Angela Bassett
Age: 64
Film: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Role: Ramonda, Queen of Wakanda, widow of T’Chaka, mother of T’Challa (and Shuri). After the passing of her son, Wakanda’s Queen mother becomes head of state and seeks to protect her nation (and its coveted vibranium supply) from other grasping world powers, despite the catastrophic loss of the protection of the Black Panther. When an unexpected enemy threatens Wakanda’s security, Queen Ramonda resolves to protect her people (and her daughter) at all costs.
Nomination History:
Previously nominated for Best Actress in 1994 for What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993).
Why She Should Win
We saw Black Panther: Wakanda Forever very late. (My daughter will tell you we were the.last.people. to see it in the theater.) So Angela Bassett started scooping up Best Supporting Actress prizes before I saw the film. And I thought, “Great.” I didn’t need to see the performance to approve because I’ve seen her play Queen Ramonda already in the first movie. The female ensemble in the original is outstanding. Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira. They’re all so charismatic and captivating. My sister and I (who don’t always see eye-to-eye on films) agreed about the excellence of the women in Black Panther. My favorite scene is when Queen Ramonda, Shuri, and Nakia journey to visit M’Baku. And Angela Bassett is Angela Bassett, so I was sold on the possibility of her winning an Oscar for this sight unseen.
Then when I saw the movie, I realized, “She’s got two meaty monologues!” (Maybe more.) And she has a heroic character arc. Plus, an Oscar for Angela Bassett honors the legacy of Chadwick Boseman, gives a spotlight to this film, and recognizes Bassett’s own long career.
My daughter wasn’t as easily convinced. She loved the movie, but she noted that Bassett’s performance was mainly just monologuing. From my perspective, the monologues are what make it substantial enough to be Oscar worthy. I also think their content will resonate with viewers, especially when she talks about her fallen husband and son and missing daughter and demands, “Have I not given everything?”
Who can’t relate to that? We’ve just been through this harrowing pandemic and period of disruption. So many of us have lost multiple friends and relatives. And we’ve all had to keep enduring. It’s not like others can pick up the slack because everyone on earth has been suffering through loss and trauma at the same time. I think the relevance of such words to the present moment make the speech more powerful than it might otherwise be.
And her fiery speech to the other nations of the world, assuring them that Wakanda can still protect itself—this seems like a rallying cry for anyone who loved Black Panther because of Chadwick Boseman. It taps into something greater than a superhero story. The success of Black Panther was a success for black actors and black Americans. The idea that a great leader has fallen, but the people will still carry on—that taps into Civil Rights movement energy, into sentiments tied to something much deeper than Marvel fandom.
And Angela Bassett does not waste the opportunity to steal the movie in these moments. She gives these fiery, captivating speeches in such a commanding way.
Plus, Angela Bassett is a successful veteran actress with a long, distinguished career who has never won an Oscar before. And Chadwick Boseman is dead. He never won an Oscar. He almost won an Oscar. He got to be a non-fungible token. Angela Bassett is alive, representing the Black Panther franchise. This could be her moment.
Why She Might Not Win
Why shouldn’t she win? She’s nominated.
But I wouldn’t say she’s a lock to win.
I liked Wakanda Forever. It did the one thing I required of it—made Shuri the Black Panther. I thought it did this well. Letitia Wright so frequently talks about the importance of her faith in her life. Giving us Shuri struggling with a crisis of faith in wake of her brother’s death was a great idea. Watching, I thought, “Ooh! That’s smart, Ryan Coogler. It makes sense within the story, and it will work so well for the actress as she tries to make the franchise her own.) Plus, the movie finds a way to keep Nakia involved and creates a meaningful storyline for Okoye. Wakanda Forever does a lot of stuff right. I have a serious case of Marvel fatigue and blockbuster…malaise. But I enjoyed Wakanda Forever (especially when Shuri had her unwelcome vision. Surprise!).
It was not quite as well received as the first film, though. (I personally found it hard to get invested in the Namor storyline (i.e. the plot). I kept thinking of the Superman dilemma. To find an antagonist, you either need an evil Superman, Kryptonite, or a psychological struggle within Superman.) (This movie kind of has all three.) I liked the plot of the first film better (though I loved Shuri’s vision. I got deeply invested at that point. Part of me wishes she hadn’t worked through all that before the end, and we’d gotten an Empire Strikes Back ending before Black Panther 3).
