The Knock-out Supporting Actresses

The acting categories at any awards show, I feel, are generally the most anticipated. People love to see an actor or actress they love be awarded the best in whatever category they were nominated and for whatever award they are winning, just to justify their love for that actor/actress. I cover the acting categories pretty heavily, because they are the most anticipated, next to, of course, Best Picture. This year the movies and performances that are getting Oscar attention seem to be pretty stellar, and with critics being so divided it makes for quite a race and competition. In one of my first posts I made the comment that Best Actress is generally my favorite category, but because it seems that the nominees seem pretty locked in, it kind of makes for a slightly boring race; I feel the same for Best Actor. The supporting acting categories are unpredictable and up in the air, which makes for fun categories to discuss and predict. As I have already discussed Best Supporting Actor, it is now time to put the spotlight on Best Supporting Actress.

Fun fact: the shortest ever Oscar winning performance was Beatrice Straight's win for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Network;  her screen time was 5 minutes and 2 seconds. Also, the shortest ever Oscar nominated performance was from Hermione Baddeley for Room at the Top in the Best Supporting Actress category;  her screen time was 2 minutes and 19 seconds. These two little fun facts show that for this category, that is, for the supporting actress, you do not have to do as much work as the supporting actor to win or be nominated. To get recognized for such a short length, you better come in and give a fierce performance, ala Beatrice Straight style. This year the supporting actresses, with obvious varying degrees of screen time, give some of what I think to be the best acting of the year; but that is without having seen them all. So here are the women to pay attention to; they are ranked in order of likelihood of nomination:

1. Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave. She has already won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award and has been nominated for other critics awards for her role as Patsy. She plays a victim of rape and several beatings as the slave that her evil master, played by Michael Fassbender, is in love with. She picks 500 pounds of cotton a day, more than any man, but is tortured by her master’s wife, played by Sarah Paulson. This is Nyong'o's film debut, and boy does she knock it out of the park. She does not have a whole lot of screen time; in fact, you do not even see her until the half way point of the film. In her less than 15 minutes on screen, she gives one of the most important and memorable performances of the year. It took me a long time after seeing the film to decide if I want to root for her all the way to the Oscar, but I need to see the rest of the buzzed about performances before I do so, but as of now, she is my choice to win this category. Nyong'o's impeccable powerhouse acting is ingrained in my memory, and without it, I am not so sure the movie would be as talked about and praised. That is what a great supporting performance is supposed to do. 
2. June Squibb, Nebraska. At the age of 84, you would assume an actress at that age would have quite the filmography, but sadly June Squibb has been very much over looked. She has had small roles on film and television since 1990, but she managed to find success on Broadway in the 60’s. This year June Squibb finally was able to break out into full stardom by playing the snappy wife of, and the raved about performance by, Bruce Dern. June won the Boston Film Critics Association award and has been nominated at many other critics’ awards, and it is unlikely that the love of her performance will stop anytime soon. I fully expect to see her nominated at the Oscars, and maybe if her love grows, she could possibly win. I have not seen her performance, though I am desperately waiting too! 
3. Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle. Talk about someone who is loved by many, Jennifer Lawrence just cannot be forgotten. At first, American Hustle started to just be a so-so movie, with only raves for Lawrence, then all of a sudden the movie started popping up on almost every top 10 list and is winning many critics’ awards. Everyone, probably Lawrence included, was surprised win she won the New York Film Critics Circle award last week, taking down all the top supporting actress contenders. She plays the emotionally fragile wife of Christian Bale, and so far she is the biggest stand out performance from the movie. Last year she won the Lead Actress Oscar, and this will be the first time that a Lead Actress winner steps down to the Supporting Actress category the year after winning. She has the love of everyone in Hollywood and pretty much the world right now, and that has to be factored in somewhere. If she starts winning the big awards, do not be surprised, because I believe with her love and popularity alone, she could easily win the Oscar. 
4. Oprah Winfrey, The Butler. I will try to be nice here. I very much disliked The Butler, and I tried to like it and I was even excited to see it. My thought before seeing it was, I know that Oprah can act, so this movie will hopefully be great. As it turned out, it became a political vehicle for African Americans to praise Obama. That did not settle well with me, because it made every white president look racist, and Ronald Reagan was quite the opposite. So the whole film left me feeling annoyed. Back to Oprah, side note- I personally thought she deserved to win the Supporting Actress Oscar for The Color Purple back in 1985- I found her performance in The Butler to be the only thing that I can say I somewhat liked from the movie. My thinking though is this, if we took Oprah out of that role and stuck someone else in, would this performance even be considered for an Oscar?  I honestly do not think so. I think this movie is also a vehicle to get Oprah an Oscar. Is she worthy to be nominated, after a lot of thought, I will say yes; But, I would also be okay with her performance being left out of nominations as well. She has not received any critics love, but that is because most critics hated the movie or just thought it to be mediocre. I expect her to be nominated at the Oscars, because I know Oprah has the love of people and she has Harvey Weinstein, Oscar campaign God, who no doubt will get her nominated. If she wins, all I can say is, I am not sure if I will be in rage mode or not. Let’s just hope she does not win. 
5.  Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station. I was very conflicted about putting her in front of a couple other contenders, but she won the National Board of Review for supporting actress, so she has some critics’ love. I personally am most baffled by the love and high praise for this movie and performance. I think it is the most overrated movie, along with The Butler, this year. I do not understand. Like Oprah, if there has to be a spotlight from the movie, then Octavia is the one to cast it on. I love Octavia, and I was very happy when she won this category two years ago for her performance in The Help. In this movie, she plays the religious mother of a gunshot victim from police brutality in a true story. Spencer has little screen time, but with what little she has, she manages to be effective and memorable. I am not so sure if she will be nominated come Oscar time and I cannot say if I feel she is worthy or not. Her few scenes are great, but not having seen all the other contenders, I cannot help but think there has to be more worthy supporting actresses. Her love is based on the critics who have loved the film, but will the love be as strong within the bigger and more prestigious voting bodies? She will have to fight to be nominated, but I would not be surprised or upset to see her left off the big award nominations. 
6. Julia Roberts, August: Osage County. Julia Roberts use to be America's sweetheart, and well loved by The Academy, but she has taken a back seat in the film world to be a mother and a wife, and I feel this is her comeback. A few months back there was a bunch of heat surrounding the movie, because the studio that is running the awards campaign kept going back and forth on where to place Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. They went back and forth regarding co-leads, Meryl supporting and Julia leading, and settling at Meryl leading and Julia supporting. Many people, having seen the film, have also had mixed reactions on their category placement, but Julia is being campaigned in supporting with Meryl leading, but The Academy can choose to place them in whatever category they feel. Some have even said Julia's performance is superior to Meryl Streep's, which is saying something. The movie centers on Julia Robert's character journeying home to attend the funeral of her father and visiting with her dysfunctional family. Julia has not received any critics’ love, but that is because the movie has received mixed reviews with people praising only the performances. It is an ensemble movie, and those generally do not fare well with critics. I personally think, this is without having seen the film, that Julia will be nominated at the Oscars. I would love to see her nominated, and I honestly cannot wait to see the film. 
7. Margo Martindale, August: Osage County. Margo has not had big roles in movies, but has managed to have lots of supporting roles in film and most prominently in television. She too is being praised for her supporting work in August: Osage County with Julia and Meryl. It is not unheard for there to be double nominees from the same movie, but more often than not it can divide voters and split votes for a nomination and for a win. I have never disliked a performance by Margo, so I am happy to see her being recognized, but I would hate to be under the shadow of Julia Roberts. We will see how she shines, and if she can manage to shine brighter than Julia and pick up a nomination, with or without her.    

