The Last Cinema Standing Countdown to the Oscars is your guide to the Academy Awards. We will cover each of the categories in depth, talk about history and what the award truly means, and predict some winners. Check back all month as we make our way to the big show, one category (each as important as the next) at a time.
Best Supporting Actor
The nominees are:
Ciarán Hinds for Belfast
Troy Kotsur for CODA
Jesse Plemmons for The Power of the Dog
J.K. Simmons for Being the Ricardos
Kodi-Smit McPhee for The Power of the Dog
It is unfortunate for the Academy that every year, the categories with the least amount of drama are the acting categories. For an organization that seems so hell bent on increasing ratings, drama for the acting statuettes would be a great way to drum up viewers. Apart from superhero stories, actors drive the conversation when it comes to film. What do average people talk about when they talk about the Oscars, apart from Best Picture? Actors. Performers draw viewers, and when you think your favorite performer could win an Academy Award, you tune in to find out.
Going through all four acting categories, let’s try to count up the genuine surprises since 2006, which is about as far back as I have a genuine knowledge of the buzz around certain nominees leading up to the awards.
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) beating Sylvester Stallone (Creed) in 2015 felt surprising, but Rylance had won the BAFTA, which we are going to learn holds much sway over these awards. In 2012, Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) winning his second award in this category over Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) was a toss-up, but again, Waltz had the BAFTA. So, if we’re being honest, no surprises in the past 15 years.
Best Supporting Actress: In 2013, Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) had won the Screen Actors Guild award, but Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) won the BAFTA. Still, Lawrence already had an Oscar by this point, and all the momentum and sentiment was with Nyong’o, so we’ll call this a mild surprise at best. Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) felt genuinely shocking in the moment, beating Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) in 2007, but stop me if you’ve heard this before: Swinton had the BAFTA.
Best Actor: Out of all these years, only last year felt truly surprising – it obviously surprised the show’s producers – with Anthony Hopkins (The Father) topping Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), but even then we should have known. Hopkins, of course, had the BAFTA.
Best Actress: The entire world expected Glenn Close (The Wife) finally to win her Oscar in 2018 … except us, right? Because, say it with me, Olivia Colman (The Favourite) won the BAFTA. Same goes in 2011, when Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) beat Viola Davis (The Help), and in 2007, when Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) beat Julie Christie (Away from Her). Though surprising in the moment, Streep and Cotillard both had taken the BAFTA.
And that’s it. Fifteen years, 60 statues, and we struggled to name eight “surprises,” only one of which (Nyong’o) was not presaged by a BAFTA win. Not great for categories that should be the show’s biggest draw. Because of the overlap between the two memberships (AMPAS and BAFTA), this issue is not going to fix itself, leaving the Academy only one choice: move the Oscars before the BAFTAs.
But, that’s all a problem for another day. We are here to talk about Best Supporting Actor. And, the winner is …
Troy Kotsur for CODA – Kotsur, who has won the BAFTA this year, is brilliant in CODA. The much lauded truck scene toward the end of the film is the scene of the year, and Kotsur plays it for everything it is worth. He understands the humor of the character, the fierceness, the defiance, and most of all the love he has for his daughter. He just gets it. Kotsur, who was born deaf, has been an actor for 20 years and deserves every ounce of praise he is getting for his work here.
Kodi Smit-McPhee for The Power of the Dog – The unfortunate side effect of Kotsur’s career-defining work is that Smit-McPhee will not win this award despite being the engine that powers (sorry) The Power of the Dog. The movie cannot work without an absolutely pitch-perfect performance in the Peter role, and Smit-McPhee nails every bit of the role. He finds a balance of strength, vulnerability, and cunning that was heretofore unknown to filmdom. As Smit-McPhee goes, so goes The Power of the Dog, and both ascend to great heights.
Jesse Plemmons for The Power of the Dog – Plemmons is absolutely one of the most fascinating actors working today. I did not watch Friday Night Lights when it was on the air, so my introduction to Plemmons was Breaking Bad, in which he epitomized pure evil. Then, I saw Game Night, and it turns out the man can do comedy. It says more about the quality of his co-stars than it does about Plemmons that I consider his the fourth-best performance in The Power of the Dog. But, that does not make it any less remarkable. Without a doubt, Plemmons is going to have more chances at this thing.
Ciarán Hinds for Belfast – As I sat in the theater watching Belfast, the thought occurred to me that I hoped the Academy would not forget Hinds come nomination time. Everyone is doing wonderful work in Belfast, from Jude Hill in the lead role to Caitrona Balfe and Jamie Dornan as his parents, as well as the also-nominated Judi Dench as Granny. But, it was Hinds, as the lovable Grandpa who has seen it all and has nothing but practical advice for living to give Buddy, who stuck with me the longest.
J.K. Simmons for Being the Ricardos – Actors just really love Simmons. It’s easy to understand why – he’s great. Unfortunately, that love does occasionally translate to uninspired nominations like this. Simmons is fine in Being the Ricardos and might actually be one of the most memorable things about the movie, but that does not make this nomination less frustrating. Remember 2012, when Alan Arkin was nominated for Argo, in which he essentially ran back his Oscar-winning character in Little Miss Sunshine in a different context? This is That 2.0.
The final analysis
Kotsur won the Screen Actors Guild award. He won the BAFTA. He is beloved by his peers and co-stars in a movie clearly beloved by most of the Academy. This award is his in a walk.
Will win: Troy Kotsur for CODA
Should win: Troy Kotsur for CODA
Should have been here: Mark Rylance for Don’t Look Up
Next time: Best Supporting Actress
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