Woah, did you just hear that glass shatter? Was that the gun going off for the best supporting actress race, or was it just another class of third graders chasing after Aunt Gladys in “Weapons”? Either way, it looks like the supporting actress nominees are running for the hills — if not toward Hollywood, at least toward Perfidia Beverly Hills, who looks like she isn’t even breaking a sweat.
As evidenced by her Golden Globe win, Teyana Taylor, who played Hills in “One Battle After Another,” leads this talented group of women with ease. This is her first Oscar nomination — I politely suggest that you take a glance at her Wikipedia page before I say more — but Taylor is already accomplished as a singer, songwriter, model, dancer, choreographer, and music video director. Her plethora of prior experiences informs her nuanced performance as a revolutionary and a mother in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film. In this race, she’s gaining more distance by the minute; the other nominees need to rev up the gas a little more.
Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro are not the only supporting actors competing in the same race for the same film this year — we’ve got another double-header between Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning, both of whom starred in Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” this past November. Lilleaas is currently one-stepping Fanning at fourth, Fanning hot on her heels.
Lilleaas shone in her awe-inspiring performance as Agnes Borg, one of the daughters of estranged father and director Gustav Borg. She conveys the emotional intricacies involved in family estrangement with incredible subtlety. Though the Norwegian actress has a slight lead over Fanning — she has received more nominations this awards season — Fanning’s performance as American actress Rachel Kemp is just as worthy of this Oscar nod. Her spot at the Dolby Theater is well overdue, especially following the Academy’s snub of her performance last year as Sylvie Russo, Bob Dylan’s first love, in “A Complete Unknown.”
Heading Lilleaas and Fanning, in third place is Wunmi Mosaku, who graced our screens as Annie in Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners.” The Nigerian British actress incorporates loss and love as the blue-donned twin Smoke’s wife, emotionally aiding the audience’s understanding of the film’s intense historical context. She brings to life a character who could be crushed under the world’s cruelty but chooses to lead others with self-discovered joy and strength. There is hope yet that Mosaku could surpass the two frontrunners and win as the entirety of the “Sinners” cast and crew build an Oscar buzz that encompasses an impressive 16 nominations. I am personally rooting for the multidimensional epic, which achieved a masterfully intricate composition of both horror and drama last April and proved that vampires really can have a place at the awards ceremony in March. Without Mosaku’s performance, the film certainly would not have been the same.
Last but not least, we’ve got a witch on the seating chart — and red-carpeted track below — too. Amy Madigan delivered a delightfully terrifying performance as Aunt Gladys in the campy horror “Weapons,” a movie that surprised audiences and critics alike for its expert interpretation of what real-life abuse looks like to many disadvantaged children. To be completely honest, I thought that a different witch would be here with us today — specifically, Ariana Grande as Glinda Upland, the Good Witch of the North, from “Wicked: For Good.” But after Madigan won the Critics’ Choice Award in January, Academy voters chose differently. This swerve is likely the result of its years of bias against the horror genre. And although Grande was inarguably snubbed this year, Madigan has been snubbed in the past, too. She was nominated but did not win in the same category at the 1986 Academy Awards for her role in “Twice in a Lifetime.” Now, she’s made it back with much deserved applause. Will her legacy pull through and cast a final spell on the race?
I spot a custom-tailored tangerine leather suit in the distance, which means that the best actor race is coming up next. Dream big, I guess.
