It’s a small world after all, at least for this year’s Actor Awards (formerly the SAG Awards) nominating committee — made up of 2,500 members of the acting union SAG-AFTRA who were selected from the overall membership of some 160,000 — which jarringly allocated none of its nominations to non-English-language films or performances.
It had been widely expected that the Norwegian film Sentimental Value would show up in the best ensemble category and that, for its cast, individual nominations would go to Renate Reinsve for best actress, Stellan Skarsgard for best supporting actor and Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for best supporting actress. Additionally, The Secret Agent’s Wagner Moura seemed like a safe bet for a nom for best actor, given that it’s a category that he won at the Cannes Film Festival and with the New York Film Critics. But in the end, all came up short.
Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that the vast majority of members of SAG-AFTRA are Americans. But on the other hand, this is the same group that, just six years ago, not only nominated Korean-language Parasite for best ensemble but also voted for it to take home that prize, a major boost on the film’s journey to an historic best picture Oscar win; and that last year nominated Spanish-language Emilia Pérez for best ensemble and two acting awards, one of which it ended up winning.
I think we can safely assume that the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — 25 percent of whom are based outside of the U.S. — will, in the Oscar nominations announcement on Jan. 22, have a number of different picks than SAG-AFTRA, as was also the case last year when, for example, the then-SAG Awards’ nom-com did not nominate I’m Still Here’s Fernanda Torres for best actress, but she still wound up with an Oscar nom (and probably came close to winning).
What is indisputable is that the nom-com really liked four films:
1) One Battle After Another, which registered at least one nom in every category — best ensemble, best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), best actress (Chase Infiniti, for her first film role), best supporting actor (Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn) and best supporting actress (Teyana Taylor).
2) Sinners, which landed noms not just for best ensemble and Michael B. Jordan in the best actor category, which were givens, but also for supporting actor Miles Caton (for his first film role) and supporting actress Wunmi Mosaku, which were far from assured.
3) Marty Supreme, which, along with no-brainer noms for best ensemble and Timothée Chalamet in the best actor category, also pulled off a surprise nom for supporting actress Odessa A’zion.
4) Hamnet, which, not unexpectedly, was nominated for best ensemble and both of its principal stars, Jessie Buckley, in the best actress category, and Paul Mescal, in the best supporting actor category.
But the individual who might have the greatest cause for celebration is Jacob Elordi from Frankenstein (a best ensemble nominee), who, on the heels of an unexpected best supporting actor Critics Choice Award win, now looks like a very strong possibility to repeat at the Actor Awards. Indeed, this time, Skarsgard isn’t even nominated against him, and once again, two One Battle actors are, which will probably undercut the chances of both. Mescal is the sleeper.
In other news and notes…
1) Bugonia, a somewhat polarizing film, punched above expectations, landing a best actor nom for Jesse Plemons and a best actress nom for Emma Stone, two of their generation’s true actors’ actors.
2) Five acting nominees are the sole representatives from their films — Blue Moon’s Ethan Hawke, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’s Rose Byrne, Song Sung Blue’s Kate Hudson, Wicked’s Ariana Grande and Weapons’ Amy Madigan. Given the Academy’s particular tendency, in recent years, toward coattail voting — as in, nominating people from best picture nominees down the line — I think it’s likely that a few of these folks are not going to be nominated for Oscars.
3) It’s somewhat surprising to me that a voting body that consists exclusively of actors completely snubbed two excellent films that are largely about the personal challenges faced by actors, the aforementioned Sentimental Value and also Jay Kelly. Not even a nom for Adam Sandler, for one of the best performances of his career, when they nominated him three years ago in the lead actor category for Hustle? It’s hard to understand.
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