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.