BRIDGE OF SPIES' Mark Rylance Wins Oscar for Best Supporting Actor

BRIDGE OF SPIES Mark Rylance has won the 2016 Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. This was his first Academy Award nomination.

Other actors that received nominations in the category were:

Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Rylance won TONY AWARDS for his performance in BOEING BOEING on Broadway in 2008 and in JERUSALEM in 2011. He is also a two-time Olivier Award recipient for Much Ado About Nothing at the Queen's Theatre and JERUSALEM in the West End.

Rylance recently appeared on the West End in RICHARD III and TWELFTH NIGHT; he also reprised those roles on Broadway last fall. Other stage credits include LA BETE, TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA and HENRY V, among others.

Film appearances include The Other Boleyn Girl and Anonymous. He has also appeared in the TV drama The Government Inspector.

About BRIDGE OF SPIES: In 1957, in the midst of the Cold War, New York insurance lawyer James Donovan is enlisted to provide a pro-bono defense for Rudolf Abel, who is accused of spying for the Russians. The CIA then sends Donovan to East Berlin to conduct precarious negotiations with the Soviets to exchange Abel for a recently captured U.S. Air Force pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

The 88th ACADEMY AWARDS are taking place tonight, Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and are being televised live by the ABCTelevision Network. The Oscar presentation is also being televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. Comedian, actor and filmmaker Chris Rock returns as host of the event for a second time.

Photo courtesy of ABC