Oprah Winfrey - 5 things you probably don't know about the media mogul

3. She was nominated for an Academy Award

Part of Oprah’s success has to do with the fact that she’s a jack of all trades. And that includes the film industry. In 1985, she co-starred in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple as the distressed housewife Sofia. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her performance was one which helped steer the unknown narrative surrounding African American women in the 20th century, tackling issues like incest, domestic violence, pedophilia, poverty, sexism and racism.

She also produced and starred in the film Beloved, which was based on Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. To prepare for her role as the protagonist and former slave, Sethe, Oprah experienced a 24-hour simulation experience of slavery, which included being tied up and being left in the woods blindfolded.

And in 2018, Oprah is starring as Mrs. Which in the film adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s novel A Wrinkle In Time.