The Foreigners Who Swept The Actor Oscars, Jess Cagle On The Roles That Preceded Their Winning Ones

NEW YORK, March 4, 2008

Daniel Day Lewis earned best actor honors for "There Will Be Blood" (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

(CBS) And the acting Oscars go to -- four actors from countries other than the United States.

Hollywood shut out Americans for those coveted trophies at this year's Academy Awards, with foreigners taking home the statuettes for best supporting and lead actress and actor.

Javier Bardem won supporting actor for "No Country for Old Men," as did Tilda Swinton for "Michael Clayton." Marion Cotillard copped best actress honors for "La Vie en Rose," and Daniel Day Lewis won best actor for "There Will Be Blood."

Trouble was -- many Americans simply weren't all that familiar with most, or even all of the four.

To see photos of top moments from this year's show, click here.

On The Early Show Tuesday, entertainment contributor and People magazine Executive Editor Jess Cagle sought to rectify that, giving viewers a look at the careers of the four actor winners -- at what led them to the Oscar spotlight.

"I wasn't surprised they won," Cagle told Russ Mitchell. "I was surprised when the nominations came out, and it was so clear that Hollywood had kind of shut itself out of the nominations. It's been awhile since that happened, but not really a surprise."

To see a list of this year's winners, click here.

Cagle's overview:

Javier Bardem had portrayed Cuban poet and novelist Renaldo Arenas, who dies of AIDS in what Cagle called the "brilliant ... beautiful, lyrical" movie, "Before Night Falls." The handsome Bardem also played a model and ham factory employee aspiring to become a bullfighter in the Spanish film, "Jamon Jamon." Bardem appears completely naked in "Jamon Jamon." Bardem is currently dating Penelope Cruz, with whom he - starred in "Jamon Jamon."

Tilda Swinton walked away with best supporting actor in a female role for her part in "Michael Clayton." Swinton is a true eccentric artist who's appeared in numerous movies, including "The Chronicles of Narnia," in which she played the White Witch. That, says Cagle, is the work most people know her from, but "I don't think the people who saw 'Michael Clayton' realized this was the same person who played the White itch. Swinton had a leading role in the critically acclaimed film noir, "The Deep End," in which her character is a mother who covers up a murder that she suspects her son plays a role in.

Marion Cotillard is a French actress and hasn't been in many mainstream movies. But, she had a part in the 2003 Tim Burton film "Big Fish." Cagle describes it as "a terrific movie, kind of underrated."

Daniel Day Lewis is almost certainly the best-known and most notable actor of the bunch. What's interesting about Lewis is his complete immersion in his roles. In "My Left Foot," he refused to get out of wheelchair in-between takes, and in preparation for "The Crucible," he moved out to where they would film it and lived in a simple log cabin to connect spiritually with his role as John Proctor.