The lead or supporting debate is definitely a huge factor in early predictions but even more so in Supporting Actress. Several potential contenders, from Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in Nightmare Alley to Kirsten Dunst in The Power of the Dog to Jodie Comer in The Last Duel to Frances McDormand in The Tragedy of Macbeth, could all go several ways. It’s creating a logjam of contenders, half of whom could be gone by year’s end once the dust settles on category placement.
After two consecutive years of Asian and Asian-American representation at the Oscars with Parasite and Minari in several above the line categories, could we finally see some parity for Latinas this year? EGOT winner Rita Moreno could return in a remake of the adaptation that earned her the Oscar, West Side Story. It’s a small part, replacing Doc from the original, playing Doc’s wife in what is essentially the same role. But she’ll be facing competition from Ariana DeBose, who is playing Moreno’s Oscar-winning role of Anita. Olga Merediz, a veteran actor with a stellar and stalwart career in film, stage and television going back more than 35 years, is about to have her big breakthrough with In the Heights this summer. She played the role of Abuela Claudia for the entire run of the stage musical and was Tony-nominated as Featured Actress for her performance.
Speaking of Tony-winning actresses reprising roles, Jayne Houdyshell in The Humans is someone to watch out for. She may be co-starring with bigger name talent like Oscar nominees Steven Yeun, Richard Jenkins, June Squibb plus Beanie Feldstein and Amy Schumer but she’s bringing the cache and the hardware to earn more.
Glenn Close is baaaack. After eight Oscar nominations and eight losses, Close holds the all-time record for a living actor at this point and she isn’t stopping with projects that could potentially net her even more nods. But can she finally win or is the Academy just stringing her along? Close received good notices for the spring release Four Good Days, as a mother dealing with her drug-addicted daughter (Mila Kunis) but it’s Swan Song that I think could be her next ticket.
I also think we could see the return of Marlee Matlin. Although she’s worked steadily since her history-making Best Actress Oscar win for 1986’s Children of a Lesser God, she hasn’t been nominated since, with Hollywood both pigeon-holing her as a deaf actress and simply not providing or producing films that embrace non-speaking actors. That could all change with CODA, the huge Sundance hit that Apple paid a whopping $25M for earlier this year. I’m still dubious of the August release date for the film (this would be an incredible fall festival player) but Matlin is a standout and is already paving the way for her campaign, recently presenting at the 93rd Oscars.
Here is my first take on Supporting Actress contenders for the 2022 Oscars, with an alphabetized list of likely contenders then a ranked list.
Here are my ranked Supporting Actress Oscar predictions for May 2021.
1. Cate Blanchett – Don’t Look Up (Netflix) or Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures) – lead or supporting?
2. Ariana DeBose – West Side Story (20th Century Studios)
3. Olga Merediz – In the Heights (Warner Bros)
4. Ruth Negga – Passing (Netflix)
5. Jayne Houdyshell – The Humans (A24)
6. Toni Collette – Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
7. Glenn Close – Swan Song (Apple)
8. Ann Dowd – Mass (Bleecker Street)
9. Marlee Matlin – CODA (Apple)
10. Kaimana – Next Goal Wins (Searchlight Pictures) – category placement TBD
Other contenders: Marion Cotillard – Annette (Amazon Studios), Judi Dench – Belfast (Focus Features), Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog (Netflix) – lead or supporting?, Vera Farmiga – The Many Saints of Newark (Warner Bros/HBO Max), Sally Hawkins – Spencer (Neon), Rooney Mara – Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures) – lead or supporting?, Audra McDonald – Respect (MGM/UA), Frances McDormand – The Tragedy of Macbeth (A24) – lead or supporting?, Rita Moreno – West Side Story (20th Century Studios), Meryl Streep – Don’t Look Up (Netflix), Anya Taylor-Joy – Untitled David O. Russell aka Canterbury Glass (20th Century Studios)
Films currently without distribution or possibly unfinished in time
The Jury for the 77th Festival de Cannes, chaired by Greta Gerwig, will include Turkish… Read More
On episode 229 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch… Read More
The King is back. Disney unveiled a first look at Mufasa: The Lion King, the… Read More
In a room full of stars, the American Film Institute (AFI) presented the 49th AFI Life… Read More
With its 2004-perfect styles and needle drops (not to mention cultural references), Mark Waters’s Mean… Read More
While first seasons can feel awkward and sophomore seasons test the consistency of the narrative,… Read More
This website uses cookies.