Best Supporting Actress 2015

[flipp525]

There were rumors that Jennifer Lawrence was Tarantino's first choice to play Daisy Domergue in The Hateful Eight, but he later denied that in interviews (though he said they met for coffee and he'd like to work with her sometime). I read that the main contenders who auditioned were Geena Davis, Hilary Swank, Michelle Williams, Robin Wright, Demi Moore (lol) and Evan Rachel Wood. But I doubt any of them would have been as feral and demonic as JJL, and I'm glad it finally brought her that elusive Oscar nomination.

[FilmFan720]

I'm a little more positive about this line-up as a whole than most of you.

Neither The Danish Girl or Steve Jobs were movies that I was high up on, for very different reasons, but Vikander and Winslet were my favorite performances in both films. Vikander certainly has a lot of promise ahead of her, and I don't think she needed an Oscar this early in her career, but if it helps her get some more interesting work than I won't complain. Winslet is solid, but if she wins a second Oscar this isn't what it should be for.

I think Rachel McAdams gets unfair treatment here. I like her generally as an actress, and if she doesn't get a great "Oscar" moment in Spotlight, she is just as solid as all her counterpoints. I'm glad to see her finally get some attention.

Jennifer Jason Leigh is another actress who I have always liked. She is pretty strong in The Hateful Eight, a film I had little patience for most of the running time, even I wouldn't put this in her Top 5 performances of all time.

Like some others here, I voted Rooney Mara, for the best performance of the category (even if the category is wrong).

My top 5:
1. Kristen Stewart, The Clouds of Sils Maria
2. Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
3. Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
4. Raffey Cassidy, Tomorrowland
5. Joan Allen, Room
ru: Angela Bassett, Chi-Raq

[mojoe92]

I tossed for a long time this past awards season with the hope that Mara would win- she deserves an Oscar after that awful loss for Dragon Tattoo and she deserves one for Carol, but if Carol came out any other year.

After many viewings by far Jennifer Jason Leigh is the clear winner but this is a perfect example of "right actress, wrong movie"

[Cinephile12]

Vikander is the weakest nominee. An affected, mannered performance that lacks intelligence and depth. In the first half, she's so obviously "acting"; I couldn't buy her as an independent and free-spirited artist at all. In the second half, she makes all the basic choices: sad face, typical "supportive wife" acting; there's nothing remotely interesting and it's a showcase for her lack of talent. She's better in "Ex Machina", mostly because she plays herself; that's all I can say about her acting range.

McAdams at least tries to create a character, despite the many limitations. She didn't deserve the nomination of course, but at least I didn't have to suffer from seeing Helen Mirren getting a nomination for her career-worst work in "Trumbo".

Jennifer Jason Leigh is an actress I generally like, but I've never loved her performances. She's actually better in "Anomalisa", but she's very solid in "The Hateful Eight" taking a one-dimensional character and bringing so many interesting layers to it. She'd be a fine winner.

I was this close to voting for Rooney Mara, but it'd be a disgrace to vote for an unquestionably leading performance in the supporting category. Rooney is absolutely sublime and acts circles around Blanchett in the same film; a much deserved Cannes Best Actress prize. It's wonderfully restrained and introverted work - a masterclass in subtle acting. She should have been nominated in lead and should have swept.

But the best supporting actress is Kate Winslet. Her character work was refreshingly real, funny and passionate. I really believed that Joanna Hoffman was Fassbender's "work wife"; she wasn't afraid of fighting him, but she was always there for him. It's a wonderful balance between comedy and drama, and Winslet - as expected - excels. And both Kate and Michael had splendid chemistry. She gets my vote.

[Sabin]

I have yet to see Clouds of Sils Maria but I'd also cite her performance in American Ultra, a messy little movie I enjoy. I have to date not seen one minute of Twilight and that being the case I've never understood the vitriol directed towards her. She's always struck me as incredibly talented.

Fandor did a series on Best Supporting Actress where they described Spotlight as an unintentional expose on sexism in the workplace. Every line she has in the office is a question delivered in up-speak. This performance is so unworthy of a nomination, I doubt Rachel McAdams will remember that she was nominated a few years from now.

