FYC: Jo Yeo-jeong
Friday, December 13, 2019 at 4:00PM
With every nerve-racking awards season, I find myself putting all my emotional stock into the Best Supporting Actress category. There are three main reasons for this: 1) actresses 2) ostensibly, it’s where all the scene-stealers are, and 3) it’s the only category I can count on a woman of color to win. Admittedly, post-Richard Jewell, I’m not nearly as excited about this category as I was, say, a month ago. But I still have faith that this will be the most interesting acting category this season with various wild cards and dark horses popping in and out until the Oscars nominations are announced in January.
Media outlets have deemed The Farewell’s Zhao Shuzhen the favored dark horse this year, which is great! But I still believe that this category has room for another non-American actress despite the Oscars tendency to stay "local," as Bong Joon-ho would put it.
Jo Yeo-jeong.
Jo plays Mrs. Park a.k.a the guillable, rich mom in Parasite. Much like the film itself, Jo has to balance subtlety with buffoonery. Textually, Mrs. Park is a elitist caricature, but Jo doesn’t play her like one. The film’s director and writer Bong Joon-ho makes the smart choice of rooting Mrs. Parks’ utter stupidity in class anxiety and paranoia, resulting in a surprisingly layered performance. It could have easily slipped into the familiar trappings of Satirical Wealthy Woman but it doesn't. Jo Yeo-jeong provides the most laughs and covers a range of dramatic bases that feel believable from a maternal perspective and stick out amongst a wholly impressive cast (recently nominated for the SAG Outstanding Cast award). There's also this profound lack of self-awareness that you can detect from all of Jo's facial expressions. It's a deliciously dumb performance that's witty in execution.
Also, this GIF:
Jo was just awarded Best Supporting Actress by the New Mexico Film Critics, so hopefully there are some Academy voters who share their exquisite taste.
Reader Comments (21)
100% agree. Yeo-jeong, like everyone else in Parasite, was wonderful. Would love it if she could somehow get a nom.
Yes please! Really Academy, you can go empty african american actors nominations this season but if you don't nominate any asian actors it'd be unforgivable. Parasite and The Farewell are just there!
Admittedly, post-Richard Jewell, I’m not nearly as excited about this category as I was, say, a month ago.
The inclusion of Bates in the season bothers you why? Consider that the front runner in the category is costing to a win from an overdue legacy alone.
I agree with everything you say and also hope she gets a much-deserved nomination come Oscar morning. Great FYC :)
I'd also add that her "profound lack of self-awareness" is incredibly well-calibrated by the actress and the director. At first, it's a great source of comedy but, from the sex scene onward, it curdles into repulsive cruelty. When she comments about the weather or pinches her nose, the effect isn't so much laughable as it is infuriating. She's brilliant.
Yes!!! Thank you for this tribute to my favorite supporting actress performance of the year.
YESSS! I loved her in this. So funny and memorable.
Obsessed with Mrs. Park. She was my MVP!
And the Chicago Film Critics shortlisted both Zhao Shuzhen and Cho Yeo-jeong, so I simply don't see why Oscar can't do the same </delusion>
Park So-Dam also.
Yes! The film's MVP for me. This easily could have been a Real Housewife of South Korea, but I oddly found myself having the most sympathy for Mrs. Park out of all the characters. Her astonishing reaction to "Jessica" guessing that something terrible happened to her beloved son is a moment I keep replaying in my head.
This would elate me if she got a nomination. I don't think it's entirely implausible either.
/3rtful, I suspect it's because Bates may just coast to a nomination over so many more deserving contenders purely because of her name and her being in an Eastwood movie (it's a terrible, terrible movie as well which doesn't help her build any gatecrashing sympathy from me).
Jorge - what the fuck
Oh yes! She and Zhao Zhushen gave two of the best supporting performances this year. Crazy that Laura Dern, who I love btw, is gonna win. Asian actors deserve their due at the Oscars. If people are screaming for inclusion, this is the perfect year for Asians. But of course it isn’t happening. There is no outrage for it.
Oh please, Kathy Bates isn’t taking away their spot. It is Nicole Kidman who will do that. I’ve seen Bombshell and Kidman did not do anything worthy of a nomination. Sorry, Nat. I know you love her and I am pretty sure you will be defending her lackluster performance if she gets nominated.
goodbar -- very ungenerous of you. I am not a hypocrite. I know when the actors I love are doing merely average work and that's the case with Kidman in Bombshell. It would be very weird if if she gets nominated for it considering the genius work she's done that they've passd over (plus the movie is truly the Charlize and Margot show. SAG is weird sometimes.
@Glenn
There are worst movies to receive Academy embrace. And you don't have to look any further than last year. Also, the performance itself merits inclusion. All these foreign go-nowhere candidates you're crying for will go the same way as other award season wonders away into obscurity.
She was my favorite in Parasite. Would be ecstatic if she were nominated!
With the horrific press Richard Jewell has received the past week, I wouldn't bank on a Kathy Bates nomination. The film is also projected to have one of the worst box-office openings of any Clint Eastwood pic ever.
Loved her in this. I think she's going to win BSA from the National Society of Film Critics. She's peaking at the right time.
Loved her in this. I think she's going to win BSA from the National Society of Film Critics. She's peaking at the right time.
The ensemble’s MVP. Rooting for her!
Yeah, Richard Jewell is flopping. It's hard to see Bates getting a nod with that box office.
Dern isn't just racking up wins because of her legacy - she is also winning because awards groups like to spread the wealth, and she represents one of the most acclaimed and talked about films of the year (she can even serve as something of a representative of Little Women as well).
Zhao and Jo are locks in this category for me. I haven’t seen Little Women yet to fill out my ballot. Diana Lin in Farewell, Scarjo, Cruz and Dern, Serrano, Park, Bajrami and Nicholson are also contenders for me.