Adams / Weisz + Oscar
Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at 12:47PM 
Weisz and Adams at their first Oscars as nominees
This year marks the second time Rachel Weisz & Amy Adams have been nominated together in the supporting actress category: Weisz for The Favourite, Adams for Vice. The first time they did so was for their first nominations, thirteen years ago for The Constant Gardener and Junebug respectively. They are linked together in my mind -and possibly for some of you - because of that. Adams’ performance in Junebug is my favorite of her nominated performances and I've always said that if she had won that year we wouldn’t be talking about overdue status for years on end.
Since that time their Oscar careers have diverged...
Weisz only really had awards heat once in the interim years. In 2012 she won the New York Film Critics Circle award and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea. Alas she didn’t make Oscar’s final shortlist.
Adams arriving at the Oscars as a nominee
Adams meanwhile had better luck with the Academy raking up six nominations in thirteen years. That is nearly a nomination every other year. Wow. She has been brilliant many times but has also been lucky to be in movies that the Academy's acting branch went crazy for. Junebug remains the last time she was her movie’s sole acting nominee. In fact she has always been one of either three nominees (The Fighter, The Master, Vice) or four (Doubt, American Hustle) from her film, while being unsuccessful in her bids to be the sole acting nominee (Enchanted, Big Eyes, Arrival -- three films for which she received precursor recognition but no Oscar love).
Adams has been consistent since that Junebug breakout and has endeared herself to fans with several great performances. My favorite remains Enchanted, a star turn that's pure joy as she embodies goodness and kindness. Her work in Vice is arguably a retread of her previously honored performance in The Master, though it was fun to watch her deliver faux Shakespeare.
Weisz has had more ebbs and flows to her career, but she always delivers. However for a while her films didn’t connect with audiences or critics despite her stellar work. Since The Lobster -her first collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos - she’s been on a tear. I heard her in an interview earlier this year stating that for her to take on a project it has to be “transgressive.” She certainly showed us exactly that in 2018 with Disobedience and The Favourite. I still can't get over her performance in the latter. She gets Lanthimos’ sensibility like no other actor, and her facility with the cadence of delivering those cutting line is delicious. And have we talked about her determined walking? I’m so happy to see her get Oscars’ recognition this year and can't wait for next transgressive film.
Adams and Weisz by the numbers
Oscar Nominations
Adams: 6 (Junebug, Doubt, The Fighter, The Master, American Hustle, Vice)
Weisz: 2 (The Constant Gardener, The Favourite)
Golden Globe Nominations
Adams: 7 (Doubt, Enchanted, The Master, American Hustle, Big Eyes, Arrival, Vice)
Weisz: 3 (The Constant Gardener, The Deep Blue Sea, The Favourite)
Major Critics Awards
Adams: LAFCA for The Master, National Society of Film Critics for Junebug and The Master.
Weisz: NYFCC for The Deep Blue Sea
Metacritic Average
Adams: 59
Weisz: 57
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Reader Comments (61)
I tink this article is to celeb these two phenomenal ladies, not pit them agst ea other.
I'll be v happy if Amy finally win the Oscar, even if it was for a sub par performance or one tt's beneath her. Many actresses won for the wrong/inferior performances. It happens all the time n i dun see how it'll stop.
It's a fact tt most pple only rem the wins, not the performances. An Oscar is what matters ultimately n whether u like the performance is subjective.
We can assume she will be welcome back next yr for Woman in the Window, but last yr this time we were all gushing over Saoirse's three high profile roles coming in 2018 n tinking she's shoo in for a win this yr... N wat happened... 😂
I'd say grab the Oscar while u can, cos u nev kno when u'll b given the chance again! 😁
Comparing Stone to Kidman is dumb.
Emma Stone is a real talent. If it were up to me she'd be on her 4th nomination (I'd of nominated Battle Of The Sexes too). Stone also has impeccable choice in the projects she chooses to do. Note that all 3 of her nominations have been from films nominated for Best Picture.
I'm for Marina de Tavira, just because Rachel already has an Oscar.
Amy earned like 3 Oscars this year - but for Sharp Objects, not Vice
Incidentally, this blog severely undersold that show - I've only just caught up with it and it's the best TV I've seen since like Mad Men.
I wasn't a huge Valee fan before but my god that man can direct, and literally every performance was note-perfect. Initially I thought Amy was a bit miscast but she more than rose to the challenge. She's as good here as Reese was in Big Little Lies - which is the highest praise I could give an actress on TV
Pls add for Major Critics Awards that Amy Adams received the National Board of Review's Best Actress award for Arrival in 2016
I like Amy Adams a lot. I get the sense that she'd get less shade on these comments boards if people were less obsessed with awards.
There have been a lot of posts over the years regarding Adams insinuating that she only stars in awards-bait material and/or is "lucky" that her films have carried her to nominations. While I think she's definitely benefitted from having starred in films that the Academy has liked in terms of her nomination count, I'd like to propose a re-frame -- maybe the industry just genuinely adores her and holds her work in extremely high regard? She's clearly highly sought after, she seems admirably focused on work and not fame, she's versatile, and several directors and actors have been vocal about loving working with her. She has a naturally warm presence and is emotionally open on screen, but she's also great in roles that are less sunny and more mysterious. She can carry a film (Arrival, Enchanted) but also is an excellent supporting player. She's got an excellent track record at the box office, even though she'd never be uttered in the same sentence as Jennifer Lawrence and other "box office draw" types.
I'm not a super fan or anything, but that's pretty impressive. Maybe she just has her pick of top roles? I sincerely doubt that her career choices are based on plotting to win an Oscar. The cold and cerebral The Master probably didn't look like a shoe-in for an Oscar nod on paper, and who can blame her for wanting to work with Paul Thomas Anderson? A supporting role as a boxer's girlfriend in the same film as a scenery-chewing Melissa Leo also could have been easily ignored by the Academy.
Condragulations JJM, you are the winner of this week's challenge.
I find Rachel Weisz (despite the Oscar and now the second Nomination) terribly underrated! She has “always delivered” (as the article pointed out, whether is. “The Lobster” “Agora” “The Deep Blue Sea” “Youth” “Disobedience” or “The Favourite”! She is easily as talented and versatile as Winslet and deserves Atleast 3 -4 more nominations to her credit (for the roles I mentioned)... that said she deserves to but is not winning this year! It’s still Regina King’s to lose! Weisz will get the BAFTA though, if the BIFA and London Film Critics were an indication!
Now Adams I find to be an “ok” actress who has had the luck of being cast in Oscar baity roles... the only Adams performance I really liked was not nominated (“The Arrival”) I do not think she really deserves it this year over a fantastic Weisz and a delectable King!
05 was so fun... Rachel Weisz is the kind of actress I'm really happy has an Oscar, but I'm still shocked. If Amy Adams or Michelle Williams had the careers they went on to have AFTER those first nods, they would've beaten her that year, easily. And they're still waiting to win despite multiple nods after. Meanwhile, Weisz just got her follow-up nomination, almost fifteen years later. lol.
Supporting actress will be fun to watch this year considering we're not entirely sure what's going to happen.
On the first picture, is it Adams' Oscar in Weisz's hand? I think yes!!!
@Geri, I would disagree... Adams was very good in 'Junebug' but Weisz's Tessa Quayle is something that lives on! According to me among those nominated that year, I would rank Weisz, Adams, Williams... And Whereas Adams has often been later nominated for mediocre performances ('Doubt') and left out for a GREAT performance ('Arrival') Weisz has delivered every time- and has a very versatile range- think Tessa Quayle, Hypatia, Hester Collier, Lady Sarah and Ronit Krushka among others!