1 of 7 | Jennifer Hudson poses for photos after winning the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for “Dreamgirls” at the Academy Awards in 2007. She is among the actors who won an Oscar for her first movie role. File Photo by Phil McCarten/UPI | License Photo
March 2 (UPI) — While some stars wait years to win an Oscar, others receive the award early in their careers.
A select few even earn the accolade for their first film role.
The list of actors who have had an Oscar-winning breakout performance includes Julie Andrews and Jennifer Hudson.
Read on to learn more about the eight celebrities to achieve this milestone.
Shirley Booth
Booth won an Academy Award in 1953 for her role in Come Back Little Sheba, in which she portrayed a recovering alcoholic’s wife.
The story follows Lola, who is navigating the loss of her baby and her beloved dog when Terry Moore’s Marie rents a room in the home.
Booth had earlier received a Tony Award for the role, which she first played on Broadway.
Julie Andrews
The Princess Diaries star won the Academy Award in 1964 for her portrayal of the iconic nanny in Mary Poppins.
Some believe that Andrews, 90, had received the honor as a consolation prize of sorts after she was snubbed for the role of Eliza Doolittle in the My Fair Lady film, despite having portrayed the character on Broadway.
Audrey Hepburn, who landed the role, did not win a single Oscar for the film.
Barbra Streisand
The actress and songstress, 83, received an Academy Award for her breakout role in the 1968 feature Funny Girl, which follows a comedian who falls for a gambling-addicted man.
When Yentl arrived in 1983 and Streisand didn’t receive any nominations, her fans planned an Academy Awards ceremony protest.
Her other accolades include Grammy and Emmy awards, as well as a Special Tony honor.
Timothy Hutton
Timothy Hutton, 65, was just 20 years old when he won the Oscar for Best Support Actor in the 1980 feature Ordinary People.
Robert Redford also made his directorial debut in the film and won the Best Director Award.
The movie follows the ways in which a teenager’s suicidal tendencies fracture a middle class family. Hutton portrayed the teen.
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin, 60, was the fourth actress whose breakout film role secured her an Oscar.
She portrayed a deaf and mute character in Children of a Lesser God (1986), a role that ultimately won her the Best Actress Award.
Matlin, who is hearing-impaired, was 20 when she received the award.
“A lot of deaf people are jumping up and down, understanding there is potential and even people who aren’t deaf just feel great,” she said at the time.
Anna Paquin
The 1993 film The Piano won Anna Paquin the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Paquin, 43, was 11 years old when she won the award, becoming the second youngest actress to get an Oscar.
Tatum O’Neal had won an Academy Award for her performance in Paper Moon.
The film follows a mute Scottish woman (Holly Hunter) who is due to marry a stranger. She plays piano and has a daughter (Paquin).
“I just want to get nominated, at the very least get nominated,” she said of the Oscar at the time.
Jennifer Hudson
Hudson received the Academy Award for her portrayal of Effie White in Dreamgirls (2006).
She got her start on American Idol Season 3, coming in seventh place in the reality singing competition series.
The actress and songstress has the “EGOT” status, meaning she has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
Prior to that milestone, Alan Menken had earned the distinction in 2020.
Hudson also hosts daytime talk show The Jennifer Hudson Show.
Lupita Nyong’o
Lupita Nyong’o won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the 2013 feature 12 Years a Slave.
The movie takes its inspiration from the a memoir penned by Solomon Northrup in 1853.
Nyong’o, 42, has also starred in A Quiet Place: Day One and Black Panther.
Conan O’Brien (L) and his wife, Liza Powel O’Brien, arrive on the red carpet for the Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 2, 2025. Conan O’Brien hosted the Oscars for the first time in 2025 and is returning to host the gala on March 15, 2026. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
