Best Supporting Actor: Is double-dipping the new trend?
Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 12:00PM 
For decades, it wasn't unusual to see two thespians from the same film nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but the same couldn't be said about its brother category. That was until recently when double-dipping in Supporting Actor became fashionable.
It started in 2017, with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri's Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. In 2019, it was Joe Pesci and Al Pacino for The Irishman, and then Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeit Stanfield for Judas and the Black Messiah in 2020. The following year, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee did the honors for The Power of the Dog, while, in 2022, The Banshees of Inisherin got in with Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan. For comparison, in the same period, Supporting Actress only had two such cases, with The Favourite and last year's Everything Everywhere All At Once. Now, the question is whether the trend will continue at the 96th Academy Awards…
The likeliest candidate is Poor Things, the latest Golden Lion winner, and a critical darling through and through. As Eric Blume wrote, Willem Dafoe is both a star and a journeyman actor, a respected name within the industry who came close to winning with The Florida Project. The after-effects of that season resulted in a subsequent, somewhat surprising, nod for At Eternity's Gate. It seems probable that he'll be in the race once more for playing the Frankenstein-like creator of Emma Stone's Bella Baxter. In the same film, Mark Ruffalo plays the rakish lawyer she runs off with, setting himself up for a possible fourth career nomination.
But even if Lanthimos' pseudo-Victorian fantasy doesn't double dip, there's another, less obvious candidate in the run. It's Oppenheimer, for whom Universal is only campaigning two names for Best Supporting Actor. It's bad news for the likes of David Krumholtz, Josh Hartnett, Alden Ehrenreich, Jason Clarke, and Macon Blair. However, it's brilliant for Matt Damon, who may ride the coattails of Robert Downey Jr. on the way to Academy gold. It will depend on how much AMPAS embraces Christopher Nolan's blockbuster biopic, if their support will extend past present expectations and deliver a truly staggering nomination count.
If you were to nominate two supporting actors from the same film this year, who would you pick?
Reader Comments (13)
I really loved Jason Clarke in Oppenheimer, so I'm bummed to see him not get a campaign.
Though I think De Niro belongs in the lead category (and would be a great nominee there), if he's campaigned in supporting, I'd be fine seeing him show up alongside Brendan Fraser (with an afterglow nod). Fraser has alot of impact in his short screen time, and really distills the pervasiveness of a sort of professionalized white supremacy.
They won't make it in, but I found Chris Messina amusing in air. Ben Affleck was great, and in such a relaxed, but funny mode that I wish he would gain some traction for it. His character felt so alive and he handles the emotions and comedy with care. However, I think Air will largely be ignored.
Ah yes, 2020, the first time since Amadeus when 2 lead actors were nominated from the same film. But slotted in Supporting Actor for some reason.
I can't pick anybody Claudio due to not being able to see any of the films early.
If i'm guessing I think it will be no double nominees,if Gosling,Downey Jr,DeNiro or locked in that 4th 5th nominee could be a shock like Sterling K Brown or Colman Domingo or maybe John Magaro.
Charlea, you are forgetting a few like Training Day, Brokeback Mountain, and The Two Popes where only one of the leads was bumped to supporting... moving them both was an exciting new innovation though!
Haven't seen Poor Things yet but would love to see Damon and Downey both nominated for Oppenheimer... or better yet Josh Hartnett or David Krumholtz.
No double Supporting Actor nods from 1991 to 2017, then four consecutive years of them from 2019 to 2022. Meanwhile, four consecutive years of double Supporting Actress nominees from 2008 to 2011, but then not again until 2018, and only one since then.
This crazy!!!
I'm not defending Judas and the Black Messiah at all for their egrgeious double-dipping category fraud, but The Favourite ladies did a double dip first.
That was a three-lead love triangle movie tbh -- Rachel Weisz was the only one that I could maybe hear an argument for as being supporting.
I'm loving the trend (even if the Judas noms were gross). My first Oscars were 1991, and then every time it looked like it might happen, someone got left out: Kingsley in Schindler, Oldman in The Contender, Howard in Crash, Nicholson in Departed, Jones in No Country, Leo in Django...
And now, after all this time, they can't get enough! Fully rooting for a Dafoe/Ruffalo double. Let's keep this going!
If I were nominating Ben Affleck and Chris Messina from Air, but it is not going to happen. What could happen is a Colman Domingo and Corey Hawkins double dip if The Color Purple gets a full Warner campaign and overperforms.
Philip H, i agree that the placements for The Favourite were questionable, but at least the voters agreed that there WAS a lead (Colman), and that people were supporting her. They made some level of basic sense.
The two supporting nods for Judas make zero sense...according to those nominations, there was no lead in the movie! Those double Judas nods were indeed, as Mike in Canada would say, gross.
From “American Fiction”, I would pick Sterling K. Brown as Monk’s brother, and John Ortiz as Monk’s patient and beleaguered editor.
From “Rustin”, I’d pick Glynn Turman as A. Philip Randolph and Jeffrey Wright as Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
From “Past Lives”, I’d choose John Magaro (my first choice for Supporting Actor) for his refreshingly unexpected take on the husband. So endearing and thoughtful. For the second, Teo Yoo as the childhood friend (although the argument could be made that he is on the cusp of Lead).
In “Oppenheimer”, I’d choose David Krumholtz as Isidor Isaac Rabi, and Alden Ehrenreich as the Senate aide.
The big name supporting roles in Oppenheimer are either underwritten or boring, with the performers giving an only adequate performance. When they are offscreen, we don’t miss them. (Blunt, Damon, Downey).
David Krumholtz brings warmth and humanity and shines as a specific character in the muddle of the ensemble. When he comes onscreen, I brighten up and really listen.
When I checked the time at the 2 hour mark of Oppenheimer, I thought oh no, only the boring boring part with Robert Downey Jr. left, how will I ever make it through?
Then Alden Ehrenreich came onscreen with his old-time movie star charisma and his sharp edged delivery. He added momentum and focus to that draggy bit. Thank you, Alden.
I'm with McGill. I get that the industry works the way that it does, but that's disappointing, and for actual "supporting" roles I'd go 1) Ehrenreich, 2) Krumholtz, and only after them RDJ. Of course if single scene types could get in, Casey A. should probably top the list, but that seems probably too much to ask in these leads in supporting.
When it comes to the other films from the Spring & Summer, a Magaro nomination would be very, very cool - but it's hard to see that happening.
I think that actors selfishly go into the category where they're most likely to win in (Category Fraud be damned). The Judas nominations - guess both of the nominated actors assumed that Chadwick Boseman would be getting rewarded - so it'll be a clean win by going Supporting. Wish that Academy voters had the common sense to see this scam and vote in category that They view them in. The nomination alone should be the reward.
^ The nomination IS the reward, that's why they're willing to fraud themselves into it. Everything you're saying is true, but it's not just about what's easiest for winning - they're playing the game this way bc it's the easiest way to get nominated too.