The Film Experience

Team Experience is discussing each Oscar category as we head into the precursors. Here's Ben Miller and Cláudio Alves to talk Best Supporting Actress...

So far, Da'Vine Joy Randolph has won EVERYTHING.

BEN: Alright Cláudio, my Portuguese pal...let's dive into BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS.

It's a funny year when it comes to the supporting ladies, because we actually seem to be pretty devoid of any category fraud in the main contenders. With Lily Gladstone and Carey Mulligan in their correct categories, this race feels wide open. Here's my big question: why does this happen every year with actresses and never with actors? I'm glad they are striving to get it correct, but "people" also argue that Gladstone would be walking away with this category if she was still placed here.

Do you think Gladstone or Mulligan would win if they were here, and do you think they should be? I am of the opinion they should both be leads, though I think Gladstone would be undeniable if she was thusly categorized...

CLÁUDIO: In my mind, they're both leads, and I'm happy they're correctly categorized. Even if it costs Gladstone an easy win, her placement in Lead feels right when a Supporting victory could sour like so many examples in Oscar history, when actors fraud their way into categories meant to honor those in the periphery of protagonists, at the margins of a given screen story. Moreover, Gladstone would not necessarily steamroll her way to gold - she lost the LAFCA trophy despite her work being considered a Supporting Performance.

Is Julianne Moore supporting or lead in MAY DECEMBER?With all that said, I don't think the race lacks in leads passing for supporting players. Jodie Foster feels like NYAD's anchor, taking over the movie for the many swimming sequences when Bening is reduced to a body in motion. Sandra Hüller is as much a lead in The Zone of Interest as Christian Friedel, and I've heard similar grumblings about Juliette Binoche in The Taste of Things. And then there's Julianne Moore in May December, a film orbiting three gravitational pulls, each seemingly acting in a different movie. To me, her Gracie and Charles Melton's Joe command a big part of the narrative and are at the center of Haynes' tonal gamesmanship, as much if not more than Natalie Portman's Elizabeth. Screentime isn't everything.

BEN: All this being said, most of the contenders are pretty clearly Supporting, so that's a nice change of pace. We could argue about the semantics of lead/supporting in ensembles, but there isn't a Tatum O'Neal or Alicia Vikander situation where the supporting performance is CLEARLY a lead. We at least have that going for us.

Before we dive into talking about the top-line contenders in the Supporting Actress race, what are some of your favorite performances that you know won't sniff the Oscar conversation? My first I have to mention is Teyonah Parris in They Cloned Tyrone.

Teyonah Parris is always a joy to watch.

That film was a surprise delight and I'm glad I went out of my way to watch it. Parris is consistently hilarious, resourceful, and sexy as hell. In fact, if I had a vote, she would be my number two vote. My other big one is Adele Exarchopoulos in Ira Sach's Passages. Her character is one that we don't get to learn as much about as we do the central male couple, but her twisting allegiances and moral gray areas are nothing less than fascinating. I could talk about that performance for a while.

What about you?

CLÁUDIO: Oh dear, I have so many worth mentioning that I don't know where to start. There's that sharp Sigourney Weaver turn in Master Gardener, all jagged edges and glamorous cruelties. Hong Chau is spot-on as a type of woman you know even if you don't in Showing Up, while Pom Klementieff is having the time of her life as an evil henchwoman in the latest Mission: Impossible. Moving away from American cinema, I loved Kerrie Hayes's butch tenderness in Blue Jean and found myself fascinated with Pahoa Mahagafanau in Pacifiction. Isabelle Huppert is a hoot and a half in The Crime is Mine, Sarwat Gilani delivers sisterhood and heartbreak in Joyland, and Paula Beer has never been better than in Afire. After years of not understanding what others saw in the German actress, I finally get it.

Scarlett Johansson would make a great Oscar nominee for ASTEROID CITY.

I'm unsure if I should add Scarlett Johansson to the list. Her Janet Leigh-esque movie star is one of Asteroid City's melancholic highlights, a performance perfectly calibrated between presentational artifice and deep feeling. The scenes she shares with Jason Schwartzman are among the year's best, yet they don't seem to have moved any awards voters. Hope is everlasting, especially when you're a previous nominee like she is. Even so, her chances feel almost as small as all those other actresses I just named.

BEN: I want to talk about how this category is shaping up and how it was originally devised. Back in the early Oscar years, this was a category meant to highlight the actors and actresses who were not the highly billed, bankable stars. This was an opportunity to promote those smaller character actors who rise above the rest and become great in the company of movie stars. These days, it's turned into "movie stars who aren't in the film that much."

Look at some of these contenders today. Rosamund Pike, Emily Blunt, Penélope Cruz, Julianne Moore, Taraji P. Henson, Jodie Foster, Viola Davis, Juliette Binoche, Rachel McAdams. These are HUGE stars. I'm not saying these women are undeserving because they are significantly famous, but it seems to go against what the spirit of the category was created for. This is a category where someone like Erika Alexander would show up and it would FEEL right. Even America Ferrera, though not a big film actress, has an Emmy.

Is Jodie Foster too big a star for this category?

CLÁUDIO: I guess, in that sense, Da'Vine Joy Randolph's sweep of the precursors shows an attempt to return to the category's original values. Though she's been gaining accolades since the early 2010s, the performer has built her career primarily on supporting roles, with star parts still out of reach. From Oda Mae Brown on Broadway to The Holdovers' Mary Lamb, she shines from the margins, sometimes stealing entire productions from under the protagonist's feet. A victory for her feels symbolically correct.

