Kathleen Chalfant, a respected stage actress with a memorable career in film and television, is officially in the running for this year’s Best Actress Award.
Chalfant, star of “The Affair” and “House of Cards,” has been an undisputed favorite for decades. But her appearance in this year’s Venice Film Festival’s flagship film, “Familia Touch,” has garnered attention from Academy members in recent weeks.
Chalfant, 80, will play Ruth, a former chef battling cognitive decline, in writer-director Sarah Friedland’s project. Overwhelmingly positive reviews from Venice praised Chalfant’s career-best performance, with critics finding her work to be both affecting and sensitive.
“Chalfant’s performance never treats Ruth as a pawn or a tragic figure,” Guy Lodge said in Variety’s review of Venice. “The actor, best known for his work in theater, regulates his characters’ shifts in consciousness with graceful precision, sometimes grimacing and tensing his body as he strives to match his thoughts with his words.”
The film was screened at the Orizzonti section in Venice, where it won Best Actress, Best Feature Film, and Best Director. If Chalfant receives the nomination when it is announced in January 2026, he will be 81 years old, making him the second-oldest candidate in the history of the division. She will surpass Jessica Tandy, who was 80 when she was nominated for Driving Miss Daisy (1989), and trail only Emmanuel Riva, who was 85 when she was nominated for Amour (2012).
Chalfant is a prolific presence on both Broadway and off-Broadway. She made her debut in Tony Kushner’s Angel in America in 1993, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. In addition, he won an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Obie Award for his lead role in Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1998 play Wit.
In addition to recurring roles in high-end dramas, Chalfant has appeared in films such as Bill Condon’s “Kinsey” and Whit Stillman’s “Last Days of Disco.”
The film was distributed by Music Box Films and released in theaters on June 20th.
