Best Supporting Actor 2020

[Sabin]

Is this the biggest case of category fraud in history? What are our options?
* Al Pacino in The Godfather.
* Obviously, Tatum O'Neal for Paper Moon has to be mentioned and might be the first mention of the phrase or
at least the more popularized one because she won.
* Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs in reverse.
* Ethan Hawke in Training Day, which is at least understandable because he's a lesser star and a less dynamic performance.
* Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain is especially egregious for the sexual politics involved.
* Rooney Mara in Carol, the same.

Until last year, I didn't think I could hate category fraud more. I now miss the anodyne days of the wrong person nominated in lead than supporting. If only Daniel Kaluuya were nominated for lead and LaKeith Stanfield were up for supporting!

We could go on but the fact that both Judas and The Black Messiah are nominated isn't just nonsensical, it resulted in Jesse Plemons getting zero notice for his excellently menacing work in what is becoming an outstanding career. The logic of how both Kaluuya and Stanfield ended up in support is just mind-boggling when one tries to imagine a world where a voter has their wherewithal and doesn't leave this film thinking they'd just seen two supporting performances. It means that a substantial chunk of voters left the move convinced that Stanfield gave the best performance in the film but that he was supporting and Kaluuya is the lead.

This race also features two interesting cases of what is a supporting-driven ensemble vs. a lead-driven ensemble. In The Trial of the Chicago 7, all actors feel largely in the service of the case. I don't know whom I would choose as a lead. But in One Night in Miami, who are they all supporting towards? Kingsley Ben-Adir? I don't think so. There is no case. It is just them. More or less, they all feel like leading actors sharing a common space. I'm not sure Odom Jr. is a supporting actor either.

Meanwhile, poor Paul Raci gives the only true supporting performance in this lineup and I would imagine barely edged into the race. He didn't even have a wikipedia page at the start of the season.

Anyway, what looked to me like a fairly wide-open race that might favor Sasha Baron Cohen for his body of work quickly came to an end when the Hollywood Foreign Press endorsed Daniel Kaluuya. It really is worth noting that this awards bloc has largely never been more influential than in the last three years. But that ignores the fact that in 2020, the Academy nominated three leading performances in supporting roles and they were all black.

But the race itself was pretty good. I'd toss out Sasha Baron Cohen first. He struggles with the accent, he's too old, and his film just isn't very good. Next up might actually be Paul Raci for me. I really loved his presence in Sound of Metal but in the clear light of day much of my appreciation for him comes from the fact that he lightened up a film I'm not much a fan of, his out-of-nowhere story, and the fact that he underplays so much. But that doesn't change the fact that the film just generally doesn't work for me and he's such a large part of it.

Months onward, I find that I have little to say about Leslie Odom Jr. but I could still write paragraphs about Kingsley Ben-Adir. But, y'know, he's very good.

For me, it comes down to the two category fraudsters and my efforts to just ignore the fraud and love the craft. LaKeith Stanfield is one of the most enjoyable presences in film today. He's got a persona that is not getting old for me on-screen (although it certainly is on social media). I might say that my favorite work of his to date is in Sorry to Bother You which makes great use of his deadpan ironic talents that seem one-step removed from the world. In Judas and the Black Messiah, he goes a long way towards making this character's motivations believable and convincing to his new crew. I can't know how convincing the character might be on the page but on the screen he's always squirming, begging, and shifting in and out of view. It's a perfect feat of casting. I'm not sure it was posted here but LaKeith's post after his nomination was: "I’m confused too but fuck it lmao."

But then there's Daniel Kaluuya and his instantly classic speech patterns, forcefulness, and conviction. He's funny, confident, and vulnerable all in one. I remember the moment I saw the trailer, I just said "Oh shit." I'm a bit stunned that nobody cited Kaluuya for lead. That would be the conventional categorization. Was it a company that just wanted to get out of the way of Chadwick Boseman? Had Kaluuya been nominated for lead, I think he would've won.

The thing that I find so challenging about choose between Kaluuya and Stanfield is that Kaluuya gives the kind of performance that is usually cited for lead while Stanfield gives the kind of performance that is usually cited for supporting. We gripe about it and go about our day. But seeing them both in the same supporting character is just bonkers. How does one choose between Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in Training Day especially considering that their performance metrics are so different. What's easier to play? The Judas or the Black Messiah?

Considering that I've already voted for Kaluuya in an even harder role (Get Out), I'll cast my vote for Stanfield.

[Big Magilla]

I see this as a category stretch situation, which is different from out-and-out category fraud.

It's been the practice for some time now for category splits between two leads in a film to be positioned for awards such that one goes for lead and the other for support.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 was an ensemble piece. All the actors could be considered supporting one another. My only gripe about Baron Cohen's nomination is that it should have come as the film's second after Frank Langella who was ignored.

Odom is support in One Night in Miami if you concur with the producers' logic that the pre-Mohammed Ali Cassius Clay and Malcom X were the lead roles, and Sam Cooke (who Odom portrayed) and Jim Brown were secondary characters. It's a hard one to swallow, but the film's structure does favor Malcom whose assassination shortly after the meeting depicted in the film is featured while Cooke's shocking murder which occurred before that is not even mentioned.

The problem with the two stars of Judas and the Black Messiah being ridiculously shoehorned into supporting is that people were at odds deciding which of the two should be considered the lead and which should consequently be considered supporting. The result was that those that saw Stanfield's character, from whose perspective the story unfolds, voted for Kaluuya in support and those that saw Kaluuya, whose focus thh film is on, as the lead, voted for Stanfield. It was more than a little mixed up.

I agreed with all the nominees except Stanfield whose character I saw as the lead in the "which one was which" scenario, substituting Langella in his slot.

My ranking was Kaluuya - Odom - Raci. Voted for Kaluuya.

[mlrg]

Voted for Kaluuya in what is a very weak line up.

[CalWilliam]

Kaluuya, Stanfield and Odom, Jr. -good as they are, specially Kaluuya- I can’t consider in this category. Cohen is not even the third best performance in his movie, so the only and obvious choice for me is Paul Raci for his restrained and deeply affecting performance in Sound of Metal.

[CalWilliam]

Is this the worst case ever of category fraud in one single supporting category? Share your thoughts.