Who was best dressed? Supporting Actress Edition

Our Best Supporting Actress obsesssion manifests itself in our longest running series, the Smackdown. But we've already covered this season's battle. Kirsten Dunst won the Smackdown but it was Ariana DeBose who took the Oscar as expected? (Wasn't her speech beautiful?) Now who gets your vote for Best Supporting Actress Best Dressed? You know you want to vote! Comments welcome, too. Why'd you choose which gown? 

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Smackdown '21: Ariana, Aunjanue, Jessie, Judi, and Kirsten

Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month we pick an Oscar vintage to explore through the lens of actressing at the edges. This episode, kicking off a new season takes us back to... well, not back at all but to the current Oscar race which will be decided, officially, on March 27th. 

THE NOMINEES  Dame Judi Dench returns for an incredible 8th nomination while the rest of the field are first timers whether they're near the beginning of their film career (triple threat Ariana DeBose and dramatic powerhouse Jessie Buckley), deep inside it (character actress extraordinare Aunjanue Ellis) or, long past overdue for their first "shrimp" (movie star Kirsten Dunst).

THE PANELISTS: Here to talk about these five performances are (in alpha order) critics Rebecca Alter (Vulture), Cláudio Alves (The Film Experience) Sophia Ciminello (Oscar Wild), Ryan McQuade (Awards Watch / In Session Film),  and your host Nathaniel R.

 SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST  

LET'S BEGIN...

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"Introducing" The film debuts of your Best Supporting Actresses

by Nathaniel R

Aunjanue Ellis in her film debut, "Girls Town"

In the glitz and glamour of awards season it can be hard to remember that today's most celebrated performers were once just starry eyed hopefuls trying to land a movie role. For this four-part series, a look back at the films that launched each of our acting nominees, some more auspiciously than others. Because acting is a three medium art form (stage, tv, screen) we're sticking to their first feature film role to make it easier. Some of the nominees had acting gigs before landing their first film. We'll take them in chronological order of their debuts and share a screen shot of the very first credited moment on film.

We begin with Supporting Actress which we'll be discussing at length on the Smackdown this weekend. But first a look back at their very first roles...

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Jesse Plemons is an Oscar lucky charm

by Cláudio Alves

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…

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Oscar Trivia: When the Academy Nominates Lovers Together

by Cláudio Alves

Love is in the air…at the Oscars. Both lead and supporting acting categories feature a nominated couple. Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem are on the hunt for their second statuette with Parallel Mothers and Being the Ricardos, respectively. Then, there are Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, who played a married couple in the movie that finally earned them long-deserved Oscar nods. The Power of the Dog stars are the first real-life romantic partners to earn nominations for playing an on-screen couple since Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain – though, of course, the Burbanks have a better marriage than the doomed Del Mars. 

But how often do couples get nominated together at the Academy Awards? As it happens, much more often than you'd think...

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