AwardsWatch - 2016 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTRESS

2016 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTRESS – May 2015

It’s only May but we already have a fierce battle in Best Actress. Is anyone surprised? Very recent previous Oscar winners Cate Blanchett in Carol and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy are neck and neck at the moment but as of right now only Carol has been seen, Joy just wrapped principal photography a week ago and all we’ve seen are blurry set pics. It speaks to the strength of both director David O. Russell and of Lawrence herself that the buzz and predictions are this high for the film and her performance. It would seem that Blanchett has the advantage since her film will be premiering at Cannes and get a head start on reviews and visibility. Joy doesn’t open until Christmas. But then, if Carol and Blanchett’s reviews are anything less than stellar that opens the door.

But does that door automatically open for Lawrence? What of Carey Mulligan? With Focus Features picking up her women’s right to vote film Suffragette, it puts her clearly in contention with a very timely subject matter. Focus Features has had an excellent Oscar score the last couple of years with the studio netting Best Actor in 2014 (Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club) and 2015 (Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything; a Best Actor contender again this year for The Danish Girl and again with Focus Features). You also can’t count out this year’s winner, Julianne Moore, to make an immediate Oscar comeback with her lesbian rights drama Freeheld, which is being released by Lionsgate, another strong Oscar player. There is a lot of support in the Gold Rush Gang for Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn, coming from Fox Searchlight. Then there’s the case of Alicia Vikander. As Eddie Redmayne’s co-star in The Danish Girl, it’s still unclear if she’s going to be pushed in lead or supporting. Focus Features already had their lead actress in Mulligan and might decide to get Vikander into supporting but then they also have Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep in Suffragette to think about. Speaking of Meryl Streep, you can never, ever count her out for a nomination. As The Film Experience‘s Nathaniel Rogers warned on the most recent Awardswatch Oscar podcast, do so at your own peril.

For an expanded Best Actress chart, click here. For other predictions, click below.

BEST PICTURE

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST ACTOR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.