Why Victoria Kord From Blue Beetle Looks So Familiar

Contains spoilers for "Blue Beetle"

If you've seen "Blue Beetle," you likely recognized Victoria Kord, the lead villain. Equal parts tech mogul tyrant and actual war criminal, she's a scenery-chewing, one-liner-spitting, downright evil antagonist played by one of the great actors of her generation, Susan Sarandon. Though her performance as Victoria is pretty cartoonish, Sarandon is both versatile and incredibly acclaimed, having earned a treasure trove of awards over the course of her long career.

An Academy Award win and four more nominations. A BAFTA win for best actress. Six Primetime Emmy nominations. Nine Golden Globe nominations. Those are just some of the accolades that Sarandon accumulated before playing one of the most exaggerated villains we've ever seen in a superhero movie. She's been a star for decades, which means that there are plenty of places where you might have seen her face before. Here's why Victoria Kord from "Blue Beetle," looks so familiar.

Susan Sarandon's first film credit came in the 1970 drama "Joe," but she really picked up steam later that year after getting cast as Patrice Kahlman in the soap opera "A World Apart." The first half of the 1970s saw Sarandon land several other prominent roles, including a leading part in the Robert Redford vehicle "The Great Waldo Pepper," before delivering her iconic performance as Janet Weiss in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Still a cult favorite to this day, the wacky film established Sarandon as a versatile and unique actor. She followed it up with a number of other starring roles through the end of the 1970s, playing Chloe in "Dragonfly," Catherine Douglas in "The Other Side of Midnight," and Madeline Ross in "Something Short of Paradise," among others. But it was in the 1980s that Sarandon rose from a bankable and talented actor to one of the most acclaimed and sought-after stars in Hollywood.

Susan Sarandon started the 1980s off with a bang, earning her first Academy Award nomination for her performance as Sally in "Atlantic City." The twisty crime drama follows Sarandon's character — a woman with aspirations of working as a blackjack dealer — as she gets pulled by old connections into a dangerous mob game. The role kicked off a prolific decade for Sarandon.

Some of her more notable films in the '80s include the vampire movie "The Hunger" and the John Updike adaptation "The Witches of Eastwick." In 1988, Sarandon appeared in the popular sports film "Bull Durham" alongside Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins. Though she'd been a successful actor for many years, the cultural impact of "Bull Durham" shot Sarandon to even higher heights. To this day, her performance as Anney Savoy remains one of her best-remembered and most widely known roles.

Because she's appeared in so many classics, it's hard to pin down Susan Sarandon's most significant role. But in the grand history of cinema, she may not have a more influential or well-remembered character than the titular Louise in 1991's "Thelma & Louise." Today, the film is still remembered as a seminal piece of feminist filmmaking, as well as one of the best road trip movies ever made.

"Thelma & Louise" earned Sarandon her second Academy Award nomination, though she and costar Geena Davis both lost out in the best actress category to Jodie Foster's "Silence of the Lambs" performance. Not to be discouraged, she earned another nomination for the same award the very next year for her turn as Michaela Odone in "Lorenzo's Oil." Her fourth best leading actress nomination came with her emotional performance as Reggie Love in the 1994 legal drama "The Client."

After appearing in films like "Little Women" and "Safe Passage," Sarandon earned her fifth best actress Academy Award nomination and her fourth in five years — a truly staggering stat. The nod came for her turn as Sister Helen Prejean in 1995's "Dead Man Walking." Finally, after four contentious losses, she won the award, taking home the most prestigious trophy in the business. She finished out the '90s with movies like "Twilight," "Stepmom," and "Cradle Will Rock."

Though she hasn't had an Academy Award nomination since her win for "Dead Man Walking," Susan Sarandon hasn't let up a bit in the 21st century. She's kept her dramatic chops sharp, playing roles like Grace Brewer in "The Greatest," Grandma Lynn in "The Lovely Bones," Ellen Miller in "Arbitrage," and Lily in 2019's "Blackbird." However, she's also ventured into all sorts of other genres. Sarandon has collaborated twice with the Wachowski sisters, playing Speed's mother in 2008's "Speed Racer" adaptation and several roles in "Cloud Atlas." Her other more recent film credits include "Jeff, Who Lives at Home," "Peacock," "The Calling," and the 2021 Prime Video thriller "Jolt."

Sarandon has also made a lot of TV appearances over the last 20 years. She earned two Primetime Emmy nominations for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series in the early 2000s for her roles as Cecilia Monroe in "Friends" and Meg in "Malcolm in the Middle." In 2017, she earned another Emmy nod for her leading role as Bette Davis in "Feud." In between, she's popped up in all manner of other series, playing Samantha Winslow in "Ray Donovan" and appearing in episodes of "30 Rock," "The Big C," and "Mike & Molly," among others.