As the old saying goes, “Three’s a charm,” which SF State alumna and film star Annette Bening hopes is true. Just weeks ago, her name was announced for her third Academy Award nomination. This time she was nominated in the category of best actress in a leading role for her role in “Being Julia.”
“It’s so exciting, I still can’t believe it,” said Bening.

In “Being Julia,” Bening portrays a middle-aged stage actress who finds it difficult to make distinctions between acting and real life, and as her fame begins to fade, she struggles to stay afloat in the only world she knows or understands.

“My role in ‘Being Julia’ is about as demanding as it gets,” said Bening when comparing her role to other films she’s been in. “There’s so much in one role.”

Julia Lambert, Bening's character, goes through a number of changes and emotions throughout the film ranging from funny to serious which Bening claims “was the delight of it.”

The alumna said either good writing or the character in a script is her main catalyst for choosing a particular role, but for Bening, “Being Julia” had both.

“You don’t see that kind of writing or complexity (in many roles for women),” she said.

Prior to Bening’s Academy Award nomination for “Being Julia,” she received two others. The first was in 1990 for her role as a jaded hustler in “The Grifters.” In 1999, Bening was again nominated for her leading role opposite Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty."

Bening was bitten by the acting bug during junior high school when she witnessed a live theater performance for the first time. She knew it was her destiny and made every effort to make her dream of becoming an actress come true, she added.

She was a drama student in high school, and after graduating went on to attend SF State where she graduated with honors and a bachelor’s degree in theater arts in 1980.

“The drama program was very good and there were lots of plays to do,” said Bening. “But not only drama, I also enjoyed my other courses like Greek history, literature, psychology ... I really enjoyed the knowledge I got out of State.”

The recognition of Bening is also good for the SF State Theatre Department. "It's a great thing, of course,” said theatre professor Carlos Baron. “It's also something people aspire to. Of course, for people entering the profession it's hard to achieve."

Baron said Bening has been a constant source of pride for the department.

Following SF State, Bening went on to train at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
Her acting career began on stage, where she worked in regional theater and on the New York stage until she landed her first film as Dan Aykroyd’s wife in “The Great Outdoors” in 1988. She has since acted in well over 20 films and made numerous TV appearances.

Despite a hectic work schedule, being a wife and a mother of four, Bening still makes time to support and contribute what she can to her old alma mater.

In 1993 Bening returned to SF State to partake in a “sky-breaking ceremony” for a renovated Fine Arts building at the request of August Coppola, then dean of the School of Creative Arts.

Twenty-five years after graduating from SF State, Bening looks back with fond memories on her San Francisco days and leaves current and future students with some advice: “Follow your heart in whatever you choose to do. Even if you may not be getting the support you desire, do what you love.”
Bening is not the only SF State alumni to win an Academy Award. In 1991 Steven Okazaki won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject for his film “Days of Waiting.” Okazaki graduated from the film department in 1976.