From there, it gets difficult. I put off watching The Danish Girl for some time for personal reasons, but for the first half hour or so I couldn't understand the distaste for the film overall. It seemed entirely competent, intermittently inspired, and possessing of a vibrant, funny Alicia Vikander performance. As the film devolves, so does her performance but it never lapses into laziness. She remains interesting even when the film does not. I'm not as enamored as some with her Ex Machina performance (that film belonged to Oscar Isaac), but Vikander is the first Best Supporting Actress winner in some time whom I wouldn't be surprised to see nominated again in a year or two.

I think the reason why Rooney Mara's performance has split the board is because it's difficult to tell whether it's more a triumph of acting or casting. This role must hint at an inner life that is being awakened so it often feels like Audrey Hepburn playing Bambi. Another reason why perhaps she isn't dominating this field is that nominating for Best Supporting Actress is a kiss of death when stacked up against roles that allow for so many bolder, gripping acting choices. She might have actually had a better chance of winning in Best Actress. Her character has the burdens of a leading actress.

It's between her and Kate Winslet and Jennifer Jason Leigh. I voted for Leigh but I think I'll bounce back and forth between her and Winslet for some time. The more I watch Steve Jobs, the more impressed I am with Winslet's choices and timing. She's such an intelligent actor and even though her role is just as supportive as McAdams, Vikander, and Mara (Leigh aside, truly this category could be called "Best Supportive Actress"), you can track every racing thought she has. I'm still going with Leigh because of how she manages to command the screen often without any dialogue.

[Mister Tee]

Not an easy category to make a pick, as evidenced by the split tally.

Prime substitute prospects for me would have been Joan Allen and Kristen Stewart. I'm not quite as high on Vikander in Ex Machina as many of you are, though I'd certainly prefer any nomination for that film to one for The Danish Girl.

Rachel McAdams is a somewhat less deserving Kim Basinger -- singled out as the only notable female in a popular male-dominated film. In lots of years. she'd not have come close to a nomination.

Vikander was by far the best thing about The Danish Girl, but, the rote familiarity of the part, the category fraud, and distaste for her film make me zip right past her.

All these years later and I'm still not fully sold on Jennifer Jason Leigh. She had a showy role (at least in the last act), but not a particularly human one. I honestly liked her work in Anomalisa better.

I'm not sure what to make of Rooney Mara's performance. The first time I watched the film, I had a "what's the big deal?" reaction to her -- especially, as BJ says, compared to Cate Blanchett, who I thought gave a clear win-worthy performance. However, I watched a second time, and was far more impressed; there were any delicate touches in her work that seemed to make it memorable. Which is more trustworthy: my initial or revisionist response?

Because, based on gut-level, first time through reaction, I'd side with Kate Winslet. I think BJ is right that, as an Oscar winner, she'd have felt a bit awkward: the role was clearly more subsidiary that most of her previous nominations, and it's not as if she's clearly settled into a latter-stage career as secondary actress, so it might have felt a bit like a throw-in. But simply in terms of performance...in a field where none jumped out at me as must-wins (as about two or three did in supporting actor), she simply stood out as the most impressive: creating a solid, grounded character even while handling Sorkin's challenging dialogue and going toe-to-toe with Fassbender at the top of his game. I have to give her my vote.

[ksrymy]

Rooney Mara is the easy choice. Her performance was the best performance of the year in any film. However, I won't be voting for her because she's an out-and-out lead with more screen time than her co-star Blanchett and the film is framed entirely through her eyes (and camera).

Because of this, I won't be nominating Alicia Vikander either who is another lead slumming here for Oscar gold and glory. Vikander's performance was, quite literally, the only good thing about the magnificent clusterfuck that was The Danish Girl. Her turn in Ex Machina is the best supporting female performance of the year, though. Had she been rightfully nominated for that instead, this category would be so easy.

Rachel McAdams is an actress I've always liked since I was 13 when I first saw her in Mean Girls. I think she's always good even in lesser films like Morning Glory, State of Play, and other films that are simply okay. She's good and I'm glad she's been recognized. Her work in Spotlight though is merely serviceable. She doesn't do anything super worthy of merit.

