Supporting Actress: The Chart, The Poll, The Stats
Friday, January 16, 2015 at 7:25PM It's funny how little news coverage there is now each time Meryl Streep breaks her own Oscar records. With her 19th nomination she's just 5 more away from DOUBLING the previous record holders (Jack Nicholson & Katharine Hepburn) whose record of 12 nominations she broke a dozen years back with Adaptation (2002), her 13th. Five would seem like a ridiculous number remaining to even mention (only roughly two dozen actresses have managed five nods in entire careers in the history of the world) but it's Meryl and she's nominated each time she makes a movie and makes them (almost) every year. Maybe she'll reach that big number before her 75th birthday in the summer of 2024?
Supporting Actress nonsense, The Arquettes, and more trivia after the jump...
"Honest Movie Posters" teehee. love the tagline.
I don't quite know how Meryl fares in the hiearchial history of actors who've appeared in the most Best Picture (anyone?) but she's starred in 5 nominees, 3 of them winning during the course of her career. Of this year's supporting actress lineup only Laura Dern has never appeared in a film nominated for Best Picture, despite being unarguably tied to David Lynch in movie culture, a man who is quite popular with the director's branch.
Another interesting stat is that three of the five women are from showbiz families: Keira Knightley's parents are an actor and a playwright, Patrica Arquette's entire large family (parents and siblings) were or are all actors of varying degrees of fame though she's the only to win multiple high profile showbiz trophies (Big sister Rosanna Arquette won a BAFTA for Desperately Seeking Susan); Laura Dern is famously the daughter of two enduring character actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd. Laura joins them in having the distinction of being Oscar nominated multiple times for acting. Meryl & Emma were not born into showbiz families.
The Arquettes back in the day (I believe this is from the early 90s?): David, Alexis, Patricia, Richmond, Rosanna
The Arquettes recently: Alexis, David, Patricia, Richmond, and Rosanna
With Patricia Arquette's near-sweep of pre-Oscar prizes both large and teeny-tiny for playing "Mom" in Boyhood (that's literally how she's billed but I believe the character is named in the film, I just can't remember it. Anyone?) there's little drama left in who might win the Oscar that night. So let's make our own drama and suspense with the following questions in the comments.
1. Who among these talented five nominees will be the first to be back in Oscar's good graces (besides Streep)? That's always hard to say. It took Keira a full 9 years to return and Laura Dern a gasp-inducing 23 despite her amazing gallery of characters!
2. Will Patricia Arquette bother to memorize a speech in time for Hollywood's High Holy Night? She's an actress. Surely she knows how to memorize.
3. Who do you think should win? Vote on the poll and read our theories about how they each got nominated on the new chart.
Reader Comments (69)
Philip H - Right? But the performance was so great I could see the steamroll coming from July. It really moved me, and I hardly paid attention to Arquette before. This is a case of someone winning because it's deserved, not because she had the best campaign, is "due", is popular, or gives a baity performance.
I'm basically okay with the nominees, but I would have nominated Arquette, Coon, Kulesza, Swinton and Dickens. So many great supporting performances this year - but there are every year.
suzanne -- agreed. I've long wondered if it's the supporting categories that need to be 10 wide rather than Best Picture. since there are hundreds of supporting performances a year. there are fewer leads and fewer movies made. than there are supporting performances within them.
My five would have been:
AGATA KULESZA "Ida"
MARION BAILEY "Mr. Turner"
LINDSAY DUNCAN "Birdman"
POLLY DRAPER "Obvious Child"
LESLEY MANVILLE "Mr. Turner"
And not one of them made the cut. I knew they were all long-shots. But I thought that - on the strength of widespread love from the critics - Kulesza had a chance as a kind of artistically undeniable choice a la Cotillard in "Two Days, One Night". Manville's role in "Mr. Turner" was brief ,I know, but, boy, did she make every second count.
And even beyond these five, II'd rate Gaby Hoffman ("Obvious Child") and Andrea Riseborogh ("Birdman") ahead of any of the ladies who actually snagged nominations in this category. But the glory's in the work ,not the prizes - and the seven ladies I've cited have all covered themselves in glory this year.
"Riseborough barely registers in Birdman."
Oh, please.
Yeah I kind of wish Meryl wouldn't be nominated anymore just to avoid this bitchfest that occurs every time she is nominated. Saying she should remove herself from competition like Oprah is silly. It's not like she even wins that often. If anyone should have been removed from this lineup, I would pick Arquette, Knightley and Dern. I guess it's nice for a low key performance like Arquette to win, but I'm not feeling her. I also love Dern but she wasn't given enough to do. I'll take this nomination as a make up for Inland Empire. I would pick Chastain, Russo and Thurman to replace them.
Streep will be back for Ricki or Florence Foster Jenkins. Suffragette seems like a cameo. Maybe Dern will be back for 99 Homes. Knightley and Stone will probably be back the soonest out of the four. I can't see Arquette coming back but who knows.
Meryl has the astonishing archievement of 11 noms now since she turned 40, the age of most Hollywood actresses were declared as "dead" in the past film days.
And now she's nominated for playing a witch. A witch from a fantasy musical!
I was sceptical she could pull it off, but I was always sure if someone could get nominated for a role like that, it would be her.
I don't care what people say, I'm just impressed by her powers.
Ah, Polly Draper. So wonderful in OC.