However, beyond fitting a model of modern-day character actressing, I'm not sure I'm that happy about Randolph's utter dominance over the critics' awards. Apart from the Gotham and the Alaska Film Critics awards, she has won every single prize under the sun. It's the kind of consensus pick we seldom see nowadays, thanks to the plurality cum overabundance of awards. One would then presume hers is an undeniable achievement. Yet, I don't see it as such and feel somewhat stunned by how much love she has garnered from voters everywhere.

BEN: The weirdest thing about it is her perceived lack of frontrunner status. People keep talking about some categories like Best Director and Best Actor like the race is already over. If the precursors are any indication, Randolph should be able to walk to a win. Like you said, she is DOMINATING the precursors. I too like a bit of variety when it comes to precursor season, but I'm also fine with Randolph being the beneficiary. Regardless, I don't see everyone jumping to the "She's a lock to win" conclusion. It's always silly to predict wins before the nominations, but that's the human nature of film prognostication.

That being said, there does seem to be a clear hierarchy in this race. The frontrunner (Randolph), two near locks (Danielle Brooks & Emily Blunt), and a host of other contenders for the last two spots. Any combo of Jodie Foster, America Ferrera, Rosamund Pike, Taraji P. Henson, Julianne Moore, Rachel McAdams, or Sandra Hüller wouldn't surprise me. Do you similarly see the race standing in the same way as of today?

Penélope Cruz could enter the five-timers club with FERRARI.

CLÁUDIO: I would add Penélope Cruz to that list of names. She's Ferrari's MVP through and through, an Oscar darling, and the camera perceives her as a lead of equal importance to Driver whenever it catches her. Textually, I think hers is a supporting role, but that sort of star treatment leaves a lasting impression. Furthermore, she justifies the attention and regales the camera with a beautiful turn. Initially, I was afraid that the performance would be a greatest hits celebration from Cruz, with many notes recalling her Oscar-winning work for Allen and her similarly-accented Nine temptress. However, she finds ways to surprise, culminating in a fantastic final scene. There's something so interesting about watching actors project intelligence, silent thought processes, and careful negotiations within their gaze.

That same admiration is behind my love for Viola Davis in Air, a work that feels like an Oscar candidate on paper while, in reality, it seems to have lost all steam. Unlike many critics, I didn't care for Affleck's flick as a whole, but it'd be a worthy Supporting Actress contender, honoring a thespian who complicates the material at every turn, insinuating dimensions the remaining project can't quite grasp. Sadly, unless the guilds go gaga for Air, I'm not sure she's in the conversation.

BEN: Cruz is a good name to include. Ferrari's reception has really been all over the place, and I don't know how to feel about it. It seems like the type of film that gets Cruz and a Sound nomination, if that. Kind of in the same boat as Jodie Foster. The actresses themselves are not the problem, it's the overall reception to their films.

Rachel McAdams is the season's most beloved dark horse.

Rachel McAdams is the name I am the most curious about. That film came out before the summer hit, and everyone singled out McAdams. I think it's probably her best work (and my favorite supporting performance of the year). At the time, most pundits assumed it was way too early and she couldn't hold on, but she is getting way more critics nominations than I was anticipating. So far, she's picked up 12 nominations from critics, including an LAFCA win (shared with Randolph). This is not a situation where someone is coming out of nowhere. She has critical support. But, I think she needs a SAG nomination to make some real headway. She's the dark horse I am pulling for.

Let's get down to it...what are your predicted five and give me a dark horse.

CLÁUDIO: As of this moment, my predictions are...

Da'Vine Joy Randolph, THE HOLDOVERS (locked as locked can be)
Danielle Brooks, THE COLOR PURPLE (her reviews are glowing)
Emily Blunt, OPPENHEIMER (it's her time, I guess)
America Ferrera, BARBIE (people sure love that monologue)
Taraji P. Henson, THE COLOR PURPLE (the most vulnerable of the lot)

Alternative: Jodie Foster, NYAD (great reviews, the industry's love, and some afterglow from her 2020 awards run will help, but will it be enough?)

My most beloved dark horse is the same as yours, and I agree that McAdams has never been better than in this Judy Blume adaptation. It's a remarkably gentle and multi-dimensional portrayal, full of behavioral details that sketch the picture of a life extending beyond the narrative frame. If pressed for a different answer, I'll go with Cara Jade Myers, who comes into Killers of the Flower Moon like a force of nature, confronts you with a complicated woman, and beckons your mind to linger long after she's gone. She could get in, Marina de Tavira-style.

What's your final five?

Taraji P. Henson could repeat the awards journey of Margaret Avery in 1985.

BEN: I too have the same five as you. We haven't talked much about Ferrera, but that monologue alone should get her in.

I don't know why Henson is on shaky ground, but it wouldn't surprise me if she misses all together. Foster seems like the obvious sixth place

CLÁUDIO: While I'm not as fond of the monologue - it's the clunkiest part of Barbie for me - Ferrera gets a lot out of it. If she doesn't make the thing work, at least she tries. Very much an "Anne Hathaway in Interstellar" situation where I felt like I was watching a performer wrangle with their script, fighting tooth and nail to get a real feeling out of the belabored monologue without jeopardizing the sincerity underpinning it all. It's bound to impress voters, whatever the case.

Any final thoughts? I just wanted to say it was a pleasure to discuss Supporting Actress with you.

BEN: My final thoughts are: you are a delightful man. That was awesome, bud!