Support Me In the Love of All Things Supporting!
Saturday, March 7, 2026 at 7:34PM by Nathaniel R
Elle Fanning, Conan O'Brien, Youn Yu Jung, and Delroy Lindo did NOT make the nominee list but I loved all four performances just the same.
Dearest readers, I apologize at how long it takes me to do all this but now is the time to finish the Film Bitch Awards. Should be done in the next couple of days! That's probably more exciting for me than for you but what of it?!? Be my Supporting friends and DISCUSS. Before we get to the nominations a quick look at the dozen performances I cherished most in Supporting from men and women...
TOP DOZEN -BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (alpha order)
Coincidentally my favourites list has not one but four film actresses playing film actresses (present or former)
- Zoey Deutch as "Jean Seberg" an American movie star in Paris in Nouvelle Vague
- Kirsten Dunst as "Leigh", a lonely divorcee and Toys R Us worker in Roofman
- Elle Fanning as "Rachel Kemp' an American movie star in Norway in Sentimental Value
- Nina Hoss as "Eileen Lovborg" a drunk Academic in Hedda
- Inga Ibsdottir Lilleeas as "Agnes Borg Pettersen" a former child actress and mother in Sentimental Value
- Amy Madigan as "Aunt Gladys" a sinister garish witch in Weapons
- Wunmi Mosaku as "Annie" a hoodoo practiioner and estranged wife in Sinners
- Tania Moria as "Dona Sebastian" den mother to refugees in The Secret Agent
- Gwyneth Paltrow as "Kay Stone" a former movie star and bored wife in Marty Supreme
- Lesley Sharp as "Peggy" a protective mother with cancer in Pillion
- Teyana Taylor as revolutionary and rat "Perfidia Beverly Hills" in One Battle After Another
- Youn Yu Jung as "Ja Young" a grandmother who sees right through the leads in The Wedding Banquet
And of those twelve I believe that either Amy Madigan or Wunmi Mosaku will take home the Oscar.
Since there are more supporting roles in movies than leads this is always hard to narrow down so shout-out to other actresses that scratched a cinephile itch doing fine work like Oliva Colman as the hilariously suss Reverend Mother in Paddington in Peru and Regina Hall as a weary revoluationary in One Battle After Another to name the two closest also-rans for this top dozen.
TOP DOZEN - BEST SUPPORTING ACTORS (alpha order)
Since I already dug deep on this category via the Oscar volley with Cláudio we don't need to drag this out but just as (mostly) a recap these were the 12 men that really did it for me this year. For the record the two Oscar nomineess that are missing (Elordi, Skarsgard) are not booted because they aren't worthy but because they aren't supporting players (they both made my top 12 in Best Actor) since their films are quite obviously either about them (Elordi) ... or preference their point of view (Skarsgård) to the extent that they became co-leads... even though sometimes I wonder if Sentimental Value would have been even better (it's already so damn good) had it picked just one lead. Benicio Del Toro as "Sergio St Carlos" in One Battle After Another
- Benicio Del Toro as sensei and community organizer "Sergio St. Carlos" in One Battle After Another
- Brando Huang as "Johnny" a lonely night market worker in Left-Handed Girl
- Jacobi Jupe as the titular doomed Hamnet
- Delroy Lindo as Mississippi music legend "Delta Slim" in Sinners
- Kayo Martin as cruel bully "Jake" in The Plague
- Conan O'Brien holding his own as "Linda's Therapist" in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
- Haris Patel as the endearing but confused dad "Archit" in A Nice Indian Boy
- Sean Penn as the cartoonish but frighteningly familiar "Colonel Steve Lockjaw" in One Battle After Another
- Lewis Pullman as superpowered amnesiac "Bob" in Thunderbolts*
- Andrew Scott as composer "Dick Rodgers" on the evening of his greatest success in Blue Moon
- Min Tinaka as "Onagawa Mangiku" a national living legend in Kokuho
- Ricardo Teodoro as "Ronaldo" the sexiest mentor ever in Baby
P.S. For what it's worth the Best Juvenile Actor, Best Voice or Mo-Cap Performances, and Breakthroughs of the Year have also been posted.
Reader Comments (1)
Yes on Conan, Nina Hoss, and Tania Moria being unfortunately overlooked all season long, especially as they epitomize *supporting* acting. Conan, especially, is rather unnerving as you realize at first that it's Conan the hilarious talk show host, but really disappears into the role. He works so well at making you uncomfortable.
Supporting performances I appreciated but which never got any traction include Jack O'Connell in Sinners, Roney Villela in The Secret Agent, Austin Abrams in Weapons, and (sorry) Kevin O'Leary in Marty Supreme. Voters clearly saw all those films, and the actors all very much supported the films rather than taking them over, but voters were too committed to category fraud perhaps to see them.