I will say this. Kiera was one of the best things about IG, a film I did not care for. She did a great job, just not better than Chastain or Russo.
Ken: I LOVED Lesley Manville in Mr. Turner. She was so much fun.
Birdman was full of great supporting performances. Watts, Riesborugh, ZG, Amy Ryan and Duncan, who does more with two short scenes than many leads do with over an hour of screen time. It's a crime the company didn't push for more of it's actors to land nominations than just Stone and Norton.
It was another film, like GBH, where every actor was allowed to register and felt like a full, complete construction (Merrit Weaver, the costume guy, the original actor etc.). It's not my favorite film, but I appreciate the attention to detail and richness.
Nobody seems interested in your other "inquest."
Bette Davis has been in at least 7 BPN: Jezabel, Dark Victory, All This and Heaven Too, The Letter, The Little Foxes, Watch on the Rhine, and All about Eve, only the latter won. I think she appears as an extra in a bar scene in the The Maltese Falcon, which will make it 8. But it could have been some other Warner movie.
Greer has at least 5 with one win. Kate also has at least 5; no wins though
Probably some supporting actor wins this, though.
Nathaniel- how about another top 10 not nominated streep performances??
Jamie -- well we have a month to discuss these five ladies so there will be more something ;)
I have come up fr a surefire way to make a film that receives an Oscar nomination. The film is less than a minute long, does not require a script or a budget, and can be shot right on your phone - and yes, it is guaranteed to be nominated for an Academy Award.
The title of the film is "Meryl Streep Farts."
Basically, you just feed her a bowl of chili, plant her in front of the camera, and tell her to let one rip.
She will get a nomination. They have no choice. The time-space continuum will end if they don't.
Such is the Power of The Streep.
Josh - this brings up an interesting question even though you meant it as a joke. Is there any rule against an actor being nominated for appearing in a short film? I've never heard it discussed.
Although not explicitly stated in the rules, I think actors (like directors, cinematographers etc.) can only be nominated for feature films elsewhere referred to in the rules as "eligible releases."
I just saw Into The Woods....thought the film was a complete bore. Meryl is good, she sings well but she doesn't deserve the nomination, nor do Laura and Kiera. I would put Tilda (Snowpiecer), Agata Kulezwa (Ida) and Imelda (Pride) in their respective places.
As far as I know, there's no rule against actors being nominated for shorts - although, since virtually none of them ever meet the theatrical release requirement, it's essentially a moot point.
This year's Supporting Actress race just feels to me like a missed opportunity. With so many interesting, surprising and dynamic performances in films that actually were, to varying degrees, on the Awards radar, this slate feels a bit prosaic, and frankly, very safe. There's some consolation to be had from the fact that, in all likelihood, the right person will be getting the award - regardless of who else had been nominated, Arquette would still have been my pick - but the underwhelming nature of the category in general has been a bit of a buzz kill.
At this point, we’re really not supposed to say anything bad about The Streep, since certain things are to be accepted without questioning. Remember that thing they taught us in school about Democracy being the best form of government? Well, even if a few dozen Tea Party crackpots can force a complete shutdown of the entire federal shebang, you can’t fault the model, gosh darnit.
Likewise, I’ve discovered that in certain quarters, if you broach any contradiction to the edict that The Streep is The Greatest Actress Who Ever Was, people will react as if you said something bad about America. I’ve spoken this blasphemy before, and I’ve been unfriended on Facebook for doing it. I’m not exactly sure why certain folks seem to have so little sense of proportion when it comes to Our Lady of the Accents, but this is not to imply that their insistence upon her genius is entirely lacking in merit. The Streep is unquestionably great. She has given some of the best and most memorable performances of the last 30-odd years. That her talent level is through the roof, residing somewhere in the stratosphere, is beyond reproof. I suspect she’s abundantly aware of this.
It isn’t that she's become complacent as a performer; she doesn’t just coast on her abilities, though at times, she seems to be responding more to her characters as Great Acting Opportunities than as flesh-and-blood human beings, and the favored mannerisms and inflections are starting to look so precise and polished that they might as well be kept under glass at Tiffany’s. The fact is, she doesn't surprise me anymore - Devil Wears Prada was the last WOW I got out of her, and since then, all she seems to be good for is displacing more deserving candidates in Oscar races with foolproof vehicles. I just wish that The Academy - and people in general, really - would exercise a little more forbearance where she's concerned. Reputation first, performance an afterthought, and the result is predetermined. Is it just me, or is the entire enterprise is starting to feel as rigged as Olympic Figure Skating?
People complain about Streep but certain actors are frequently nominated (DDL, her, Jack Nicholson when he was working). My feeling is that she has replaced Nicholson to become the Oscars MVP, so they will keep nominating her as long as she does good work. She is taking next year off after the Frears movie, so people can put down their knives and focus on other women.
Of the other ladies, my feeling is Emma Stone will be back soon. Very popular and just starting to get good film roles.
re: Meryl's incessant nominations. I'm actually OK with her being nominated for Into the Woods, because even though she has the most outre, showy caricature of a role in ITW, it's still not as mimicky and annoying as her Iron Lady or Julia Childs, or even her Violet Weston really. It's not a model of restraint, but I found it easier to enjoy than most of her nominations as of late. Here's hoping she gets back into a more Adaptation/Prada type of phase.