OVP: Best Supporting Actress (1999)
The Nominees Were...
Toni Collette, The Sixth Sense
Angelina Jolie, Girl, Interrupted
Catherine Keener, Being John Malkovich
Samantha Morton, Sweet and Lowdown
Chloe Sevigny, Boys Don't Cry
My Thoughts: It is pretty rare (and as the Academy becomes even more insular, even rarer in the 21st Century) for the Academy Awards to do what they did in 1999-give us all five first-time nominees. While each of these women would have very diverse careers that followed (three of them, to date, have been invited back to the Academy Awards as a nominee for a different picture), they all started as first-timers together. It's fascinating to think about how one of them became a global superstar, one emerged as an Indie darling, and the remainder are three beloved character actresses with very different fanbases. But we're only judging the performances in front of us, so let's start with them, shall we?
Samantha Morton is maybe the most versatile of these actors, having appeared in countless roles in the years since of varying sizes. I think it makes sense how well she fits into the vision Woody Allen has set up for her in Sweet & Lowdown. The mute girl with a heart-of-gold is a staple at the Oscars for a reason (just ask Jane Wyman or Holly Hunter), but I wanted a bit more of it from her. A lot of her acting here that works is more physical, reactive rather than driving the viewer, and while that's a good fit, it doesn't give us the range I want from this piece (and as Hunter showed in The Piano, not being able to speak onscreen is no excuse for not giving us everything you'd get with a lot of dialogue).
Toni Collette, oddly enough, does that kind of projecting without speaking in her most famous scene in The Sixth Sense, going through a facial journey as she understands her son's gifts, and gets to have a reunion of sorts with her mother (she does have dialogue, but it's definitely secondary to what she's doing). Collette is aces in this in general, though. She nails the tough spot of being a single mother in a horror movie (very much a cliche) by giving us a sense of not just what it's like to raise a unique child, but also what it's like to put your life on the back-burner to raise said child. This is one of those performances that Oscar could've skipped (Osment gets the showier part), and I'm so glad they didn't.
I will confess since this is the last (guaranteed) time that we discuss her that I've never been really besotted with Angelina Jolie as an actress. I think she's better as a movie star or celebrity, but when she's forced into actually acting or transforming, she can't do it. Part of the reason she works in Girl, Interrupted is that we're getting that star persona full-force, for the first time, and audiences were wowed by it. In many ways it's similar to what one of her competitors that missed the field in 1999 (Jean Smart in Guinevere) is doing-it's the first time we see this talent, so we assume it's limitless and are astounded, but we quickly get used to it, and it's not something where every performance is an event like Meryl Streep or Julianne Moore. Again, I need to judge this based on what's totally in front of me (those are the OVP rules), and what I'm seeing is intoxicating...but I don't know that it's great acting.
Catherine Keener is able to achieve both in Being John Malkovich. She's playing a role that would be a staple in her catalog (the gorgeous, smart, impetuous bitch), and she nails it. Keener would later be typecast in these sorts of roles, but here you understand that there's something special to what she's specifically bringing. Look at the way she is totally comfortable stepping on John Cusack's character to get what she wants, which is something better than him. It's basically said out loud, but you understand because she's so enthralling why Cusack is willing to put up with it. In a film teaming with really interesting character decisions, hers is the best and I'm glad if only one person got that nomination, it was her.
We end with Chloe Sevigny, one of those stars that just has such a unique screen persona it's inevitable that she would land an Oscar nomination at some point, but likely not much more because she is not in traditional Academy fare. Sevigny can be a good actress, but she goes all-in with all of her characterizations, and I think her work here needed some more breathing room. She plays well off of Hilary Swank, but it's more predictable and close-to-the-vest in her approach, giving the audience less glimpses inward rather than just what we get on the surface. This isn't a bad performance, by any means, but when you're judging on a curve (i.e. giving out an Oscar), you have to be pickier, and I think there was room for something more fully-fledged here.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Golden Globes went with Jolie as their victor, here taking out Morton, Keener, Sevigny, Natalie Portman (Anywhere But Here), & Cameron Diaz (Being John Malkovich). SAG also picked Jolie, beating Diaz, Keener, Sevigny, & Julianne Moore (Magnolia), while BAFTA gave their statute to Maggie Smith (Tea with Mussolini) atop Diaz, Cate Blanchett (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Thora Birch (American Beauty), & Mena Suvari (American Beauty). The clear sixth place based on precursors is Diaz, and that probably makes the most sense. Moore was in the running, as were Blanchett & Gywneth Paltrow for Ripley (they likely split their vote), and as I mentioned above there were some who thought Jean Smart might surprise given her reviews for Guinevere, but Diaz was likely in sixth even if that feels weird given Oscar didn't care for her.
Actors I Would Have Nominated: This was in the era before Nicole Kidman was an Oscar staple, but that doesn't mean that Oscar was making the right decisions by her, as she was still doing the work. Look at what she does in Stanley Kubrick's final film, a prickly, tough performance as a neglected wife in Eyes Wide Shut...she was Oscar-worthy well before Moulin Rouge!.
Oscar’s Choice: There was some buzz building at the time for Collette to win in an upset, but not enough to topple Jolie from her perch.
My Choice: For sure Collette. This is on a different level from her competition, even if Catherine Keener would've made a respectable winner as well. Behind them (in order) are Morton, Sevigny, and then Jolie.
Those are my thoughts-what are yours? Does everyone want to stay with Jolie, or would you like to see dead people with Toni & I? Which of these actresses (their first glance for many cinephiles) is the strongest thespian in the years that followed? And is sixth place as easy as just "it was Cameron Diaz" or does someone want to push for someone more traditionally in Oscar's wheelhouse? Share your thoughts below!
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