Best Supporting Actor

And now, we get to the good stuff. Having previously analyzed the odds and ends and the big techies, we move on to the categories that are more likely to provoke excitement, debate, and name-calling. “He’s overacting!” “She disappears into the role!” “How could the Academy have nominated that guy over THAT guy??”

In my view, discussion of the acting categories isn’t especially interesting in terms of who will win (especially not in these two races, which are both veritable locks), or even who should. It’s most valuable as an excuse to publicize my own ballots, which are meant to fend off post-hoc grumblings about “snubs,” and which can be cited (and ridiculed) in perpetuity. Sure, it’s fine years after the fact to kvetch that Lily Gladstone should have been nominated in 2016 for her devastating performance in Certain Women, but how many of you monsters were on record saying that at the time?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

NOMINEES
Emily Blunt—Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks—The Color Purple
America Ferrera—Barbie
Jodie Foster—Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph—The Holdovers Read More

Here we go. Having blitzed past some technical categories large and small, we now get to the good stuff. This morning, we’re looking at Best Supporting Actor and Actress; later today, we’ll turn to the screenplays.

Let’s start with the boring supporting race first.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

NOMINEES
Brendan Gleeson—The Banshees of Inisherin
Brian Tyree Henry—Causeway
Judd Hirsch—The Fabelmans
Barry Keoghan—The Banshees of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan—Everything Everywhere All at Once Read More

There are quite a few competitive races at this year’s Oscars, including several in categories we’ve previously analyzed. They do not include the races for the supporting actors, which are virtually written in stone at this point. But who cares? After all, the whole point of this annual exercise isn’t to predict the winners but to officially log my own choices so that years from now, I can issue boastful statements like, “Sure, you all like Anya Taylor-Joy now that she’s earned her third Oscar nomination of the 2020s, but how many of you put her on your ballot in 2018 for Thoroughbreds??”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

NOMINEES
Jessie Buckley—The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose—West Side Story
Judi Dench—Belfast
Kirsten Dunst—The Power of the Dog
Aunjanue Ellis—King Richard Read More

And now, we get to the good stuff. Having already analyzed the technical categories at this year’s Oscars, both large and small, it’s time to dig into the races that you really care about. Today, we’re looking at Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress; tomorrow, we’ll move on to the lead actors.

Ladies first:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

NOMINEES
Maria Bakalova—Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close—Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman—The Father
Amanda Seyfried—Mank
Youn Yuh-jung—Minari Read More

Thus far in our ongoing Oscars analysis, we’ve looked at some odds and ends and some technical categories. Today, we get to the good stuff: the supporting actor and actress races.

One curious thing about this year’s Oscars is that all four of the acting awards are virtually sewn up; the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes, and the Screen Actors Guild all honored the same performers in each category (ignoring the Globes’ musical/comedy offshoots for lead actor, neither of whom is even nominated here). This makes predicting these particular Oscar races rather boring. But who cares? The juicy stuff with actors isn’t who will win, but who should—and, more importantly, who appears on your own personal ballot. The quality of acting in cinema these days is extraordinarily strong, so narrowing down each category to a proper quintet is always a daunting challenge.

Who made the Manifesto’s cut? Read on to find out. Read More