For Your Consideration: Julia Roberts, Best Supporting Actress

In a category that is stacked with star power and towering performances, it is hard to gain any sort of attention. The race for Supporting Actress has been between Jennifer Lawrence, the "it girl" of the world, and Lupita Nyong'o, the newbie with the most astonishing few minutes on screen. There was never really much of a chance going up against them. They are also both in Best Picture frontrunners, which generally catapults you in front of your competition. When it comes down between two people fighting for the Oscar in any category, the other three nominees are left in the shadows and have to try desperately to gain attention; in this case, June Squibb, Sally Hawkins, and Julia Roberts are those three. June Squibb, I am sure is just happy to be nominated this late in life, especially since her performance will be called the performance of her career. Sally Hawkins is lucky she was even nominated, and I am sure is content with the fact she was able to knock out Oprah. That leaves Julia Roberts, who I believe should have been in a lot more discussions than she has been.

Julia Roberts was once the Jennifer Lawrence of her generation. Go back to the late 80s through the early 2000s and Julia was everywhere. She was once one of the biggest box office stars and the highest paid female actress. In 1989, she received her first Best Supporting Actress nomination for Steel Magnolias, followed by a Best Actress nomination for Pretty Woman in 1990, and then finally winning Best Actress in 2000 for her work in Erin Brockovich. Julia has certainly done it all.

In August: Osage County, Julia has turned in yet another fantastic performance. Some consider it the performance of her career, while others have praised Julia for just showing us a new and darker side to her acting. You could make the case that her character is co-lead along with Meryl Streep, which was once a source of conflict for the studios when they started their campaigns. I personally would consider her performance a leading performance, but The Academy ultimately rules where to place performances. There have been multiple cases of category fraud over the years, even winning performances, so this is not anything new or unheard of. Generally it would give you the upper hand to have a supporting nomination with a co-lead performance like Julia Roberts, but her competition has turned in show stopping performances as well, and that makes it harder to even be recognized.

Julia's performance is one to be discussed and remembered, not forgotten. She goes deep into her emotion as she portrays a woman desperately trying not to become bitter and washed-up, like her drug addicted mother, played by Meryl. Her character has to fight for her own sanity and freedom as her world crumbles apart, and as she slowly starts shaping into something she never wanted to be. It is in those last few minutes of the movie, where Julia shows this raw emotion that we all face, where we either choose to let our demons destroy us or we crush them ourselves and muscle the strength to move forward. It is a performance that I keep going back to in my mind, and that is due to the great acting done by Julia. Her character is a foul-mouthed, sharp witted, and a bitter one to swallow, which for me is normally little to be desired, that you struggle with through the whole movie, but if you are me you end up on the sympathetic side. I give Julia Roberts high praise, for turning in such a performance. It is nothing like she has done before, and that to me is always a great achievement. 

If I were an Academy member, I would be scratching my head at how to vote for this category. I think if it came down to it, my vote would probably go to Lupita Nyong'o, but every time I think that I feel dissatisfied. I go back to Julia's performance, and then to Jennifer's, and then to back to Lupita. I am happy that this is the case though, because that means they are all deserved nominees. My heart truly wants Julia Roberts to win, but because my head knows that won't happen, it fights with Jennifer, whose performance also has my heart. Soooo, here is how it should go: 

Should win: Julia Roberts 

Will Win: Lupita Nyong'o 

BIG Potential: Jennifer Lawrence 

I can say I would be happy to see any of those three walk away with that golden man named Oscar. My only wish is that people would not forget Julia's brilliant performance. I understand the competition gave just as astonishing work, but it would be a crime to not include Julia in the best performances of the year. I hope you can appreciate it as much as I do!