It is almost time for this year’s Academy Awards or Oscars. And while it is every actor’s dream to win one of these golden statues, there are some who believe that they bring nothing but bad luck.

Below are some examples (compiled by Newser) of actors who have all supposedly been struck by the “Oscar Curse”.

Instead of going on to bigger and better things after each winning the prestigious award, these seven celebrities took some serious wrong-turns since then:

1. Ben Affleck

After winning the Best Original Screenplay award for Good Will Hunting, Affleck got involved in a series of unfortunate projects. Most notable examples include Reindeer Games and Gigli (pictured above), with Jennifer Lopez. To this day, Gigli remains a Hollywood punchline for actors and filmmakers whose “personal lives and star wattage overshadow their actual industry accomplishments”.

2. Renee Zellweger

Renee walked away with the Best Supporting Actress statue for her performance in Cold Mountain. She was already loved because of her role in Jerry Maguire. But then came Bridget Jones Diary: The Edge of Reason. Followed by Cinderella Man, New In Town and Case 39. Do we need to continue?

3. Cuba Gooding Jr.

Cuba won Best Supporting Actor for portraying that guy who shouted, “Show me the MONEY!” in Jerry Maguire. Too many details of the crimes he’s committed since are still fresh in our minds: Chill Factor, Boat Trip, Snow Dogs, and Radio.

4. Halle Berry

Berry’s acting in the 2000 film Monster’s Ball earned her both the Oscar for Best Actress and the distinction of being the first African-American to win the award. Her follow-up project was Die Another Day, arguably the worst James Bond movie in the history of the franchise. The only thing faster than her rise to the top of the A-List was her fall from it. We blame 2004’s critically-panned Gothika and Catwoman for why she recently headlined the direct-to-DVD Dark Tide.

5. Mira Sorvino

Sorvino went from winning Best Actress (for Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite) to Doctor Bug Hunter in the poorly-received sci-fi horror film, Mimic. After turning up in easily-forgotten genre fluff like The Replacement Killers and direct-to-DVD fare like WiseGirls, she was last seen auditioning for a spot on the back of a milk carton.

6. Adrien Brody

Brody infamously celebrated his Best Actor win for 2002’s The Pianist by rushing to the stage and kissing Halle Berry. The youngest Best Actor winner in the history of the Academy Awards, Brody’s participation in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, Peter Jackson’s overstuffed, underloved King Kong remake and the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it thriller The Jacket put him on the fast track to “where are they now?” status.

7. Eddy Murphy

To be fair, Eddie Murphy was only nominated for an Academy Award, for his turn in the 2006 musical Dreamgirls. But he seemed to squander industry goodwill by reminding Hollywood of his regular output when the fat-suited, mean-spirited Norbit arrived in theaters at the same time he was campaigning for his statuette. Shrek The Third was a big disappointment in comparison to its predecessors, but the one-two punch of Meet Dave and Imagine That more or less sealed his fate as a performer anyone was interested in taking seriously.

[Source: Newser]