So between Jennifer Jason Leigh and Kate Winslet, I've got some thinking to do. I think The Hateful Eight is Tarantino's most ambitious film and certainly one of his greatest. Some days, I think it could very well be his best. Jennifer Jason Leigh's turn is excellent. She creates a vile, disgusting, and hypocritically condescending woman in Daisy Domergue. She's the most consistently humorous part of the film. The Oscar clip they used for her was an excellent choice as it highlights everything - the body language, the slurring, the very physicality of the performance - that made her role so good. Yes, she's over-the-top, but tell me that doesn't fit with the tone of the film.

As for Winslet, she was my favorite part of the masturbatory Sorkin-fest that was Steve Jobs. Joanna Hoffmann is an excellent character that I'm glad gets the chance to shine as much as she does. I haven't been impressed by Winslet in almost a decade, so this, for me, was a big return to form. Her accent is pitch perfect and the way she handles Fassbender is stunning. There's the scene where they talk about the award for the person who is able to stand up to Jobs and how Hoffmann won it three years running. Winslet plays Hoffmann in such a way that that is utterly believable.

Winslet gets my choice of the bunch, but, again, only on the basis that she's truly supporting.

If I were to rank the nominees regardless of lead/supporting politics, I'd say:

1. Rooney Mara
2. Kate Winslet
3. Jennifer Jason Leigh
4. Alicia Vikander
5. Rachel McAdams

But my own ballot for the year would look a little something like this:

1. Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
2. Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
3. Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
4. Mya Taylor, Tangerine
5. Rachel Weisz, Youth

I don't feel particularly excited with Weisz in the fifth spot even though her scenes in Sorrentino's films are really good. She's been super undersung recently with this film and The Deep Blue Sea failing to garner her deserved nominations. She doesn't deserve to be a one-and-done in terms of nods and wins.

Taylor is fantastic in Tangerine, and I know several who cite her as a co-lead, but I think Kitana 'Kiki' Rodriguez is the definite lead. Taylor's feisty attitude and, especially at Donut Time and the end of the flick, her compassion and warmth really come through in the clutch. It's a smart performance that I really latched onto.

Vikander's work in Ex Machina is astounding. It's everything I wanted, and still want, Sean Young's performance in Blade Runner to be. Vikander's cold distance from the camera and Domnhall Gleeson while still retaining a loin-tingling sense of sexuality and closeness is impressive. And, when she is being attacked by Oscar Isaac, her human expressions come out and really, really help garner sympathy for this neo-neo femme fatale. It's easily the best performance of the year in this category.

If we're going by Oscar qualifications, Nina Kunzendorf in Phoenix would be an easy addition, but I organize my own shouldabeen lists by world release dates, but, when I start going through the posts here, I'll make both lists for international and Oscar just because.

I'm running into trouble thinking of other worthy work from the year. I didn't really care for Julie Walters, Sarah Paulson, Jane Fonda, Joan Allen, and Co. like the rest of you are. I thought their performances were typical and nothing special. One performance I loved that I probably shouldn't have was Jessica Chastain's scenery chewing in Crimson Peak. Her vicious stoicism is brilliant and makes her unhinging by the end seem all the better. I also liked Tessa Thompson's work in Creed which I think does everything right that they didn't do with Adrian in the franchise's first entry. Her reaction when Adonis is pounding on her door and she turns her hearing aid down is fucking brutal.

As for my biggest blind spots, I'm still missing Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria, Cynthia Nixon in James White, Elizabeth Banks in Love & Mercy, and Rose Byrne in Spy.

This looks like a strong-ish year on the surface in this category, but I found it pretty weak overall.

[Big Magilla]

Among the missing, I'd cite Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria and Julie Walters in Brooklyn.

As someone who is open to slotting co-leads in support when lead is overpopulated with contenders and support is weak, even I couldn't find a plausible argument for shoehorning Vikander and Mara into this one. I was overjoyed when year end awards started coming Vikander's way for Ex Machina, hoping the Academy would follow suit. Although she's the female lead in that one, her screen time is limited and the slotting makes sense. The question for me is do I vote for the right actress in the wrong movie or give my vote to someone I find less deserving.