In general, the film is not as well received as the original Black Panther, and Bassett has a lot of competition. Yes, she’s a veteran actress who’s never won an Oscar, but so is Jamie Lee Curtis (who is starring in a wildly popular movie that keeps winning everything everywhere). And Kerry Condon is awfully good in The Banshees of Inisherin.
I do expect Bassett to win, though, and as of right now, I will be surprised if she doesn’t.
Hong Chau
Age: 43
Film: The Whale
Role: Liz, professional nurse and concerned friend of Charlie who is suffering from congestive heart failure probably caused by his binge-eating and morbid obesity. Charlie will die within days, yet he refuses to go to the hospital. Though Liz understands the tragedy that led to his depression, his choices frustrate her. But how can she save Charlie when he’s given up on life? Barring a miracle, she will lose him soon, just like they both lost her brother.
Nomination History:
This is Chau’s first nomination.
Why She Should Win
Hong Chau plays the most sympathetic, least problematic character in The Whale. (And Liz is still kind of problematic. Yes, she’s sincere about caring for Charlie and wanting to help him. Still, she has been enabling him.) (The concept of enabling is something I struggle with, though. If Liz hadn’t been there to help him, would Charlie have made different, healthier choices? I doubt it.)
I found Liz immediately sympathetic. She behaves like something terrible has happened to her, and it has. Chau brings a sincerity to Liz. She seems like a real person dropped into a story full of exaggerated characters escaped from plays and novels. It helps that the character knows Charlie (Brendan Fraser). His scenes with his daughter (Sadie Sink) seem like a story he has been imagining, building up in his mind. Meanwhile his scenes with the missionary, Thomas (Ty Simpkins) seem like a story Thomas has been imagining. But when Charlie interacts with Liz, it’s just two friends talking. Neither of them has a bizarre, fantastical agenda. Charlie hasn’t been imagining some big reveal he’ll make to Liz (as he has been with his daughter and even his ex-wife). Liz also has no grand plans for Charlie. She just tells him what’s on her mind as it comes up.
So the character (thanks in large part to Chau’s performance) is refreshing in some ways. It’s easy to watch Liz. Compared to everyone else, she’s very low key. She also gives her backstory early on, relating it in a pragmatic, no nonsense way. Everybody else is like, “You didn’t know this! And you didn’t know this! And you didn’t know THIS!!!! And maaaaybe I’ll change.” And Liz simply says, “Here is what happened to me. Here’s how I feel about it. I will never change my mind.” And then she never does. Compared to the others, she seems more like a real person and less like someone who imagines herself as the protagonist in a play. She’s not trying to work through her issues by creating a big drama full of secrets for everyone to discover. She’s tired, and she’s disappointed, and she’s done.
The Whale is full of people who are just dying for you to uncover their secret trauma so you’ll gasp and understand their flourishes of disordered behavior. Liz is the only person not doing that. She’s just like, “I’m exasperated and saddened by your self-destructive behavior. Here, I brought you a sandwich. I love you.”
She’s a character whose absence would be sorely missed, and she’s an unusual scene partner for Brendan Fraser. With Liz, he can just talk. It makes their scenes together stand out, so I’m not surprised she got this nomination. Everybody’s watching anyway, for Brendan Fraser, and she gives a different kind of performance than all the other characters, so she stands out.
Why She Might Not Win
I’ve heard The Whale called divisive, a good word for it since I’m one person, and I’m of two minds about it at least! All the characters are interesting. You could easily write an essay about any of them. They’d also be fun to play on the stage. My favorite character is Thomas, the missionary. I swear he must have escaped from a Flannery O’Connor story. He’s the protagonist somewhere else, I’m sure. He’s quite a character!
The Whale is provocative, chock-full of intellectual and emotional complexity. It would be fun to teach a class about it or to perform it—anything that would let you tear it up and rip into the characters and dig around. There’s a lot to explore.
