Mr. Kirsten Dunst is a lucky guy, wouldn't you say? The past decade has seen him rise in prominence, acting in movies by some of today's greatest directors – Spielberg! Scorsese! Campion! – while also delivering a slew of memorable performances in supporting roles. After earning TV awards glory, he finally transferred that same acclaim to big screen prizes, winning his first Academy Award nomination in the same movie that got his wife an overdue recognition. For awards aficionados, his turn as George Burbank in The Power of the Dog holds even more Oscar trivia goodness. You see, when Jane Campion's latest scored a Best Picture nomination, it marked the fifth consecutive year of Plemons starring in a movie up for the Academy's greatest trophy…
There he is, on the margins of THE IRISHMAN.
Jesse Plemons first appeared in a Best Picture nominee in 2015, when he was part of Bridge of Spies' sprawling cast. However, that wasn't the start of his lucky streak. That started two years later, with another Steven Spielberg project. The quickly shot The Post only earned two nominations – Picture and Actress – but Plemons left his mark as one of the Washington Post's nervous lawyers. The following year, he starred in Adam McKay's Vice, playing the movie's fictional narrator and the center of the narrative's strangest twist. Next came Scorsese's The Irishman in 2019, where Plemons played Chuckie O'Brien, Jimmy Hoffa's adoptive son and close associate.
You might remember his part in the Netflix epic's tensest sequence, the prelude to an unforgivable kill full of mindless chatter and dumb naivete. Plemons actually had a lead role in the game for the next awards season, but Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking of Ending Things didn't get much traction despite its oddball qualities. The role that brought him back on the Best Picture lineup was Roy Mitchell, the main FBI guy in Judas and the Black Messiah. Since the Academy considered both Stanfield and Kaluuya as supporting actors, maybe they saw Plemons as the picture's unlikely lead. Who knows when it comes to AMPAS and their fraudulent ways?
Thankfully, after all these thankless roles, Plemons got a part that allowed him to shine. In The Power of the Dog, he delivers the most low-key performance in the story's main quartet, mostly playing as a reactive figure to Cumberbatch's cruel Phil and the frailty of Dunst's Rose. Yet, despite its quietness, it's a portrayal full of complicated negotiations, showing brotherly frustration caused by a husband's devotion in tandem with a fraternal bond whose strength is palpable. His Oscar clip moment comes in the scenes the actor shares with his real-life partner, as George expresses his lonesomeness and the happiness Rose has brought into his world. It's a delicate thing, a gossamer expression of swallowed-down emotion that gains power from its muteness.
Plemons' work may not be as flashy as his costars,' but it's just as deserving of accolades. What's more, this time, his movie might win the Best Picture Oscar, bringing this historic run to a victorious finish. Sam Elliott's comments may augur a Brokeback-like fate for Netflix's revisionist western, but, hopefully, the Academy's demographic has changed enough since 2005. Let's avoid another Crash disaster.
As far as Best Picture goes, Blanchett is AMPAS' favorite actress.
Thinking back to that streak of successive Best Picture nominees, as far as I can tell, Plemons' five-year luck is unprecedented in the Academy's history. Of course, a few actors have accomplished four consecutive years of Best Picture nominees, but five seems like a new achievement. Even so, Jesse Plemons is far from being the thespian with most movies up for AMPAS' most significant honor. Just this year, Cate Blanchett counted her eighth and ninth Best Picture nominees, with Don't Look Up and Nightmare Alley. That makes her the actress with most such movies in her filmography. The overall record-holder is Robert De Niro, with 11 titles. The other male performers ahead of Blanchett are Jack Nicholson and Leonardo Di Caprio, both with 10 Best Picture nominees under their belt.
Funnily enough, De Niro, DiCaprio, and Plemons are all costarring in Scorsese's upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon. If the movie's ready in 2022, maybe the record can expand to six consecutive years in the Best Picture lineup. The lesson to learn from this: If you're a filmmaker hoping for Oscar success, cast Jesse Plemons in your movie!