The next few ladies are the spoilers, who could possible come along and knock one of the above ladies down:

1. Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine. I have not seen this movie, nor am I acquainted with Hawkins’ body of work, but from many people, she gives a memorable performance from a movie that is being heavily praised for Cate Blanchett's performance. I am not sure if she is worthy or not, but some people consider her to be a dark horse for a nomination. All I know is props to her for, not only acting against what is being said to be the performance of the year with Cate, but also if she knocks down the tough competitors for a nomination.  
2. Carey Mulligan, Inside Llewyn Davis. The movie is well loved by critics, but so far no big stand out performance love. Many people think John Goodman can finally get a nomination for his supporting work in the film, and others think Carey could too. But, I am not so sure. I have not seen the movie, but I know Carey is a fantastic actress and a scene stealer, which is why she makes the list. Either way, nomination or not, I will likely love her performance as I have loved all of her others. 
3. Emily Watson, The Book Thief. The Book Thief is said to be a dark, dark horse for nominations, like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close turned out to be. The movie has been singled out for its performances for Watson and her co-star Geoffrey Rush. Emily has gotten a couple other nominations in the past, so she is loved by The Academy, and just maybe she could be a spoiler to the other likely contenders. 
4. Jennifer Garner, Dallas Buyers Club. I got the chance to see Dallas Buyers Club last week, and the performances throughout the entire movie were outstanding. The only weak link I would say would be Jennifer. I love the woman, she seems to be one of the most genuinely kind and real people in Hollywood. Last year, she rode the awards ride with her famously snubbed, in the directing category, husband Ben Affleck while he won every Best Picture award there was. This year, Affleck could be following her, but because she is outshined by her co-stars, and because the competition is pretty stiff, I am not so sure it is that likely. Stranger things have happened when it comes to people being forgotten everywhere else and become randomly nominated at the Oscars, it has happened before, and it could certainly happen again. I think she deserves a spot on this list, but I do not think she will make it much further than this. 

The Supporting Actress race is one with no consensus winner in sight, but one with a lot of love behind multiple different women. Who knows how it will shape up, but Wednesday and Thursday, with SAG and Golden Globe nominations, we will find out who to look out for. I think the final 5 nominees at the Oscars are on this list, but right now, anything can happen. I hope no consensus will be found, so then we have surprise winners and nominations throughout the award season! Look back later this week to see who gets nominated at the big awards, and share who you think will be nominated!