2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTRESS (June)

Margot Robbie retains the top spot after some spectacular raves at the Cannes Film Festival for her understated portrayal of the ill-fated Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood from Sony.

Laura Dern in the Untitled Noah Baumbach from Netflix and Scarlett Johansson in Fox Searchlight’s Jojo Rabbit are steadfast in the #2 and #3 spots.

I’m moving up 2-time Oscar winner Maggie Smith (Focus Features’ Downton Abbey) and the brilliant, but virtually unknown to the US Zhao Shuzhen from A24’s The Farewell. The summer release has stellar reviews and a strong festival run and if A24 plays their cards right they’ll have a real contender on their hands.

A wealth of previous Oscar winners continue to lurk and could be ready to pounce the moment a weak contender emerges. Any one (or more) of Meryl Streep (Netflix’s The Laundromat), Brie Larson (Warner Bros. Just Mercy), Jennifer Hudson (Universal’s Cats), Nicole Kidman (WB’s The Goldfinch or Lionsgate’s Untitled Roger Ailes), Frances McDormand (The French Dispatch), Julianne Moore (20th Century Fox’s The Woman in the Window), Anna Paquin (Netflix’s The Irishman), Octavia Spencer (Neon’s Luce) and Tilda Swinton (The Personal History of David Copperfield or A24’s The Souvenir) could lay claim to that top 5. Penélope Cruz in Sony Classics’ Cannes winner Pain and Glory is probably too small a part for her to bypass all of those names but, you never know.

Here are my 2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions in Supporting Actress for June 10, 2019.

Green – moves up Red – moves down Blue – new/re-entry

1. Margot Robbie – Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (Sony/Columbia)
2. Laura Dern – Untitled Noah Baumbach (Netflix)
3. Scarlett Johansson – Jojo Rabbit (Fox Searchlight)
4. Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey (Focus Features)
5. Zhao Shuzhen – The Farewell (A24)

NEXT UP (alphabetical)

Annette Bening – The Report (Amazon)
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie – Jojo Rabbit (Fox Searchlight)
Brie Larson – Just Mercy (Warner Bros)
Janelle Monaé – Harriet (Focus Features)
Meryl Streep – The Laundromat (Netflix)

OTHER CONTENDERS (alphabetical)

Ellen Burstyn – Lucy in the Sky (Fox Searchlight)
Vanessa Bell Calloway – Harriet (Focus Features)
Penélope Cruz – Pain and Glory (Sony Classics)
Toni Collette – Knives Out (Lionsgate)
Jamie Leigh Curtis – Knives Out (Lionsgate)
Laura Dern – Little Women (Sony/Columbia)
Jennifer Hudson – Cats (Universal)
Nicole Kidman – Untitled Roger Ailes aka Fair and Balanced (Lionsgate)
Nicole Kidman – The Goldfinch (Amazon/Warner Bros)
Frances McDormand – The French Dispatch (TBD)
Bette Midler – The Glorias: A Life on the Road (TBD)
Julianne Moore – The Woman in the Window (20th Century Fox)
Ruth Negga – Ad Astra (20th Century Fox)
Anna Paquin – The Irishman (Netflix)
Florence Pugh – Little Women (Sony/Columbia)
Octavia Spencer – Luce (Neon)
Meryl Streep – Little Women (Sony/Columbia)
Tilda Swinton – The Personal History of David Copperfield (TBD)
Tilda Swinton – The Souvenir (A24)