Best Actress - How'd she get nominated?
Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at 11:22PM by Nathaniel R
If you fused all the nominated lead actresses into one, given the stats, you'd have a 44 year old American goddess who is probably an Aries and has made around 40 films and been nominated 3 times, winning once. Which... ohmygod almost describes Jessica Chastain! The Best Actress page has been fully updated with detailed stats, trivia, a daily poll, and our "how'd they get nominated?" theorizing...
Check it out and report back. Agree or disagree on our percentages? The most controversial of these theories is probably on Kristen Stewart because that was the most 'will she or won't she be nominated?' outside of late-surging Penélope Cruz. My theory on how it happens breaks down like so...
How did Kristen Stewart get nominated?
22% Role: Princess Diana, who always gives people a lot of feelings. Plus Oscar loves a biopic
22% Media Prematurely Handed Her the Statue. She was anointed the winner months before her competition had screened. Which led to...
21% A Wild Precursor Season... with lots of critical wins but uneven awards show nominations. Which thus led to a backlash to the backlash and renewed passion and purpose about voting for her
20% Performance. Those who love it REALLY love it.
7% Superstar Factor. Isn't it time to let Twilight go and recognize her talent?
4% Royalty porn
3% Exquisite costuming
1% Pablo Larraín's filmmaking
Best Actress, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Stewart
Reader Comments (19)
I didn't care for Spencer rally at all, but I will give credit to Stewart for her facial expressions. I found her voice and posture to be redundant, but at least she tells a story with her face. I kind of wished the movie had been silent,
In addition, I'm glad Stewart gets the annual "We didn't know you could really act!" nomination this year. We all knew it but now the movie going public seems to be catching up and not judging solely based on her Twilight performances.
"10% She's Olivia Colman."
The world sucks, but I love that we live in a reality where being Olivia Colman is now Oscar-bait. It's what she deserves 100%. I'm rooting for her to win her 2nd, but there wouldn't be a bad winner here IMO.
i never thought i'd see the day when nicole kidman was coming last in an actress poll at the film experience
[cackles]
It's what she deserves.
Out of the list it's Chastain for me,I haven't seen Penelope yet but she would be a surprise winner.
I think both Stewart and Kidman are a bad fit for who they are playing,neither convinced me from the moment they appeared and I tried,both actresses voice and body language work were off moreso Kidman than Stewart and whatever prosthetics they did for Kidman made her look weird rather than like Lucy.
Kidman's film was more watchable than Stewart's and was more believable,I just cannot with the soup and pearls scene,the pantry scene,the throwing ones self down the stairs any of it to be honest.
Kidman had her scenes stolen by Nina Arianda
I hope they wait for something more substantial an original creation than award her for another biopic,I watched a lot of Lucy on YouTube,the voice is not right
Chastain's film is a bit biopic by numbers but she makes it work,her acting in the TV interview is a real highlight and her voice work is perfect sure the prosthetics are a tad overdone but all the things she does to create Tammy work.
Colman is now what Judi Dench/Emma THompson wer're to the 90's and 00's,a great characterisation,the way she never allows you to get to close,expert crying to.
My own Best Actress list feel free to critique.
My winner Lady GaGa captivating,accent off,her charisma made me forget she was GaGa,lots of killer scenes,helped elevate the movie,didn't laugh during scenes with Leto
Tessa Thompson,Jessica Chastain,Olivia Colman,Frances McDormand
I could see Stewart losing due to the horrendous musical score of Spencer, of which I almost turned off the movie in the first 20 minutes. Her facial expressions really sold the role for me though, but so much of the storyline is unbelievable that I couldn't really connect with it.
This is such a remarkably high-quality lineup - an all-timer, really.
Three of the greats at the top of their game: Kidman, showing off a new skill; Cruz, reuniting with her best director; Colman, showing her aptitude for tricky tones
One of our hardest-working actresses, Chastain, with something to prove
And Stewart, getting her first nomination for a performance that is as love-it-or-hate-it as she is.
If Glenn Close had won a few years ago, Colman would be like a 99% shoo-in.
I think Stewart is long overdue for a nomination, but I would have left her out this year, due to all the strong contenders. Her performance is terrific, but it's inside a film that makes no sense at all. I am rooting for Chastain, who is long overdue and I believe actually gives the best performance. Cruz is my runner-up.
I'm a Colman voter
but I love circular stories
so Stewart for the win.
I think you need to factor in 1% "not Lady Gaga" into each of them
My God, are we going to have to put up with Lady Gaga being shit on in every single Best Actress thread until the Oscars? Unbelievable.
Lady Gaga is just like Viola Davis, borderline insufferable campaign interviews.
Stewart (an actress I generally don't care about) getting in is all sorts of fabulous.
Has Colman ever attempted a non-British Isles accent? And is the movie worth watching?
Yavor, I know what you mean about Viola, but she has the talent to back it up -- and it's because she really cares about what she's doing. So I can let it slide. Just like I can with Gaga.
Yavor -- the Lost Daughter? It's excellent.
@Yavor: She had an American accent in the little-seen "Them That Follow" from a couple years back. It was not particularly worth watching but not terrible either.
@Nathaniel - she sounds totally British in The Lost Daughter
@whunk - thanks, I'll check it out
I can't picture SAG or BFCA telling us anything about this race. Would Kidman or Colman win both? Seems unlikely.
BAFTA will tell us absolutely nothing...