It’s been an impressive 12 months for Rylance, who was widely lauded for his role in the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall. He’s starred in two plays – Farinelli and the King by Claire van Kampen in London and Nice Fish by Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins in New York – and is set to appear in a new film adaptation of The BFG later in the year.
But it was for his role in Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies (read our review), alongside Tom Hanks, that Rylance secured his first Oscar nomination – and his first win. He played a softly spoken Russian spy who was being held by the authorities in Berlin, and whom Hanks’s American lawyer fights to release.
Accepting the award, the 56-year-old actor said, "For me to have the chance to work with one of the greatest storytellers of our time Steven Spielberg has been just such an honour..." he said.
"I’m so pleased that our film has been nominated so many times... I think if you ever wonder about acting with Tom Hanks, 'would it help?' The answer is yes... I don’t know how they separate my acting from your acting [the other nominees]… it’s a wonderful time to be an actor."