But as a movie that you’re just watching, it’s kind of exasperating and depressing. There are so many elements in this story that speak to me. The most glaringly obvious one is that I’m obese myself (though not as big as Charlie). (I’ve also taught English in the past.) So I should be able to relate to this movie. But I keep hearing people describe the ending as uplifting and heartwarming. And I think, “Are you kidding me?” It’s a happy ending for Charlie maybe. (Maybe.) But what about his daughter? I also find it frustrating that the movie highlights Christianity and homosexuality as points of antithesis and just kind of leaves us with that. This is 2023. People can be homosexual if they are and have faith if they do. Charlie feels guilty about something he has done (abandoned his wife and daughter) and something he has failed to do (save the man he loves). He’s chosen to eat himself to death, to make himself look as disgusting as he feels. There’s tremendous complexity in the situation, but sometimes that gets lost in the theatricality of the characters, who are all loud about what they believe (and all have different priorities and resist complexity) (except Charlie who wallows in complexity). To me, the ending isn’t satisfying, but I can’t think of an alternate ending that would satisfy me either. And this is not the kind of film that leaves you thinking, “Over already?! No! I don’t want to leave these characters.” Most of them are pretty myopic in their worldviews (almost monomaniacal).
So The Whale can be frustrating. Not everyone liked it. (I think I liked it, but I still find it frustrating. In many ways, Charlie is as exasperating as Colm in The Banshees of Inisherin.) Chau’s performance is very good, but the movie itself is probably not well liked enough by enough people to win Oscars for two performances. Brendan Fraser has a decent chance of winning. I would be stunned if Hong Chau wins.
Kerry Condon
Age: 40
Film: The Banshees of Inisherin
Role: Siobhán Súilleabháin, the only sane person in town. Siobhán lives in a small island village in Ireland with her brother Pádraic and their donkey Jenny in 1923. While civil war rages on the mainland for reasons no one quite understands, Siobhán finds herself caught up in a conflict equally baffling. Her brother Pádraic’s best friend Colm has abruptly stopped speaking to him. When pressed, Colm says he doesn’t like Pádraic anymore but gives no reason. He wants Pádraic to leave him alone. Pádraic won’t. This creates great anguish and trouble for Siobhán who doesn’t fit in on the island herself and dreams of working in a library on the mainland.
Nomination History:
This is Condon’s first nomination.
Why She Should Win
Based strictly on the nominated performance alone, I would give this year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar to Kerry Condon. I don’t expect her to win the Oscar, but (in my opinion) she gives the best performance in The Banshees of Inisherin and the strongest performance in this category. She’s also my daughter’s pick for Best Supporting Actress.
As I watched The Banshees of Inisherin, I thought, She reminds me of Maureen O’Hara, in the sense that she lights up the screen and clearly has a spark of something special. What I like about her line delivery is that it always sounds like she’s just talking, yet she delivers her lines with such vocal variety. There’s a musicality to her speech, but it doesn’t sound like she’s reciting lines. The ideas seem to be coming from inside her own brain, originating from her thoughts (that you can see on her face before she begins to articulate them). (It’s almost like she’s acting! I realize this doesn’t sound too different from what anyone does. “She memorizes her lines—and then she delivers them! And the whole time she’s pretending she’s a character!”) But she’s such a presence in the story.
Her facial expressions are the best. If you took away the Irish accent and the period costumes, she could make these same exaggerated facial expressions as a teen in the mall in the 1980s. Her face always seems to say, “What are you doing? Are you crazy?” She’s such a vivacious presence every time she’s on screen.
And she also helps regulate the pace of the story. When Siobhán is around, something is happening. When she’s not, nothing much is happening. Maybe it’s because she consistently talks to Pádraic, and Colm is not unwilling to talk to her. If conversation proceeds at a natural pace, usually Siobhán is in the scene.
She’s frequently outraged. And she should be. The people on this island are all so frustrating. She’s the only person reacting to the situation as the audience would. Colm’s behavior is strange. It’s so strange that it partially masks the strangeness of Pádraic’s behavior. The way he takes everything in stride—and yet cannot do the one thing Colm requests—is a bit odd, too. He doesn’t react as much as you’d expect. Meanwhile, Siobhán reacts to everything. She has these big dramatic reactions. In a way, they let the audience know, “Yeah, it isn’t just you. Most people on this island are being kind of weird.” But you know, the character doesn’t know an audience is watching her. So we also see her growing frustration with everyone else’s lack of reaction to stuff. Condon lets us see how out of place Siobhán feels on this island. As viewers, we get the satisfaction of thinking, “Okay, it’s not just me. Siobhán thinks this is really outrageous, too.” But she doesn’t have anybody giving her reinforcement and support like that. And in her quieter moments, we see in her face how this begins to wear on her.
I think she deserves the Oscar.
