In Rob Reiner 's film '' Ghosts of Mississippi '' ( 1996 ) , Woods appeared alongside Alec Baldwin and Whoopi Goldberg . He portrayed the white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith . The film was not a box-office success and received mixed reviews . Critics however praised Woods ' performance . Janet Maslin in her '' New York Times '' review states , " Woods 's performance as the hateful old reprobate Beckwith is the films chief sign of life " . The '' Los Angeles Time '' published an article titled " James Woods is So Good at Being Bad " . In the articles it describes Woods having aggressively lobbied director Rob Reiner for the role , which Reiner originally intended for an actor in his 70s , like Paul Newman . " Beckwith 's Mississippi accent , which Woods perfected by watching tapes and working with an accent coach , helped him distance himself from the character . ' I imagined I was speaking a foreign language ' . " Woods earned a Golden Globe nomination as well as his second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor Voicing Hades in the Disney Animated film , '' Hercules '' ( 1997 ) , critic Roger Ebert described Woods performance as full of " diabolical glee " and compared his performance of " verbal inventiveness " to that of Robin Williams in '' Aladdin '' . Janet Maslin of '' The New York Times '' also praised Woods 's performance remarking " Woods shows off the full verve of an edgy Scarfe villain " , and added " On any level , earthly or otherwise , the ingenious new animated Hercules is pretty divine . " Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported the film has an approval rating of 83 % with the website 's critical consensus reading , " Fast-paced and packed with dozens of pop culture references , Hercules might not measure up with the true classics of the Disney pantheon , but it 's still plenty of fun . " Woods appeared in Sofia Coppola 's directorial debut '' The Virgin Suicides '' ( 1999 ) alongside Kirsten Dunst , and Kathleen Turner . The film premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival to a largely positive critical reception . The film is Certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with the critical consensus reading , " Sofia 's successful directorial debut lies in the movie 's compelling story and the actors ' genuine emotions . " Woods starred in the four episode miniseries '' Holocaust '' ( 1978 ) alongside Meryl Streep , Michael Moriarty , and Rosemary Harris . '' Holocaust '' won the Outstanding Limited Series category for its year
1999 Cannes Film Festival
1999 Cannes Film Festival
James Woods