McDormand was still virtually an unknown when she won an Oscar nomination playing a meek Southern woman abused by her Klansman husband in Alan Parker's "Mississippi Burning" (1988). Her character's unconsummated relationship with Gene Hackman's FBI agent produced scenes that were a stunning tutorial on how to express emotion without words. She played one of her few up-market characters--a lawyer--to Liam Neeson's comic-book vigilante in Raimi's "Dark Man" and won the admiration of Ken Loach for her turn as an American human rights activist in his political thriller set against the battleground of Northern Ireland, "Hidden Agenda" (both 1990), prompting the august British director to tell her as she was leaving, "Not only have you changed my opinion of actors, you've changed my opinion of Americans." She also offered tense comic relief as the ex-wife of Peter Gallagher and lover of Tim Robbins in Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" (1993).

McDormand admits now that she took roles in the failed Hollywood comedies "The Butcher's Wife" (1991) and "Passed Away" (1992) "to prove that I could be funny" and her lackluster part as Patricia Arquette's sister in "Beyond Rangoon" (1995) so that she could travel to Malaysia. After "Fargo", Hollywood needs no further proof that she can be funny. McDormand's likable, reality-based performance as the deputy investigating a series of killings made the Coens' chilling bit of madness safe for decent folk to laugh at and brought her much-deserved stardom along with practically every acting prize. She also delivered acclaimed turns that year as the alcoholic hooker June in the heist comedy "Palookaville,” a football-crazed divorcee in friend John Sayles' underrated Western "Lone Star" and a psychiatrist interviewing a potential killer in the courtroom thriller "Primal Fear.”

McDormand flirted briefly with television in the 80s, acting in the 1985 TV-movie "Scandal Sheet" (ABC) and as a regular in the short-lived detective drama "Leg Work" (CBS, 1987), but her work for the small screen in the 90s has been more inspiring. She rejoined fellow Yale grad and NYC roommate Holly Hunter for Martha Coolidge's "Crazy in Love" (TNT, 1992) and joined first-time directors Kathy Bates for the monologue drama "Talking With" (PBS) and Tommy Lee Jones for TNT's "The Good Old Boys" (both 1995). She also turned up as Gus, a tough-talking mechanic, in HBO's acclaimed look at the working poor, "Hidden in America" (1996), starring Beau Bridges. Her return to the stage as Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire" netted her a Tony nomination in 1988, and after performing at Yale Repertory in "A Moon for the Misbegotten" (1990-91), she was back on the Great White Way in Wendy Wasserstein's "The Sisters Rosensweig" in 1992, followed by a turn in "The Swan" (1993) at NYC's Public Theatre.

Since portraying a German Jewish doctor incarcerated by the Japanese during World War II in "Paradise Road" (1997), which she filmed prior to receiving her Oscar, McDormand has been very selective in her projects. In Dublin she courageously essayed the role of Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1998), and though the famous neurotic was a reach for her, one had to applaud her risk-taking. On film that year, she donned the habit as Miss Clavell, the headmistress of the boarding school girls of "Madeline", based on the books of Ludwig Bemelmans, and she also returned to the New York stage in a modern adaptation of "Oedipus". Teaming with director Curtis Hanson for his first foray into comedy, "Wonder Boys" (2000), McDormand excelled in the quiet, understated part as a college chancellor, revealing new facets of her screen persona. She next surfaced amidst the huge ensemble of Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" comedy-drama (2000), playing the overprotective, unintentionally funny mother of the young journalist (Patrick Fugit) drawn from Crowe's experiences as a teenager writing for Rolling Stone. In 2002, McDormand stood by her man as husband Robert DeNiro realizes that the killer he has been searching for is his son in the crime drama "City By The Sea.”

The following year, she portrayed a entirely different kind of mother from her "Fargo" and "Almost Famous" roles in the indie feature "Laurel Canyon," a drama that also co-starred Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale. Although the film was lackluster, it was invigorated by McDormand's fresh and fearless performance as a sexually confident record producer in her 40s who sketchy personal choices and innate desire to stay youthful, hip and edgy has alienated from her son (Bale) and intrigued her future daughter-in-law (Beckinsale). McDormand was equally appealing in her too-brief turn as Diane Keaton's tell-it-like-is sister in the romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give" (2003).

After a supporting role in the blockbuster bomb, “Aeon Flux” (2005), McDormand again appeared with her “Flux” co-star Charlize Theron in the far more competent and emotionally involving “North Country” (2005). She played a smiling, but tart-tongued truck driver at an iron mine who helps her friend Josey (Theron) speak out against the poor treatment of female employees by their male counterparts. McDormand earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by An Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. She also got a nod from the Academy Awards, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.