Why She Might Not Win
I don’t expect Condon to win. In fact, even if I were allowed to vote, I can easily imagine myself saying, “Kerry Condon gives the best performance. I vote for Jamie Lee Curtis.” (You can’t trust me!) (I might even vote for Angela Bassett!)
I have really grilled myself my love of Condon’s performance. I ask, “Is it the strongest performance, Sarah, or do you just like performers whose background on the stage shows in their acting style?” I’ll acknowledge it could be the latter. Condon could play this exact same part in the exact same way on stage.
I also ask myself, “Now Sarah, do you truly believe that this actress who is not well known in this country is giving a stronger performance than famous, heavy-hitting actors like Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson?”
Yeah, I do. (And I love Farrell and Gleeson.) (Decades ago, Farrell charmed me by breaking rules obliviously, seeming disoriented about it, like a natural agent of chaos, intending no malice.) (His character does that in this movie, in fact. Siobhán keeps telling Pádraic to leave Colm alone, and he keeps responding, “Okay! Well, I’m just going to go talk to Colm…”)
I will admit that in all those bright, vibrant colors Siobhán wears, she reminds me a bit of Nancy in Oliver! (specifically, Shani Wallis in the movie in that red dress. I was obsessed with that character as a child). So Siobhán’s costumes are probably helping Codon steal my imaginary Oscar vote, too.
But I can see a way Condon might win. Maybe some voters will think, “Hmm. I’m not voting for Banshees in any major categories, and I like that film so much. I don’t have strong feelings about Best Supporting Actress. I’ll vote for Kerry Condon.” If enough people do that, Condon might win (especially because Angela Bassett and Jamie Lee Curtis are both beloved veteran actresses)!
I expect Angela Bassett to win, though.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Age: 64
Film: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Role: Deidre Beaubeidre, the IRS agent whose life is intertwined with the Wang family across multiple universes. Full of surprises, Deidre is willing to bring death or taxes—perhaps even romance. But one thing’s for sure. Evelyn Wang cannot escape Deidre Beaubeirdre.
Nomination History:
This is Curtis’s first nomination.
Why She Should Win
Jamie Lee Curtis has never been nominated for an Oscar?! How is that possible? That doesn’t seem right to me. Think back to the weirdest thing that happened this year. That’s probably what sent us to the universe where Curtis is an Oscar nominee. Thank goodness we escaped from that other bizarre reality!
My family spent the late summer/early fall watching classic horror movies. Then we moved on to classic horror series, including Scream Queens. So I have seen a lot of Jamie Lee Curtis recently. And I think she should have an Oscar just for being Jamie Lee Curtis. (I shouldn’t admit that, but it’s not like my blog will influence the Academy.) One thing I love about her is that when it comes to comedy, she has no vanity. If something makes the scene she’s in funnier, that’s what she does.
You know what’s cool, though? Both Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh have been nominated for one Oscar. So already she’s completed her destiny, living up to the family legacy (and becoming a new trivia question, no doubt).
This isn’t the kind of movie you’d make expecting to win an Oscar, surely. (Imagine someone saying, “I’m going to win an Oscar for sure this time. I’m going to tick all the boxes. I’m going to fall in love wearing hot dog fingers, lift a grown man into the air, staple something to my head, play “Clair de lune” with my feet!”
Is she actually playing “Clair de lune” with her feet? The hot dogs are prosthetics, but that’s her real belly in the IRS office. (It’s a perfect example of what I just said about her. She doesn’t care how she looks. She’s not going for glamor. She does what fits the character, does anything she can to make the scene better. My mother and I used to say this to each other all the time. I may have gotten the idea from her, or maybe she got it from me, or maybe we both got it from watching Jamie Lee Curtis.)
And think, in the future, people might ask, “What did Jamie Lee Curtis win her first Oscar for?” And someone could answer, “For playing Deidre Beaubeidre.” I wish my name were Deidre Beaubeidre.
Why She Might Not Win
I love the fact that Deidre Beaubeidre is connected to their family so closely in so many universes. (It makes sense that you’d know your husband and daughter in other universes—but your IRS agent? Is it because they were lovers in the hot dog universe? How does this work?) (I’d like to see other stories set in the Everything, Everywhere world. For one thing, Deidre Beaubeidre needs her own spin-off.)