Mara is as good as Larson, Ronan, Blanchett and Rampling, but lacks the compensating factor of another film in which she is supporting like Vikander to overlook the fraud.

Winslet is the female lead in Steve Jobs, but she is not an equal to Fassbender as Vikander is to Redmayne and Mara is to Blanchett. She is his subordinate so I guess that makes it different.

Try as I may, I find it difficult to like Jennifer Jason Leigh in anything. I keep waiting for one of her performances to live up to the acclaim she invariably receives from the critics, but at best I find her OK, at worst, shrill and annoying. Next up for her is Lady Bird Johnson in Olivier Stone's LBJ which could do for her what Pat Nixon did for Joan Allen...or not.

Rachel McAdams does a fine, if non-showy job as the only major female character in Spotlight. I am tempted to vote for her, but I have to go with Vikander who is my pick as the year's best supporting actress albeit in a different film, and who I would have voted for if I had had an Oscar ballot.

[mlrg]

Vikander

[CalWilliam]

Despite the two leads I think this is a very solid line-up, being Rachel McAdams the least exciting, though I think she’s quite effective in Spotlight, just expertly displaying what the movie needs from her. I have nothing against this nomination. In fact, she’s the most supporting of the five.

One could argue that Jennifer Jason Leigh is a little bit over the top, but again, this a perfect example of skilled acting that perfectly fits in the movie it’s in, yet the other three were even better in my opinion.

The Danish Girl is watchable thanks to Alicia Vikander, who conveys shades and layers alongside poor material very convincingly. She didn’t deserve to win and hers may be the most blatant case of category fraud ever in this category, remaining Tatum O’Neal and Patty Duke at the top of that honor.

But the best of the supporting actresses is, definitely, Kate Winslet, for the reasons BJ has explained, even if my vote goes to Rooney Mara. Her performance is so beautiful, vivid and luminous that makes the fraud an acceptable one, and time will prove how this turn will be the most remembered one of this group.

[The Original BJ]

Of those excluded by way of fraud, Sarah Paulson, Joan Allen, and Vikander in Ex Machina would have been my preferred substitutes.

For me, Rachel McAdams's nomination was strictly a tag-along to a Best Picture winner.

Vikander is the strongest presence in The Danish Girl, but within a traditional long-suffering wife role we've seen countless times before. I found her Ex Machina work much more unique.

Jennifer Jason Leigh has the kind of part where you assume a big scene has to be coming to justify the awards attention, and her blood-spattered monologue was no doubt a memorable moment, but not enough to overcome the inherent silliness of her material.

Rooney Mara is lovely as the shy girl gradually finding her way out of her shell in Carol, and clearly rated a spot in lead. But I was surprised that so many -- including the Cannes jury -- felt she exceeded her co-star. For me, Blanchett was world-class; Mara was impressive, but not nearly at that level.

Had Kate Winslet won, it probably would have seemed like a freebie Supporting trophy she didn't really need. But that really underrates her work, which shows off quite a bit of range, from her very funny delivery of Sorkin's one-liners in her early acts to the wells of emotion in the "What you make isn't supposed to be the best part of you" scene. And her chemistry with Fassbender displays a kind of relationship I'm sure many can relate to, but that doesn't appear on screen very often -- that of the "work spouse." She gets my vote.

[dws1982]

I vote Winslet, both as the best of the actual supporting ladies, and the best of the five in general.

[OscarGuy]

If I were voting on just Best Supporting Actress and there weren't leads slumming in support, I'd probably lean towards Rachel McAdams, but I can't do that when the quietly powerful Rooney Mara is among the nominees. Subtle and charming. I might have even voted for her in lead would she not have been up against Saoirse Ronan and Brie Larson.

[CalWilliam]

The dilemma: voting for the best supporting performance (Jason Leigh, McAdams, Winslet) respecting what the category stands for, or voting for the best performance overall, which includes the five of them as we all know. To each his own.