New Oscar Predictions: Supporting Actress

by Nathaniel R

With most of this year's buzziest titles featuring large casts filled with men, and with the general shortage of movies, Supporting Actress is looking much less competitive than usual. At least so far. This is why we're feeling so confident that the one to watch is 12 year old Helena Zengel of the western drama News of the World. It's a large role -- she plays the kidnapped girl that Tom Hanks is out to rescue -- and just last year with Germany's Oscar submission System Crasher, she made international waves receiving a nomination for Best Actress at the European Film Awards. Of course the film might not open. Nothing is certain this season...

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Smackdown '38: You can't take the great waltz with you, Jezebel!

In the Supporting Actress Smackdown series we take a particular Oscar vintage and explore it with a panel of artists and journalists. This episode goes way back to 1938. 

THE ACTRESSES & CHARACTERS
In 1938 the Academy was still evolving and the "Best Supporting Actress" category was just three years old. Still, their all time favourite type (the long-suffering wife/mom) was already showing its strength (Beulah Bondi in Of Human Hearts, noticeably that film's only nomination). Other then-popular character types like 'the vamp' (Milja Korjus in The Great Waltz) and ditzy/funny moms (Billie Burke in Merrily We Live! and Spring Byington in You Can't Take It With You) didn't stay in vogue with the Academy for as long. In 1938 we also got an historic first: Fay Bainter was the first actor to be double-nominated, competing in both Lead (White Banners) and Supporting (Jezebel) categories simultaneously, winning the latter. Will our panel agree? 

THE PANELISTS
Here to talk about these performances and movies are the actors Steven Weber and Britney Young, Joanna Robinson from Vanity Fair, and TFE's busiest duo, Cláudio Alves and your host Nathaniel R. Let's begin.

1938
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST  
The companion podcast can be downloaded at the bottom of this article or by visiting the iTunes page...

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Best Supporting Actress 1938: Getting to know the nominees

by Cláudio Alves

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1938 is approaching. Unlike more recent years, when the nominees are well-known personalities to all of us, it's understandable that contemporary audiences might not be too familiar with these actresses from the 30s. Considering that, here's a little primer on each of the five women, their careers, their filmographies, and their legacies. They make up an exceedingly impressive lineup that includes Broadway stars, an opera sensation, and some of the most reliable character actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age…

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We're puzzled by the Dear Evan Hansen casting...

by Nathaniel R

They could play sisters!

Have you heard the news that Julianne Moore will be play Heidi, the awards-ready role of Evan Hansen's stressed out single mom in the feature adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen? Normally we'd applaud our beloved Julianne getting a juicy part but we find this puzzling given her lack of musical experience. You see there are two mom characters in the melodramatic high school set musical, Heidi and Cynthia, whose children become entangled. The show opens with a duet between them "Anybody Have a Map?" but Cynthia's role recedes thereafter and she never gets a solo while Heidi gets the 11th hour showstopper "So Big / So Small".

Here's the weird part...

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Emmy Review: Supporting Actress in a Drama

By Abe Friedtanzer

The nominations in this category were mostly expected save for the snub, once again, of Rhea Seehorn from Better Call Saul. Julia Garner, Thandie Newton, Samira Wiley, and Laura Dern have all won Emmys for these roles but only Newton and Wiley have ever competed against each other (and both lost). There’s no clear frontrunner but a handful of possibilities who could win here in a category that features a lot of very strong choices.  

I’ll try to avoid major plot details in my analysis – but if you’d like more spoiler-filled descriptions, click on the episode titles. Let’s consider each nominee…

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