An introduction to BEST ACTRESS 2013
I do believe years from now people will look back at this
Best Actress year as one of the best in the category’s history. It’s not
completely perfect and not the best,
but the top 3 performances really are extraordinary.
I will get to ranking them in a few weeks, after I see the
films (again) and count their screentime. This is just the introductory post
and a look at how we ended up with these specific nominees. As of now, the only
film of the 5 I have yet to see is Philomena,
which I hope will be made available to me before March 2nd.
Interesting to mention this is only the 4th time in Oscar
history that there are no first-time nominees in the Best Actress category (the
other Best Actress years being 1941, 1944 and 1994 – previously discussed on the blog).
The 5 ladies that Oscar has chosen for 2013, in alphabetical
order:
Amy Adams as Sydney Prosser, in American Hustle
Let’s look at each nominee and how they made it to the list
of 5. Entering this race as a favourite is Cate
Blanchett, who I think was a lock and had the first chance of getting
nominated. This is Cate’s 6th Oscar nomination, and the 3rd in the leading
category. She has previously won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator (2004). Oscar nomination
aside, she’s received some major awards for playing Jasmine: the Golden Globe
for Best Actress – Drama, the SAG Award, and awards from major critics’ groups
like the New York Film Critics, National Society of Film Critics and the Los
Angeles Film Critics Association. Plus, nominations from BAFTA and Independent
Spirit Awards (as of now, both pending). She is the clear favourite for another
Oscar win, having dominated the season.
I think the actress with the second chance of getting
nominated was Sandra Bullock. And
it’s easy to see why, considering her film Gravity
is a serious Oscar contender and one of the most profitable films of 2013. This
is Sandra’s 2nd Oscar nomination, following her (infamous) Oscar win for Best
Actress for The Blind Side (2009).
Sandra enters the race having received nominations from all the major voting
groups: nominations for Best Actress – Drama at the Golden Globes, for the SAG
Awards and BAFTA. She also has a couple of wins from critics’ awards, but only
small groups (like Kansas). The fact that she’s very popular among actors and a
great campaigner also helped secure the nomination.
I think from here down, any of these actresses could’ve
(more or less surprisingly) miss on a nomination. I would say Judi Dench was next, by chance of
getting nominated. Her film, Philomena,
also surprised with a Best Picture nomination and she did benefit from the British support, the British side of voters from the Academy.
Interesting to note she is also the only one of the 5 nominees playing a
real-life person (not a famous one,
though). This is Judi’s 7th Oscar nomination and the 5th in the Best Actress
category. She has previously won an Oscar for her Supporting performance in Shakespeare in Love (1998). For this
performance Judi has also received nominations for Best Actress – Drama at the
Golden Globes, from the SAG Awards and from BAFTA (which she might just end up
winning).
Meryl Streep received
her 18th acting nomination this year, more than any other actor in Oscar’s history,
male or female. 15 of these nominations are for Best Actress (a record in this
category). She has previously won 3 Oscars, for Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and for Best
Actress for Sophie’s Choice (1982)
and The Iron Lady (2011). Despite her
giving another amazing performance, this nomination was not a sure-thing,
mostly due to the film receiving mixed reviews. Meryl enters this specific race
with nominations from the SAG Awards and from the Golden Globes (for Best
Actress – Comedy or Musical).
The almost-surprise nominee from the last segment of the
awards season is Amy Adams, who,
although she might’ve been 4th or 5th in line to get nominated, is the dark
horse for the win and the only serious threat to Cate getting the trophy. She
got nominated mostly due to the success of American
Hustle, both with critics and the audiences, and the perfect timing of her
late campaign. This is Amy’s 5th Oscar nomination, and the 1st one in this
category, the other 4 being for Supporting Actress. She’s also the only one in
this group to have never won an Oscar. Amy enters the race with a Golden Globe
win for Best Actress – Comedy or Musical and a BAFTA nomination. The lack of a
SAG nomination discouraged people from predicting her.
And now about the competition the 5 actresses had
encountered. These were the other names thrown in the game.
One obvious runner-up / #6:
Emma Thompson for Saving
Mr. Banks (she had received SAG, Golden Globes and BAFTA nominations, a
National Board of Review win, but the Oscars didn’t care).
Quite possible / Dark horses:
Adèle Exarchopoulos – Blue
Is the Warmest Color
Julie Delpy – Before
Midnight
Brie Larson – Short
Term 12
Greta Gerwig – Frances
Ha
Very long shots:
Kate Winslet – Labor
Day
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss – Enough
Said
Berenice Bejo – The
Past
Felicity Jones – The
Invisible Woman
Carey Mulligan – The
Great Gatsby
Sophie Nelisse – The
Book Thief
Paulina Garcia – Gloria
I guess my ranking will be posted in a few weeks.
Enjoy the season! J
