Best Supporting Actor: Ranking Every Oscar Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Last year’s winner: Brad Pitt-Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The Academy Awards season is here, and so begins the 2021 version of Films Fatale’s Academy Awards Project. If you’re just tuning in, welcome! The way this works is I go through every single nominee of every single category, day by day. I try to have similar categories fall right next to one another during the week and upcoming weeks. I rank all five nominees strictly based on how these nominees are in these categories; if I like a film but don’t think this specific category is this film’s strong suit, I won’t show favouritism just because. Similarly, if I hate a film but think it does its nominated element well, then I will be fair. I will also include the biggest snub at the start of the list: one pick that I think the Academy greatly missed out on. Even if a category is super strong, I try to find a snub anyway just for the sake of argument. Finally, I will state who I predict will win at the end of the list, as well as who I want to win (usually this will just be the highest rated nominee, but maybe there’s an upcoming legacy win I can’t refute, or some sort of other subjective reason).
Let’s start off with the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category, otherwise more easily known as Best Supporting Actor. This group of actors is incredibly strong. I think you couldn’t go much worse than this, and I’d argue that the five nominees here beat out even some of the predictions many made that weren’t quite as good (I will admit I watched The Little Things for no reason since Jared Leto isn’t here, but everyone here basically deserves to be here more than his performance). There is one very peculiar nomination that I am certainly not arguing against, since I am thrilled that he managed to make it to the Oscar party; you’ll know when you reach it (and you can probably guess who it is already). For now, here are your nominees.
Biggest Snub: Delroy Lindo-Da 5 Bloods
I know I said this is a strong group, but there is certainly a spot for Delroy Lindo here. I mean, come on. His work in Da 5 Bloods was easily some of the strongest of 2020. Whether he’s considered a lead or a supporting character is up for debate (again, some of the names below might be even trickier discussions), but the lack of Lindo at this year’s Academy Awards is downright disrespectful in my opinion. The film not getting much love at all is a big shame, but this omission hurts the most. This is truly Lindo at his very best, and he wasn’t given a single thing this awards season. Something is seriously wrong here.
5. Sacha Baron Cohen-The Trial of the Chicago 7
Okay, hang on.
Sacha Baron Cohen is last here, but I still think he is excellent as Abbie Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago 7. When a category is this tough, I have to resort to being a bit of a stickler. So, we have a couple of things like Cohen’s accent occasionally breaking through, or the narrative limitations that might have stymied what Cohen could bring to the role a little bit (not to say he’s a badly written character, but he might not have as much juice as the other roles in this category, so for this purpose, it hurts). Otherwise, this is arguably Cohen at his dramatic best. Hoffman is so sarcastically alluring, and Cohen was the perfect choice for this role. I just had to rank someone last.
Our review of The Trial of the Chicago 7
4. Paul Raci-Sound of Metal
Every once in a while, the Academy shows some love to a more humble character in these supporting categories. Paul Raci’s nomination for Sound of Metal isn’t a surprise, given his awards season steam, but it still feels so nice to see him here, especially since he never tries to steal the show or do anything outside of what each scene calls for. This is fantastic supporting work. Raci plays Joe who treats addicts with varying hearing disabilities and acts as a mentor for them. He becomes almost like a father figure to the lead character Ruben, and every second of Raci on screen is just so warm and full of love that transforms into the urgency to help others. Boastful acting is usually more noticeably great, but organic, minimalist work like Raci in Sound of Metal is always a blessing when it’s at its best (like it is here).
