OVP: Best Supporting Actress (2015)
The Nominees Were...
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
My Thoughts: While category fraud has been prevalent and growing at the Oscars for decades, one has to wonder looking at 2015 if this was the straw that broke the camel's back, for the good or the bad. In 2015, there was no pretense about the category fraud of two specific contenders (Rooney Mara & Alicia Vikander), both of whom are leads in two-lead films, one of which (Vikander) doesn't even have the recent excuse of "no two leads from the same gender in the same movie." I'm strongly against this category fraud, not least of which because I'm a huge classic movie buff, and wouldn't want to deprive the world of the fame achieved by the likes of Thelma Ritter, Agnes Moorehead, Walter Brennan, and Claude Rains by getting Oscar nominations for their best roles. As a result, I usually knock anyone that is a clear violator of category fraud of one "star" in the ranking of how I would vote for them here. That doesn't always mean that I don't end up giving this trophy to a lead performance when they're miles above the rest of the field (see here for example), but it does mean that they have to work harder since they're already starting with a clear advantage.
This has to be said because Rooney Mara is sensational in Carol. It's very hard to play an introverted character, unequipped with the language to express what she's feeling, particularly in a period piece where she's starring opposite an actress who gets both of those tools to deliver a performance, but Mara does it. There's something so meticulous in her Therese. Look at the way that she unpacks speeches she wants to give to Carol but says them to other people (Jake Lacy's Richard, for one) instead, or how she has to express so much through her face that her words and body can't. Mara isn't an actress I would have gone to when she made her big splash in The Social Network a decade ago as someone who would have made a great silent film star, but here she shows that ability, acting out complex emotions that are alien to her character with a complete effortlessness.
Vikander is also swell in The Danish Girl. 2015 was a banner year for the actress, and if she doesn't start straightening out her career choices, might be the only banner year in her career, but she deserved the kudos she received for this and other films that year. There's an ease to her Gerda, a comfortable nonchalance that hides the insecurities in her relationship with Einar/Lili, and she more than makes up for Redmayne not really getting his character. I would have liked to have seen more of what happens to her as the story becomes entirely Lili's toward the end, and she's pushed to being the supportive wife, but Vikander is much better than cheeky Twitter commentators would let you believe when they discuss The Danish Girl.
When we get to the three actual supporting parts, we sadly don't see the consistency that Vikander & Mara bring to their work. It is very hard to begrudge Jennifer Jason Leigh an Oscar nomination after all of these years of waiting, but did it really need to be for Quentin Tarantino's worst movie, and not just that, but one of the worst movies of 2015? Her performance here is completely one-note, and one of the lesser examples of "I'm the only girl in a cast of all men" which feels about how she got noticed here (also Tarantino does have a strong history of landing at least one of his actors with Oscar). She gets some fine asides in against Russell, but there's nothing special or interesting happening here, and it feels a lot like Stanley Tucci's nomination for The Lovely Bones a few years back in that they just desperately wanted to honor this specific actor while they had the chance.
Speaking of "I'm the only girl in a cast of men," we have Rachel McAdams, who like Leigh is landing her first (and so far only) Oscar nomination for Spotlight. Unlike Leigh, who most people just assume was finally getting cited after years of rejection, McAdams appears to have her defenders in this role, but I'm not one of them. I've come around to her as an actress (Disobedience being my "oh, right" moment), but here she does nothing with her Sacha Pfeiffer, taking introverted to just mean one-note and reserved. Leigh at least brings some life to her character, but McAdams only occasionally has a spark, her eyes flickering when an interview says something interesting, but there's nothing special going on here, nothing that would warrant a nomination, and one wonders if Hollywood (who has always loved McAdams more than she seemed to love it back considering the press she gets compared to the roles she's done), just wanted to encourage her a little more into being in memorable pictures.
Our final nomination is for Kate Winslet, a proper supporting part and one that actually brings it. Winslet had the longest absence with Oscar since she'd first been nominated (a seven year spread), and this was a welcome reminder of how good she could be. Joanna Hoffman could just be observational, there for expositional conversations with Steve Jobs to move along Aaron Sorkin's life, but Winslet fills her with such passion and knowledge you understand why she's the only person who can tell Steve off without having to explain it. That final scene, where she gives Steve a lecture about what it means to be a father could have been SO hokey (that's how it was written), but she sells it because she's put in the work throughout the film without you realizing it, and that "or you can contact me, at my new job working anywhere I want" line reading where she not only chastises him for his misuse of his daughter but also of her (reminding him that she is also a catch and could work literally anywhere and walk away at any time) may be the best line reading of any actor in 2015.
This has to be said because Rooney Mara is sensational in Carol. It's very hard to play an introverted character, unequipped with the language to express what she's feeling, particularly in a period piece where she's starring opposite an actress who gets both of those tools to deliver a performance, but Mara does it. There's something so meticulous in her Therese. Look at the way that she unpacks speeches she wants to give to Carol but says them to other people (Jake Lacy's Richard, for one) instead, or how she has to express so much through her face that her words and body can't. Mara isn't an actress I would have gone to when she made her big splash in The Social Network a decade ago as someone who would have made a great silent film star, but here she shows that ability, acting out complex emotions that are alien to her character with a complete effortlessness.
