A successful pianist, she actually performed all the piano music in her Oscar-winning performance in The Piano (1993). The producers chose pieces suited to her talent.
She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In Los Angeles's Silver Lake neighborhood, she lived in the same house as Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Frances McDormand and Sam Raimi.
For her role in The Piano (1993), she hired a sign language interpreter to help her create her own sign language.
Just two days before filming began, she won her role in Broadcast News (1987), replacing several then better-known actresses.
At the age of 47, she gave birth to twin boys (her first and second children), Press MacDonald and Claude McDonald. The children's father is her boyfriend Gordon MacDonald.
Hunter's uncle was the first commander of the Thunderbirds, the world-famous United States Air Force demonstration squadron made up of fighter pilots.
When she moved to New York to become an actress, her roommate was Jason Alexander.
She was director James L. Brooks's first choice to play the female lead in As Good as It Gets (1997), but reportedly too much money was demanded up front and the part went to Helen Hunt instead. Hunter had previously worked with James L. Brooks on the 1987 film Broadcast News (1987).
While living in the North Bronx, she turned down the lead in Blood Simple (1984), but she introduced the Coen Brothers to her roommate Frances McDormand, who took the role and eventually married one of the brothers. Hunter's voice can be heard in the film in an answering machine message.
Along with Fay Bainter, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald, Jessica Lange, Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Julianne Moore, Jamie Foxx, Cate Blanchett and Scarlett Johansson, she is one of 12 actors to receive Oscar nominations in two acting categories in the same year. In 1994, at the 66th Academy Awards, she was nominated for Best Actress for The Piano (1993) and Best Supporting Actress for The Firm (1993), winning the former award.
She replaced Debra Winger for the role of Jane Craig in Broadcast News (1987).
She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Drama.
She won her Oscar-winning role in The Piano (1993) against Anjelica Huston, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Juliette Binoche and Isabelle Huppert. Sigourney Weaver's agent had turned down the offer before sending her the script.
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen saw her in "Crimes of the Heart" and wanted her for Blood Simple (1984). Because she was committed to another play, "The Wake of Jamey Foster," they chose her roommate Frances McDormand instead. Frances McDormand married Joel Coen.
She turned down the role of God in Dogma (1999).
She won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in The Piano (1993), in which she had no dialogue.
She began playing the piano at the age of nine.
She has appeared in two films selected by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Broadcast News (1987) and The Incredibles (2004).
She was considered for the role of Carolyn Burnham in American Beauty (1999), but Annette Bening was chosen instead and earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.
She was considered for the role of Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994), but Uma Thurman was chosen instead and earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.
A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) College of Fine Arts (CFA); School of Drama, class of 1980.
In 1993, she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Piano (1993), in which she used her real-life piano skills. Eleven years later, Jamie Foxx won Best Actor for Ray (2004), in which he also played the piano. Both were nominated for a supporting performance in their respective years, and both were nominated for a role opposite Tom Cruise. Hunter appeared in The Firm (1993) and Jamie Foxx in Collateral (2004).
Her role as Jane Craig in Broadcast News (1987) ranked 66th on Premiere Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.
She was honored with the Drama-Logue Award for Outstanding Performance for "A Lie of the Mind" at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Wings of Desire (1987) is one of her favorite films.
In her first film, The Burning (1981), she had one line among several improvisations. Regarding the missing canoes, she says to Todd, "What happens if we don't find them?"
She made her Broadway debut in "Crimes of the Heart."
She was a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival.
She became the 107th actor to win an Oscar; she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Piano (1993) at the 66th Annual Academy Awards (1994).
She has been in a relationship with Gordon MacDonald since 2001.
She is the daughter of Charles (1910-1982), born in Tennessee, and Marguerite (née Catledge) Hunter (1918-2011), born in Mississippi.
She stars in the Irish play "By the Bog of Cats," performed in London's West End.
In the 10th grade, she placed eighth nationwide in a poultry judging competition (Interview, 11/95).
She is the second cousin of Anaheim Angels outfielder Tim Salmon.
She spent a summer interning at the Cortland Repertory Theatre in Cortland, New York.
She moved to New York to continue her acting career.
She is the oldest person to win the Best Actress Oscar and become a mother; she gave birth to twins Claude and Press at the age of 47.
She appeared in two films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Broadcast News (1987) and The Piano (1993).
She announced her separation from her husband Janusz Kaminski. They had been separated since Halloween.
She was taught by Jorge Guerra.