McDormand in a scene from "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures
We’re pretty sure that at least one of these five women will win an Oscar on March 4 for either best or supporting actress. But besides their Academy Award nominations, this quintet has something else in common: a connection to Long Island, either on the big screen or in real life:
FRANCES MCDORMAND (Best actress, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) In “City by the Sea” (2002), she played the girlfriend of an NYPD detective (Robert De Niro), who goes to Long Beach to help his estranged son (James Franco), who may have been involved in a murder. The movie, which depicted Long Beach as a broken-down, dangerous city (much to the displeasure of local officials), was actually filmed in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
MARGOT ROBBIE (Best actress, “I, Tonya”) In “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013), she played Naomi, the second wife of stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), who co-founded Stratton Oakmont, the shady Lake Success-based brokerage firm. The Australian actress showed us she could do a Lawnguyland accent as if she were a native.
SAOIRSE RONAN (Best actress, “Lady Bird”) In one scene of the 1950s-set “Brooklyn” (2015), Ronan’s character, an Irish immigrant, and her boyfriend (Emory Cohen), stare lovingly at an empty Long Island field. It could be the site of their future home and, to her, a symbol of America’s opportunity and promise.
ALLISON JANNEY (Supporting actress, “I, Tonya”) While none of her previous movie or TV work had local ties, in real life Janney has fond memories of Long Island. In a 2017 interview with LI Woman, the actress said: “I loved Long Island. As a little girl, I used to go every summer to the Lawrence Beach Club. It was a very happy place for me to come visit my grandparents in Cedarhurst.” In the same interview, she discussed her first boyfriend, who was from Levittown. “He rode a motorcycle, and much to my mother’s chagrin, I would go out on the Long Island Expressway on the back of a motorcycle out to the Hamptons in the middle of the winter. It was crazy!”
LAURIE METCALF (Supporting actress, “Lady Bird”) In the TV movie “The Long Island Incident” (1998), she starred as Carolyn McCarthy, who became an anti-gun activist and a congresswoman after her husband was killed and their son severely wounded by Colin Ferguson in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road massacre.
Andy Edelstein, Newsday's entertainment editor, supervises coverage of TV, celebrities, movies and pop music. He has written three books on popular culture, including "The Brady Bunch Book."