Our review of Sound of Metal
3. Lakeith Stanfield-Judas and the Black Messiah
I have no clue how Lakieth Stanfield ended up here, but I am loving it. First off, let’s clear up the confusion. I understand a film where a cast is divided up as all “supporting” types, especially for awards season; this works with something like Spotlight or The Departed, where there is no clearly defined lead role (especially due to the acting caliber across the board). This film, however. is literally about the figurative characters of “Judas” and the “Black Messiah”; the latter is already cleaning up this category in other awards (Daniel Kaluuya). Clearly, Lakieth Stanfield is the leading role (time wise, perspective wise, emphasis wise), but, again, I’m not complaining. I’ve been dying for him to be nominated one day, and that day has finally come (in the form of the surprise of the season); clearly Judas and the Black Messiah’s campaign had both actors in the supporting category to be safe, and they both got in. Huh.
I rarely spend two paragraphs on these bite sized rankings, but I felt the need to discuss this fantastic oddity. Again, Stanfield is great in Judas and the Black Messiah as Bill O’Neal: a real informant forced against his will (due to increased jail time as a threat) to take down Fred Hampton’s Chicago chapter of the Black Panther party. You can see O’Neal torn apart at all times, and he actually gradually gets more and more devoured by his personal demons. Stanfield is great at also playing a man in disguise, as O’Neal’s integration into the Black Panther party feels genuine (even with the dramatic irony of us knowing what the rest of the party doesn’t, with Stanfield’s slight twitches and glances unveiling his second-guessing). Stanfield being in a “supporting” category doesn’t make sense, but him being nominated for an Oscar makes all of the sense in the world.
Our review of Judas and the Black Messiah
2. Leslie Odom, Jr.-One Night in Miami…
You know this category is rough when my initial pick for the clearly deserved winner is only now in second place. Leslie Odom, Jr. becomes Sam Cooke in One Night in Miami, and it’s the kind of a transformation that only the most gifted of performers (or the most perfect of casting choices) can pull off. Sure, Odom can sing Cooke’s songs (he has the chops, obviously), but it’s the little mannerisms and heart that Odom brings to the late legend that elevate this character from a curious idea into a labour of love. Even though Odom has radiated before, especially in something like Hamilton, I feel like this is him at his best: fully embodying the mind, body, and soul of a legendary performer like Sam Cooke. I wish Odom had a chance to win, but he doesn’t. This is still one of my favourite performances of 2020.
Our review of One Night in Miami…
1. Daniel Kaluuya-Judas and the Black Messiah
I was rooting for Leslie Odom, Jr. to win this category (which he was looking like he could way back in January), until Judas and the Black Messiah came in to shake up the entire awards season. Even though there are traces of this elsewhere (including Lakeith Stanfield, mentioned earlier), the obvious nomination was always going to be Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton, and I can easily see why: he is brilliant in this film. Welcome to Daniel Kaluuya the impersonating chameleon, who might not look like the late Fred Hampton but acts and sounds so identical to him that you will think the Black Panther chairman is alive with us once again. Kaluuya nails Hampton’s ability to deliver commanding speeches (always a plus in this kind of a category, since this isn’t easy to do), but it’s the little moments in between where Kaluuya lets us see the Hampton the world never got familiar with… this is where he really takes every award and runs with them. You just can’t compete against a performance this multifaceted (and incredible at everything the performer does).
Who I want to win: Honestly, any one here is fine by me. If I had my druthers, Stanfield, Odom and Kaluuya would all get one Oscar split into thirds, with the latter two getting the parts of the trophy that spell out “supporting”, and the former getting the “actor” (this way we have two Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor trophies… okay I’ll stop beating this dead horse).
Who I think will win: Daniel Kaluuya. I’m almost certain of it at this point. He’s sweeping this category left, right and centre more than any other acting category this year, and has stymied the full throttled awards season races of Sacha Baron Cohen and Leslie Odom, Jr. singlehandedly (both were projected to possibly win a month or two ago). Judas and the Black Messiah is also more recent, and certainly in a more commanding spot than the respective films of the other two performances. I can’t see this slowing down anytime soon. Unless something major happens to switch the game (anything can happen), Daniel Kaluuya is 2021’s Best Supporting Actor winner.
Tune in tomorrow for our next Academy Award category! We’re reviewing every single nominee.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.