Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman reign in The Favourite
The battle for the favourite performance of 2018 turned out to be a real battle of The Favourite(s). Co-stars Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz took the top 2 spots on the AwardsWatch annual list of favourite performances of the year.
It was the second time that the top two spots were LGBTQ characters and lovers to boot (Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett were #1 and #2, respectively, for 2015’s Carol).
Now in its 12th year, the members of AwardsWatch’s forums have voted on what they think were the best film performances of 2018. Voting began with a shortlist in Phase I and then final voting in Phase II where members ranked their top 15 to create the point-based final list.
Previous winners have included: Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name – 2017), Isabelle Huppert (Elle – 2016) and Rooney Mara (Carol – 2015).
This year, 114 ballots were received (up from 111 in 2017) with 20 male + 30 female performances making it to the final list (the same as 2017).
Of the 20 acting Oscar nominees for 2018, seven performances did not make the cut. Only Best Actress had all five nominees find a place on AW’s list. See full list below to see who made it and who fell short.
Four films earned three spots apiece on the list.
Huge thanks and praise to AW forum members alilou for compiling the results and olivivien for the gorgeous graphics.
Here are AwardsWatch’s 50 Favourite Performances of 2018 as voted on by AW forum members.
As a teaser, here are the five performances that ranked just outside the top 50 list:
51. Nicole Kidman | Boy Erased (84 points) 52. Olivia | Widows (82 points) 53. Rachel Weisz | Disobedience (82 points) 54. Kathryn Hahn | Private Life (81 points) 55. Nicholas Hoult | The Favourite (80 points)
THE LIST
50. Charlie Plummer | Lean on Pete49. Haley Lu Richardson | Support the Girls48. Rosamund Pike | A Private War47. Lola Dueñas | Zama46. Josh Hamilton | Eighth Grade45. Elizabeth Debicki | Widows44. Sam Elliott | A Star is Born43. Marina de Tavira | Roma42. Ben Foster | Leave No Trace41. Willem Dafoe | At Eternity’s Gate40. Brady Jandreau | The Rider39. Yoo Ah-in | Burning38. Daniel Giménez Cacho | Zama37. Maggie Gyllenhaal | The Kindergarten Teacher36. Alessandro Nivola | Disobedience35. Charlize Theron | Tully34. Brian Tyree Henry | If Beale Street Could Talk33. Nicole Kidman | Destroyer32. Alex Wolff | Hereditary31. Emily Blunt | Mary Poppins Returns30. Matt Dillon | The House That Jack Built29. Stephan James | If Beale Street Could Talk28. Blake Lively | A Simple Favor27. Michelle Yeoh | Crazy Rich Asians26. Thomasin McKenzie | Leave No Trace
————————————————————————————————————
The Top 25
————————————————————————————————————
25. Ryan Gosling | First Man (133 points / 16 mentions / 1 TOP placement)24. Emma Stone | The Favourite (136 points / 21 mentions)23. Rachel McAdams | Game Night (141 points / 17 mentions / 2 TOP placements)22. Elsie Fisher | Eighth Grade (143 points / 17 mentions)21. Jun Jong-seo | Burning (150 points / 19 mentions / 1 TOP placement)20. Emily Blunt | A Quiet Place (152 points / 23 mentions)19. Carey Mulligan | Wildlife (155 points / 19 mentions / 1 TOP placement)18. Helena Howard | Madeline’s Madeline (166 points / 19 mentions / 2 TOP placements)17. Joaquin Phoenix | You Were Never Really Here (171 points / 23 mentions / 1 TOP placement)16. Melissa McCarthy | Can You Ever Forgive Me? (190 points / 26 mentions)15. Yalitza Aparicio | Roma (193 points / 23 mentions / 3 TOP placements)14. Lady Gaga | A Star is Born (198 points / 20 mentions / 3 TOP placements)13. Joanna Kulig | Cold War (222 points / 25 mentions)12. Richard E. Grant | Can You Ever Forgive Me? (234 points / 30 mentions / 2 TOP placements)11. Regina King | If Beale Street Could Talk (240 points / 28 mentions / 1 TOP placement)
————————————————————————————————————
THE TOP 10
————————————————————————————————————
10. Regina Hall | Support the Girls (279 points / 32 mentions / 1 TOP placement)9. Hugh Grant | Paddington 2 (279 points / 38 mentions)8. Steven Yeun | Burning (318 points / 32 mentions / 3 TOP placements)7. Glenn Close | The Wife (337 points / 31 mentions / 6 TOP placements)6. Bradley Cooper | A Star is Born (356 points / 37 mentions / 3 TOP placements)
————————————————————————————————————
THE TOP 5
————————————————————————————————————
5. Ethan Hawke | First Reformed (368 points / 46 mentions / 2 TOP placements)4. Toni Collette | Hereditary (381 points / 38 mentions / 9 TOP placements)3. Sakura Andô | Shoplifters (412 points / 41 mentions / 4 TOP placements)2. Rachel Weisz | The Favourite (447 points / 49 mentions / 7 TOP placements)1. Olivia Colman | The Favourite (509 points / 53 mentions / 10 TOP placements)
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), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) 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.