A couple of Minnesotans are no strangers to the Academy Awards.

Joel and Ethan Coen, filmmakers from St. Louis Park, have won four Oscars and have been nominated more than a dozen times. 

Mark Zimering grew up with the Coen brothers and remains friends with them to this day.

“It was a great place to grow up,” Zimering said. “We had a lot friends and made a lot of mischief in elementary school. Joel was the older one, so he was more of the leader. He was very outgoing. Ethan was much more introspective. He was very quiet.” 

Even with their fame and fortune, Zimering says the Coen brothers haven’t changed over the years.

“They’re very down to earth,” Zimering said. “Very normal. They haven’t forgotten their beginnings. They have been very generous with the people they grew up with.”

Zimering acted in the first Coen brothers’ homemade movies around their St. Louis Park home.