Finalists: Elizabeth Rodriguez memorably desperate as "Gabriela" in Logan, Kaori Momoi wonderfully intuitive as "Hari" in a pivotal scene in Ghost in the Shell

Semi-Finalists: Odessa Young as "Maggie" in Sweet Virginia, Sandy Kane as "Gloria" in The Florida Project, Vanessa Redgrave in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

Note: I would have included Lois Smith in Lady Bird and Robin Wright in Wonder Woman but I try to keep these to people who have two scenes or less.

 Casually menacing but unreadable as he toys with unexpected guests before setting off this site-specific tragedy with his toy gun.

 Like Betty Gabriel, he's stunning mixing two personas into one, before memorably handing the film its title.

Finalists: Carlos Sanz as "Carlos" in Stronger, Udi Persi "Blind Date" in The Wedding Plan

Semi Finalists: Will Denton as "Michael the intern" in The Post, Dave Bautista as "Sapper Morton" in Blade Runner 2049 and Joe Alwyn as "Adrian" in The Sense of an Ending

Finalists: Sunny Suljic is haunting once he gets sick as "Bob Murphy" in The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Ahn Seo-hyun as "Mija" in Okja ably carries the film and never once feels like she's acting against a green screenl but an actual giant mutant pig / best friend.

Semi Finalists: McKenna Grace as "Mary Adler" in Gifted, Oona Lawrence as "Amy" in The Beguiled, Chandler Head as "Youngest Jeanette" in The Glass Castle, Jacob Tremblay as "Auggie" in Wonder, and Christopher Rivera as "Scooty" in The Florida Project

 Intense dramatic gifts and a rebellious streak. Originally from Argentina he's already working a lot in Europe and speaks multiple languages. Can't wait to see what's next. Or if Hollywood will catch on.

Next up: Unknown though three recent French films haven't made it to the States. (yet?)

 From the looks of it a true character actor in a movie star body. So good at existing onscreen that it was a shock to realize he wasn't a non-actor kid plucked from the beach. (He's nothing like "Frankie")

Next up: Three completed films already and the TV series Trust (about the Getty kidnapping. He plays the kidnapped grandson)

 Where has this actress been all our lives? The Juillard graduate, who is also a dancer, aced her small but pivotal role in Get Out, and gave it its most memeable moment. What other bomb drops is she capable of onscreen? 

Next up: crime drama Diverted Eden, and the sci-fi horror flick Upgrade

A star was born with her rivetingly amoral turn Lady Katherine this year. The British actress is in demand.

Next up: King Lear (for TV), the Dwayne Johnson film Fighting with My Family, and the next film from Hell or High Water director David Mackenzie

The fine Chilean director Sebastian Lelio has repeatedly stressed that the trans actress was the inspiration for her whole Oscar winning movie. Will other filmmakers come calling? They'd better!

Next up: Hopefully fielding offers?

Finalists: Josh O'Connor & Alec Secareanu (God's Own Country), Shira Haas (The Zookeeper's Wife / Foxtrot) and Arnaud Valois (BPM)

Semi Finalists: Kelly Marie Tran (The Last Jedi), Noah Jupe (Wonder / Suburbicon) and Jessie Pinnick (Princess Cyd)

Biscayart, Valois, Haenel, Reinarts, Borenstein, Maritaud, Sauvage, Bourgade, Touri, Guelat, Russier, Vinatier, Ray, Bentaieb.

 Lively clashing but collaborative bustling cast. The actors are so good and immediate that you're there in the room with them.

Elgort, Bernthal, Hamm, Gonzalez, Howard, James, Spacey, Diggs, Jones, Foxx.

Wonderfully stylized movie-movie turns, as colorful as the movie, rev up this super fun hit. 

Kaluuya, Williams, Keener, Whitford, Jones, Henderson, Gabriel, Stanfield, Root, Howery.

 Jordan Peele's zeitgeist hit gets much mileage from the skill of its cast at handing its multi-faceted nature. They're doing satire, comedy, drama, thriller, and horror acting all at once. Basically they're everything. 

Ronan, Metcalf, Letts, Hedges, Chalamet, Feldstein, Smith, Henderson, Rush, Rodrigues, Scott.

 Gerwig's gorgeous coming of age comedy gets a perfect cast, all of them completely in synch and so vivid you wish they could all have their own movies.

Mulligan, Hedlund, Banks, Clarke, Mitchell, Blige, Morgan, Cahill, Arnold, Harrison Jr, Faust.

Dee Rees multi-threaded narrative gives all of its cast members chances to shine. They're even better when they're warily colliding onscreen.

Finalists: Girls Trip and Novitiate

Semi-Finalists: The Big Sick, The Florida Project, Lady Macbeth, Detroit, and Wonder

Gayle Keller 
THE BIG SICK

Hunter & Romano & Kazan as a family is so smart and an unexpected masterstroke for a movie that knows you just don't marry someone, you marry their family. 

 This must have been a bear to cast with almost an entirely unknown cast. They all deliver and exist in this peculiar world.

So much exciting fresh talent to watch. Plus subversive deployment of familiar talent (Whitford, Keener, Williams all doing great work)

  It takes a village one supposes to corral this many actors, many who were just about to break-out during filming.

 Her commitment to color blind casting pays big  dividends here. A refreshingly modern take on the period piece.

Finalists: Zsolt Csutak, Francine Maisler, and Lucinda Syson find an eclectic mix of soulful and strange faces for Blade Runner 2049, Billy Hopkins and Ashley Ingram find two large families to mingle Mudbound

Semi-Finalists: Sig de Miguel and Stephen Vincent for Novitiate, Lelia Fournier and Sarah Teper for BPM, Francine Maisler for Baby Driver, Deborah Aquila, Jennifer L Smith, and Tricia Wood for Wonder, Rich Delia for It