In 1987 Holly Hunter appeared in Raising Arizona (with Nicolas Cage) and Broadcast News, and was suddenly a movie star. Proving she could do more than rapid-fire dialogue and comedy, Hunter nabbed the 1994 Oscar for her performance in The Piano (1993, directed by Jane Campion). Since then she has appeared in a variety of movies, including Copycat (1995, with Sigourney Weaver), Crash (1996, based on the novel by J. G. Ballard), Living Out Loud (1998) and as George Clooney's wife in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). She earned her fourth Oscar nomination in 2004 for her supporting performance in Thirteen (2003), then switched gears to be the voice of the mom (Helen/Elastigirl) in the animated feature The Incredibles (2004). Hunter has also worked in television, notably as tennis great Billie Jean King in When Billie Beat Bobby (2001) and as the star of the 2007 series Grace.

Extra credit: Hunter is married to Janusz Kaminski, the Oscar-winning cinematographer of Schindler's List (1993, directed by Steven Spielberg).