But even though Deidre Beaubeidre makes a big impression, a lot of her most memorable moments come in quick flashes. She’s not in the movie as much as likely Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan. (Now, in her favor, I must admit she’s a huge presence in that first scene in her office. Michelle Yeoh’s character keeps checking in and out of the scene, flying across the room, reappearing in a broom closet. Yet Curtis has our attention. That character makes an impression. Plus while she’s funny, she takes herself seriously. She is not a joke. Her sense of style is not glamorous, and her body is not sculpted or restrained, but that’s not what makes her funny. Curtis is playing the character, not mocking her. Deidre Beaubeidre is confident, competent, and capable. Even if the scenes with the stapler, the wrestling, the hot dog fingers, the piano-playing toes were cut from the film, we would still remember Deidre Beaubeidre in that tax office.)
Still, even though she’s great in the part, I think she’s mostly nominated because of 1) The movie’s insane popularity, and 2) The fact that she’s already Jamie Lee Curtis. To be honest, I’m torn. She plays every moment perfectly, but…
I was going to say Kerry Condon has a meatier part, but then I thought, “Come on, Sarah! Curtis literally has hot dog fingers!” (I guess not literally. They’re literally latex.) (I read somewhere Michelle Yeoh accidentally bruised her with them during their love scene!)
I’d be happy to give Jamie Lee Curtis the Oscar for this, but it’s not up to me. A win for her doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility, though.
Stephanie Hsu
Age: 32
Film: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Role: Joy Wang, resentful yet (sort of) devoted adult daughter of Evelyn and Waymond. Also Jobu Tupaki, the most feared (and misunderstood) figure in the multi-verse. Jobu is hunting through time and space for Evelyn Wang. Why?
Nomination History:
This is Hsu’s first nomination.
Why She Should Win
Hsu plays almost every scene with cool detachment—but sometimes it’s funny, and sometimes it’s scary, and sometimes it’s sad. She channels what parents fear most about their new adult children, the idea that they’re somehow detached and unknowable. Without deviating much from her cool demeanor, she manages to change which emotions the audience feels while watching her.
I love Joy best when she doesn’t seem to be Jobu Tupaki. (“Yeah, my mom taped me to a chair…because of…raccoons.”) She’s funny, and her, “Um…okay…Mom’s crazy…” attitude reminds me of my own teenaged daughter.
But when she’s Jobu Tupaki, she’s got this provocative edge to her insolence, this, “Okay…let’s be crazy,” quality. In that scene when she first confronts Evelyn in the hallway, she’s practically performing a cabaret act. She’s clearly enjoying herself. And then suddenly, she reveals her wounded emptiness. She transitions from one state to the next so subtly that the change is even more jarring for Evelyn and the audience.
The movie wouldn’t work without the right person playing the “villain.” And imagine someone asking Hsu how she won her first Oscar. “Well, it all started when I was swinging around dildos like nunchuks…”
Why She Might Not Win
I personally like Jobu Tupaki the best when she’s a rock. I’m not saying that to insult Hsu. I just love the part with the rocks. That’s a problem I have with this movie. When I reflect on the performances, instead of thinking of the actors, I think of the characters (and the amazing, thematically unifying visuals—all the black circles everywhere, the googly eyes, the washing machines).
That probably means Stephanie Hsu’s performance is so good when she’s onscreen that I imagine her and hear her voice when I see that rock with its subtitles. Probably everyone does.
A greater problem is every time I reflect on the movie searching for special moments in the performances of Hsu and Curtis, I think, “You know who’s great in this movie? Michelle Yeoh.” It’s not that Hsu and Curtis aren’t good. But Yeoh is fantastic (and I say that as someone who also loved the performances of Cate Blanchett and Andrea Riseborough). Ke Huy Quan is amazing, too.
I can easily imagine both Quan and Yeoh (who both have huge parts) winning Oscars. How many more acting Oscars is this movie going to win? Three acting Oscars for one movie feels like a lot, no matter how much everybody loves Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s an excellent film, but there were other movies in 2022. This can’t win all the Oscars, can it?
It could, I suppose. But Hsu and Curtis are in the same category. If one of them wins, surely it will be Curtis in recognition of her long career. Hsu is good, and she has a bigger part than Curtis, but she’s still not the standout of the film.
I would be so surprised if she wins this Oscar. I’m glad she got the nomination. I mean, how do you shower Everything Everywhere All at Once with accolades, yet not recognize Jobu Tupaki? The recognition she’s getting is deserved. But my guess is that the Oscar winner will be Angela Bassett. March 12 is still a long time away, though.