John Malkovich has been waiting a long time for another major acting-awards moment. He got one in Venice while working on another movie thousands of miles away.
The 72-year-old actor won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 12 for his performance in Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine. The victory gives fresh momentum to an Oscar campaign that was already building around Malkovich before the festival’s closing ceremony.
Malkovich was not sitting inside the Sala Grande when his name was announced. He was filming in Montreal and accepted through a video message instead, telling the festival he was “humbled” to receive an honor previously given to so many actors he admired.
It has also been 32 years since his last Academy Award nomination. Malkovich has been nominated twice for supporting actor, but he has never won an Oscar. A nomination for Wild Horse Nine would be his first in a leading category.
Malkovich Accepted the Award From Montreal
‘Woman Unknown’ wins Golden Lion, Malkovich ‘humbled’ by best actor award at Venice Film Festival https://t.co/teHR2WI4EY
— CTV News (@CTVNews) September 12, 2026
The Best Actor prize came from the Venezia 83 competition jury led by Maggie Gyllenhaal. AP reported that Malkovich could not attend the closing ceremony because he was shooting in Montreal, so his acceptance was delivered to the audience by video.
“I am humbled to be chosen for this award which has been given to so many wonderful actors,” Malkovich said. He was not the only major winner. Mathilde Arcel received the Best Actress Volpi Cup for Woman Unknown, while May el-Toukhy’s film also took the Golden Lion, Venice’s top prize.
‘Wild Horse Nine’ Gives Him His Juiciest Role in Years
Malkovich plays Chris, an aging CIA agent whose health is declining as he begins reckoning with the choices that defined his career. He and longtime partner Lee, played by Sam Rockwell, are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island shortly before the 1973 Chilean military coup.
The Searchlight synopsis says their bureau chief, MJ, played by Steve Buscemi, sends them on the assignment as both men wrestle with their pasts and present conspiracies. Chris’ growing connection with two rebellious students, played by Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas, further complicates the trip.
The cast also includes Parker Posey and Tom Waits, while McDonagh wrote and directed the film. The Los Angeles Times described the part as Malkovich’s juiciest film role in years, one that uses his age rather than disguising it.
McDonagh has said the quieter scenes allow Malkovich to explore Chris’ regret, sadness and guilt beneath the movie’s dark comedy. Malkovich, meanwhile, has spoken about the character as someone looking back at what he has and has not done as he approaches the end of his life.
His Last Oscar Nomination Came in 1994
Malkovich’s first Academy Award nomination arrived with his feature-film breakthrough. His performance as the blind boarder Mr. Will in Robert Benton’s Places in the Heart earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 1985 Oscars, where Haing S. Ngor won for The Killing Fields.
Nine years later, Malkovich returned to the category for playing would-be presidential assassin Mitch Leary opposite Clint Eastwood in In the Line of Fire. The Academy lists him alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Ralph Fiennes and Pete Postlethwaite among the 1994 supporting-actor nominees. Tommy Lee Jones won for The Fugitive.
Venice Had Already Given Him a 13-Minute Ovation
When Wild Horse Nine had its world premiere in Venice on Sept. 3, the audience gave the film a standing ovation reported at roughly 13 minutes. PEOPLE reported that Malkovich became visibly emotional and fought back tears as the applause continued. Sam Rockwell, Parker Posey, Steve Buscemi, Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas were among the cast members who attended the premiere with him.
The Oscar questions had already started by then. Malkovich treated them cautiously, saying the attention was welcome but that he cared more about audiences noticing the film, McDonagh’s writing and direction and the work of the ensemble than about an individual campaign.
He was similarly dismissive of the idea that renewed awards attention might make this a natural point to stop. Asked about retirement in Venice, Malkovich said he plans to continue doing the work he loves and joked that the industry will retire him when the time comes. Wild Horse Nine opens in U.S. theaters on Nov. 6.