Editorials
Horror at the Oscars: Ruth Gordon’s Best Supporting Actress Win for ‘Rosemary’s Baby’
With over a century’s worth of cinematic witches, Ruth Gordon’s turn in Rosemary’s Baby as Minnie Castevet broke the mold. To be fair, the reveal that the disarming, matronly Manhattanite serves Satan comes as a late-game twist, but even then, Minnie doesn’t revert to an archetypical witch form. Minnie Castevet remains as effervescent, stylish, and unflappable as she is from the start, even as Rosemary’s Baby ends on its iconic shocking final shot.
That is by design, of course. The very notion that the Devil’s most loyal followers aren’t physical monsters or social outcasts but everyday people who sold their souls for money and status is the audacious foundation for Rosemary Woodhouse’s (Mia Farrow) harrowing plight, after all. While writer/director Roman Polanski, adapting Ira Levin’s bestselling novel, effectively lays the groundwork to ensure this reveal achieves its seismic intended impact, much of the credit belongs to Ruth Gordon as Rosemary’s overbearing but warm new neighbor.
It’s easy to overlook Minnie’s significant role in heralding the Antichrist through her continued manipulations of Rosemary when Gordon is such an unstoppable force of nature. Whereas horror often relegates Satan’s servants to darkness, both in design and spirit, Minnie Castevet is a bright flash of lightness. The petite, elderly woman is pure energy and rapid fire wit, with an icy contempt lingering just beneath a polished, bubbly surface. There’s a deceptiveness to Gordon’s sing-song line delivery that makes Minnie’s dialogue stand out. You can practically hear Minnie beaming with feisty pride with quotes like, “He chose you, honey! From all the women in the world to be the mother of his only living son!” Gordon’s Broadway background and prolific career, combined with her comedic chops, effortlessly carved out Minnie’s spot as one of horror’s most memorable all-time villains.
Not even the Academy could deny the actor’s incredible and subversive work on Rosemary’s Baby, earning Gordon her first Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress in 1969. For context, Gordon, born in 1896, was 72 years old when she collected her gold statue and had already amassed four Academy Award nominations in her career for her screenwriting and acting. For additional context, Gordon beat out fierce competition from Estelle Parsons (Rachel, Rachel), Lynn Carlin (Faces), Sondra Locke (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter), and Kay Medford (Funny Girl).
Gordon’s charming acceptance speech cuts right to the heart of this unique win: “I can’t tell you how encouragin’ a thing like this is. The first film that I was ever in was in 1915, and here we are, and it’s 1969. Actually, I don’t know why it took me so long; though I don’t think, you know, that I’m backward. Anyway. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, Bob. Thank you, Roman. And thank you, Mia. And thank all of you who voted for me. And all of you who didn’t, please excuse me.”
Horror doesn’t often receive notice from the Academy and similar awards organizations, though the genre’s technical achievements have an easier time getting recognition than award categories that are already overstuffed with prestigious critical darlings and award contenders. It does make the rare wins all the more noticeable and meaningful, further highlighting the all-encompassing nature of horror. It’s a genre that lets a prolific, tenured Broadway actress and award-winning screenwriter embody a vibrant Satanic neighbor in a way that only she could, earning her a long overdue, late-career win at 72 years old in a crowded, highly competitive field.
The truth is that horror thrives with or without award recognition, but it is validating when it happens. Ruth Gordon’s Best Supporting Actress win in 1969 is the cherry on top of an incredible career-defining performance, the type that changed the genre while serving as a warm, feel-good reminder to keep pursuing your dreams.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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