Vikander is also swell in The Danish Girl. 2015 was a banner year for the actress, and if she doesn't start straightening out her career choices, might be the only banner year in her career, but she deserved the kudos she received for this and other films that year. There's an ease to her Gerda, a comfortable nonchalance that hides the insecurities in her relationship with Einar/Lili, and she more than makes up for Redmayne not really getting his character. I would have liked to have seen more of what happens to her as the story becomes entirely Lili's toward the end, and she's pushed to being the supportive wife, but Vikander is much better than cheeky Twitter commentators would let you believe when they discuss The Danish Girl.
When we get to the three actual supporting parts, we sadly don't see the consistency that Vikander & Mara bring to their work. It is very hard to begrudge Jennifer Jason Leigh an Oscar nomination after all of these years of waiting, but did it really need to be for Quentin Tarantino's worst movie, and not just that, but one of the worst movies of 2015? Her performance here is completely one-note, and one of the lesser examples of "I'm the only girl in a cast of all men" which feels about how she got noticed here (also Tarantino does have a strong history of landing at least one of his actors with Oscar). She gets some fine asides in against Russell, but there's nothing special or interesting happening here, and it feels a lot like Stanley Tucci's nomination for The Lovely Bones a few years back in that they just desperately wanted to honor this specific actor while they had the chance.
Speaking of "I'm the only girl in a cast of men," we have Rachel McAdams, who like Leigh is landing her first (and so far only) Oscar nomination for Spotlight. Unlike Leigh, who most people just assume was finally getting cited after years of rejection, McAdams appears to have her defenders in this role, but I'm not one of them. I've come around to her as an actress (Disobedience being my "oh, right" moment), but here she does nothing with her Sacha Pfeiffer, taking introverted to just mean one-note and reserved. Leigh at least brings some life to her character, but McAdams only occasionally has a spark, her eyes flickering when an interview says something interesting, but there's nothing special going on here, nothing that would warrant a nomination, and one wonders if Hollywood (who has always loved McAdams more than she seemed to love it back considering the press she gets compared to the roles she's done), just wanted to encourage her a little more into being in memorable pictures.
Our final nomination is for Kate Winslet, a proper supporting part and one that actually brings it. Winslet had the longest absence with Oscar since she'd first been nominated (a seven year spread), and this was a welcome reminder of how good she could be. Joanna Hoffman could just be observational, there for expositional conversations with Steve Jobs to move along Aaron Sorkin's life, but Winslet fills her with such passion and knowledge you understand why she's the only person who can tell Steve off without having to explain it. That final scene, where she gives Steve a lecture about what it means to be a father could have been SO hokey (that's how it was written), but she sells it because she's put in the work throughout the film without you realizing it, and that "or you can contact me, at my new job working anywhere I want" line reading where she not only chastises him for his misuse of his daughter but also of her (reminding him that she is also a catch and could work literally anywhere and walk away at any time) may be the best line reading of any actor in 2015.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes in a wonderful touch put Vikander & Mara in the lead categories where they belonged, and as a result we had room for Helen Mirren (Trumbo) and Jane Fonda (Youth), as well as substituting out McAdams for Vikander in Ex Machina (a proper supporting performance). Winslet would take the trophy, setting her up as the obvious second place to Vikander throughout the year. The SAG Awards were bound to the category fraud due to their rules (you have to vote for what the studio submits, rather than the Globes or Oscars where it's at your discretion). Here Vikander won, and the only person thrown out was Mirren in place of Leigh. Leigh was at the BAFTA Awards, however, as the two that were thrown out were Vikander for herself (she was cited for Ex Machina while The Danish Girl competed for Best Actress) and McAdams, who was replaced with Julie Walters (Brooklyn). I have to assume that Leigh, McAdams, and Mirren were in some sort of genuine battle for inclusion here, though it's not out-of-the-question that if Vikander had gone lead (very possible), she would have been double-nominated.
Actors I Would Have Nominated: Well for starters I'd put in Vikander for the right role-not only is she supporting in Ex Machina, she's better, and in fact better than this whole field. Rose Byrne is marvelously campy in Spy, and a nomination would have been an acknowledgement of all of the brilliant work she's been doing in comedy over the past decade. I'd have found room for Kristen Stewart's crown jewel of a performance in Clouds of Sils Maria (she has emerged as one of our finest actresses in the past few years), and finally I would have kept Jane Fonda for that devastating cameo in Youth, arguably a role that would have best illustrated how absurd it is to have Vikander & Mara in this field.
Oscar’s Choice: In what was probably a closer matchup than you remember between Vikander and Winslet, Oscar went full-in on the category fraud.
My Choice: For me it would be between Mara & Winslet, but with Winslet being a proper supporting performance, I'm giving it to her. Mara follows, with Vikander, Leigh, and McAdams behind.
Those are my thoughts-what are yours? Are you in concurrence with Oscar on Vikander, or does the category fraud make you go for Winslet? Do you think that Leigh or McAdams will ever be nominated for better work, or will this nomination suffice for the reminder of their careers? And who will Helen Mirren be doomed to show up to precursors for the rest of time, never actually getting back to the Oscars? Share your thoughts below!
Also in 2015: Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Foreign Language Film, Animated Feature Film, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Production Design, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Documentary Short, Live Action Short, Animated Short, Previously in 2015
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