2023 was a year of film that was absolutely blessed with amazing performances, and this is reflected by both the actors who were recognised by the Academy, as well as the actors who just missed the cut.
One area in which there is a range of standout performances this year is within the category of Best Supporting Actress. How the Academy were able to narrow down this year's supporting actress performances into only 5 remains a myth.
Amazing performances such as Penelope Cruz in Michael Mann's 'Ferrari', Rosamund Pike in 'Saltburn', Julianne Moore in 'May December' and Rachel McAdams in 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.' were all some of the best turns of last year. But were still deemed not good enough to be in the top 5.
The 5 best supporting actress performances of 2023 that were recognised by the Academy are as follows:
Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Jodie Foster (Nyad)
America Ferrara (Barbie)
And although there is a wide range of quality scattered amongst these 5 performances, there does seem to be a clear front runner prevailing across the category and that comes through the form of The Holdover's Da'Vine Joy Randolph.
The 37-year-old actress maintains a huge advantage heading into the Oscars, given the fact that she recently won both Best Supporting Actress awards at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. Randolph is also yet to miss out on a major pre-curser nomination, which can't be said for some of her fellow Oscar nominees.
In 'The Holdovers', Randolph does provides us with a subtle yet moving performance as Mary Lamb, a woman slowly and quietly grieving with the death of her son and is dealt with the task of spending the holidays with two unlikely companions.
Randolph isn't the only actor to be nominated from Alexander Payne's comedy/drama as Paul Giamatti also received a recognition from the Academy within the Best Leading Actor category. And if we see Randolph take home the award early on in the night, we could very well see the same thing occur for Giamatti.
However, the road to Oscar success may not be as easy as it currently seems for Da'Vine Joy Randolph as there are a number of competitors within her category that may have something to say when March 10th comes around. And one of those is experienced actress, but first-time Oscar nominee, Emily Blunt.
Emily Blunt has finally received her first Academy Award nomination for her performance as Kitty Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's box office epic, 'Oppenheimer'. Blunt's nomination is just one of the thirteen categories that the film received recognition in, making itself a clear favourite to take home toe prestigious Best Picture award.
Much like Randolph, the British actress has been nominated at just about every major awarding body in the lead up to the Academy Awards. And although Randolph has been sweeping most wins, when this is the case it becomes difficult to completely rule Blunt out of the equation of taking home the Oscar on March 10th.
After all, Blunt's performance as Kitty Oppenheimer is by far one of the best in her career, and the film is essentially a lock-in to take home the award for Best Picture, so seeing Blunt up on stage accepting the award wouldn't be too unrealistic.
An outside shout that I wouldn't rule out just yet for the award is America Ferrara for 'Barbie'. Ferrara was a surprise nomination on the day, but still provided us with one of the best and most memorable performances of the year as she portrayed Gloria, the struggling single Mother, in Greta Gerwig's summer blockbuster.
Although Ferrara wasn't originally predicted to receive a nomination for her performance, hearing her name read out on the 23rd of January was a nice surprise. However, the even bigger surprise was when her fellow 'Barbie' cast member, Margot Robbie, did not receive recognition from the Academy for her performance as the titular character.
Could Robbie's lack of inclusion hurt Ferrara'c chances of taking home the award? The chance are, yes. But the 39-year-old isn't the frontrunner in this scenario anyways. Having said this, it would be great to see Ferrara take home the award for one of this biggest and most impactful movies of the year.
Who do you think will take home the award?
Comments