AUSTIN, Texas — It's almost time for Hollywood's biggest night! You can catch the 92nd Academy Awards on KVUE Sunday night at 7 p.m. – and if you're wondering which actors or films to root for, there are some Texas ties at the Oscars this year.
First up and probably most well-known to Austinites is Renée Zellweger. Zellweger, who is nominated for "Best Actress" for her role as Judy Garland in "Judy," is originally from Katy, Texas and pursued an English degree at the University of Texas in the early '90s.
"Austin is a capital for independent film. So, even though there may be some tenuous ties, are almost always ties between Texas and the films that we're talking about during award season, this year there's a very big connection in that Renee Zellweger is a Texan," Holly Herrick, the head of film and creative media for the Austin Film Society, said. "She's from Katy, Texas, was born and raised here. And she is Texan through and through."
RELATED: Oscars 2020: Full List of Nominees
Zellweger also got her start in the film industry starring in local films like "Dazed and Confused" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation."
Next, there's Kathy Bates, who is nominated for "Best Supporting Actress" this year for her role in "Richard Jewell," playing the main character's mother. Though Bates was born and raised in Tennessee, she studied theatre at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in the '60s.
Shifting gears from actors to root for, one of the main characters in a nominated film was also a Texan. "Ford v Ferrari" – which is nominated for four Oscars this year, including "Best Picture" – partly focuses on car designer Carroll Shelby (played by Matt Damon). Shelby was born in Leesberg, Texas, spent much of his time on his ranch in Pittsburg, Texas, and eventually died in Dallas.
Quentin Tarantino, who is nominated for "Best Director" for his film "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood" – which is also nominated for "Best Picture," among other categories – also has a previous tie to Texas. He and close friend/Texas-based director Robert Rodriguez shot their film "Grindhouse" right here in Central Texas.
And if we want to really stretch, there's an "International Feature Film" nominee called "Corpus Christi" – but it has nothing to do with the coastal city of the same name.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING:
- A look at the numbers involving car burglaries in Pflugerville
- Kyle City Council passes new version of 'dangerous' animal ordinance
- Man involved in hit-and-run that left a 5-year-old girl dead gets 360-day sentence
- MAP: KVUE uncovers illegal Austin homeless camps undergoing cleanups by Austin Watershed
- 5 Austin-area companies bubble to the top of the sparkling water trend