FINAL 2021 Oscar Nomination Predictions: MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING

A rich category full of fascinating and complicated work and a shortlist that features three films that focus on traditional Black hair for the first time ever.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and One Night in Miami utilize numerous wigs made of horse and or/human hair to create their characters. Mia Neal, hair department head, wig designer & wig builder on Ma Rainey, is likely to become the first Black woman ever nominated in the makeup and hair category. That also goes for Sharon Martin, makeup and hair designer on Jingle Jangle. Both getting in would be a double record.

Three films have earned all three precursors: Hillbilly Elegy, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Mank – all from Netflix. Pinocchio nabbed BAFTA and a Makeup and Hairstylist guild (MUAH) nomination, Jingle Jangle and Birds of Prey hit MUAH and Emma. has BFCA. I’m giving Emma. the edge here as the only period era represented that this branch goes for year after year, even if it misses precursors. Suicide Squad not only surprised win a nomination a few years ago, it won, so I can see Birds of Prey being a spoiler here.

Here are my final 2021 Oscar predictions in Makeup and Hairstyling.

• 1. Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix) – BAFTA, BFCA, MUAH (x3)
  Eryn Krueger Mekash (makeup department head), Patricia Dehaney (hair department head), Matthew Mungle (prosthetic designer)
• 2. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) – BAFTA, BFCA, MUAH (x2)
  Sergio Lopez-Rivera (personal makeup for Viola Davis), Mia Neal (hair department head, wig designer & wig builder), Jamika Wilson (personal hair for Viola Davis)
• 3. Pinocchio (Roadside Attractions) – BAFTA, MUAH
  Mark Coulier (prosthetic makeup designer), Dalia Colli (makeup artist), Francesco Pegoretti (hair designer)
• 4. Mank (Netflix) – BAFTA, BFCA, MUAH
  Kimberley Spiteri (hair department head), Gigi Williams (makeup department head)
• 5. Emma. (Focus Features) – BFCA
  Marese Langan (hair and makeup designer)

Watch out for: Birds of Prey (Warner Bros) – MUAH (x2)

Oscar shortlist contenders: The Glorias, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (MUAH), The Little Things, One Night in Miami

Photo credit: David Lee/Netflix

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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.

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