Also a film adaptation of an award-winning book — this time by Toni Morrison — Winfrey portrays Sethe, a former slave navigating the world as a mother and wife in a post-Civil War world. While Beloved didn't earn Winfrey any Oscar noms, her performance was praised by critics everywhere, as well as her costars. Thandie Newton described the actress as acute. "She's a very strong technical actress and it's because she's so smart."