Advertisement

What’s Next for This Year’s Big Oscar Winners

2014 Oscar winners
2014 Oscar winners

The thrills and chills of awards season are officially behind us. But for Oscar's biggest winners, the rewards should keep coming their way.

To keep you in the loop on who's doing what next, here's a handy rundown of what's in store for this year's Academy Award winners.

[Related: The Best & Worst Moments of the 2014 Oscars]

Matthew McConaughey (Best Actor, "Dallas Buyers Club"):

Since he has no intention of doing a second season of his hit HBO series "True Detective" (pity, that!), where's the McConaughssance headed next? Look for the "all right, all right, all right" star to continue down the path of doing interesting work; he'll soon be seen leading Christopher Nolan's next sci-fi pic "Interstellar" (which hits theaters next Nov.). Bonus: The movie is all about time travel and spacey wormholes — which, judging by his speeches this season, is right up his alley.

McConaughey is on board to show some tush again — and soon — in "Magic Mike 2," which Channing Tatum has been writing next to a bust of McC's head. The tanned, freshly-minted Oscar winner also recently signed on to star in Gus Van Sant's next drama, "Sea of Trees."

[Related: Complete List of 2014 Oscar Winners]

Cate Blanchett (Best Actress, "Blue Jasmine"):

There's a lot of Cate Blanchett left in store for us yet. Look for that oh-so-lovely face to grace the big screen in the third and final "Hobbit" installment next winter. Also, keep an ear out for her voice in this summer's "How to Train Your Dragon 2." Then next year, she'll really be all over the place with starring roles as the Wicked Stepmother in Disney's live-action "Cinderella" and in director Terrence Malick's "Knight of Cups."

In addition, Blanchett will soon begin working on the titular role in "Carol," an adaptation of a buzzy 1952 lesbian romance novel by thriller icon Patricia Highsmith. The irreverent 44-year-old actress is working to develop and star in an HBO passion project of hers called "Cancer Vixen." Oh, and since she's never one to forget her stage roots down under, she's starring in the Sydney Theater Company's production of "The Maids" this August.

[Related: 7 Oscar Mysteries Solved]

Jared Leto (Best Supporting Actor, "Dallas Buyers Club"):

Before "Dallas Buyers Club," Jared Leto hadn't done a film in years — focusing instead on his wildly popular band, Thirty Seconds to Mars. But now that he's a properly decorated thespian, is he going to stick with it or take another cinematic hiatus?


Nothing's set in stone right now (he has joked about an interest in doing rom-coms with Meryl Streep or Lupita Nyong'o next, after all), but it's pretty clear that most of this year will be more musical than theatrical for him. Leto's band will be touring non-stop around the globe from March until the end of July. Then who knows. He told CBS, "If something as beautiful as 'Dallas Buyers Club' and Rayon comes along, I'd be more than happy to be a part of it."

[Related: '12 Years a Slave,' 'Gravity' Top 2014 Oscars]

Lupita Nyong'o (Best Supporting Actress, "12 Years a Slave"):

Seeing as "12 Years a Slave" was her feature film debut, the cinematic world is Lupita Nyong'o's oyster at this point. Currently, she can be seen in a supporting role opposite Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore in the airplane thriller "Non-Stop." But apart from that, her plate is clear.

As for what she'll work on next, now that she's a bona fide Oscar winner, she told The Hollywood Reporter that she will be "listening to her gut" when making that decision.

Alfonso Cuarón (Best Director, "Gravity"):

The next great beyond for movie magician director Alfonso Cuarón is to the small screen. The pilot for Cuarón's "Believe," a sci-fi/fantasy series he created in conjunction with J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot and directed the pilot for, premieres on Monday, March 10 on NBC with all the expectations his renewed popularity carries with it. But apart from the show, his biggest plan for the near future is "to take a nap." As he told HitFix, "I don't do many films. I'm very lazy. I'm very slow in going from film to film. I need to really empty the disc and see what happens."

Spike Jonze (Best Original Screenplay, "Her"):

Spike Jonze holds his Oscar
Spike Jonze holds his Oscar

While the "Her" writer-director was once best known for his work on rock music videos, he's said to be taking more of a permanent interest in filmmaking than he used to — perhaps due to the praise he's received for his techno-romance picture. "I'm not as excited about doing [music videos] as I once was," he told The Independent. While he doesn't have anything lined up yet, look for Jonze to bang out more movies in the near future.

[Related: Oscars Red Carpet Arrival Photos]

Brad Pitt (Best Picture, "12 Years a Slave"):

When it comes to Brad Pitt, the shorter list might include what he's not somehow involved in. As a producer, he's been working on two major TV projects — the ABC series "Resurrection" and the HBO movie "The Normal Heart." His company Plan B Entertainment is behind the "Lost City of Z" adaptation with Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Pattinson. Pitt will also work again with Terrence Malick, narrating his "Voyage of Time."


As an actor, Pitt is next headlining the WWII epic "Fury," and, oh yeah, that sequel to "World War Z" is still very much alive, with director J.A. Bayona recently coming on board to direct. So, per usual, Brad Pitt is keeping himself a busy, busy man about town after bringing home his first Oscar.