Amy Madigan, a trustee of Reed College in Portland, won best supporting actress at the 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles Sunday for her portrayal of the great aunt of a young boy whose classmates go missing overnight in the supernatural thriller “Weapons.”

Madigan, who is currently based in Malibu, California, joined Reed College’s board of trustees in 2016, the same year her daughter graduated from the college.

Earlier this month, Madigan won the SAG Award for the best female actor in a supporting role for her performance in “Weapons,” after losing to Teyana Taylor in “One Battle After Another” at this year’s Golden Globe Awards.

Madigan, 75, chuckled as she went on stage to accept the Oscar.

“We’re kind of advised, ’Don’t say all these names, as nobody knows who the hell these people are,’” she said. “But you’re not rattling them off. They mean something to you, that you couldn’t be here without them.”

The last time she was nominated for an Oscar was for her role in the 1985 family drama “Twice in a Lifetime,” setting a record for the longest gap between nominations for an actress.

“Everybody’s asking me … ‘Well it’s been 40 years, what’s different about this time?’” Madigan said. “What’s different is this little gold guy.”

Her character in “Weapons,” Aunt Gladys, is so integral to one of the movie’s biggest twists that she was kept out of the press tour and early marketing for the film so as to not give away any spoilers.

Her character is “kind of inspiring in a strange way,” despite being the movie’s villain, she said after her Oscar win.

If given the opportunity, she would love to reprise the role in an Aunt Gladys prequel, she said.

Meanwhile, the Washington state–filmed Netflix hit “Train Dreams” didn’t score any Oscars.

The 103-minute movie, based on a 2011 novella of the same name by the late Denis Johnson, was nominated for best cinematography, best original song, best picture and best adapted screenplay. It was primarily shot in eastern Washington, including Spokane and Colville.

The period drama, set in the early 20th-century Pacific Northwest, centers on the life of Robert Grainier, who travels from Idaho to Spokane, Washington, for railroad construction work. While there, he witnesses a group of white men throwing a Chinese worker from a bridge and later begins to question the impact that incident has had on his life.

The film has been screened at festivals across the country and has received numerous accolades, including best feature film, best director and best cinematography at the Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony in Los Angeles last month.

The best picture award at this year’s Oscars went to “One Battle After Another,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio as its leading actor. The best original song award was won by “KPop Demon Hunters,” which was also named Best Animated Film.

The Oscars for best cinematography and best adapted screenplay went to “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another,” respectively. Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the cinematographer for “Sinners,” is the first woman in Oscars history to win the award.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/15/amy-madigan-train-dreams-oscars/