There are just 10 days to go before the Academy Awards are handed out in this awards season bifurcated by the Olympics. We will be taking a look at all the top categories as the last-minute campaigning goes down to the finish line for moviedom’s most coveted honor.
For supporting actress, the contenders’ characters range from a blue-collar single mom to a feisty, bitter older daughter and an elderly yet extremely outspoken wife and mother, not to mention a con artist’s stay-at-home wife and slave who is brutally abused by a plantation owner.
Lupita Nyong’o’s role as Patsey in “12 Years a Slave” has already been recognized with trophies from the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards– as well as garnering a slew of other nominations.
Her competition: Sally Hawkins for “Blue Jasmine,” Jennifer Lawrence for “American Hustle,” Julia Roberts for “August: Osage County” and June Squibb for “Nebraska.”
The range of not only the characters but of the actors is remarkable with the youngest, Lawrence, coming off of last year’s win in another David O Russell film, “Silver Linings Playbook.”
Squibb meanwhile, is just now getting major recognition in a career that spans more than five decades, while a mid-career Roberts never struggles to gain attention.
For Hawkins, a Brit who has been recognized for her roles in smaller films over the last few years including “Happy Go Lucky” and “Made in Dagenham,” playing Cate Blanchett’s younger, poorer, less educated San Francisco sister has been a huge career boost.
TAR’s Take: It’s Lupita’s! AMPAS voters will be unlikely to recognize Lawrence two years in a row (last year, she won lead actress) and Nyong’o has comported herself the entire season with dignity and grace befitting her role. As a newcomer, she’s quickly made herself into a style icon on the red carpet, appearing in a stunning array of jewel-toned gowns that have anointed her the belle of the ball.
–Hillary Atkin
