Updated to add voting options and recommendations!
Yesterday out of nowhere I suddenly felt a shiver go down my spine. I realized that if I didn't pull some advocacy action, my fellow Broadcast Film Critics might just give Chloe Grace Moretz TWO nominations for Best Young Actor/Actress for Kick-Ass 2 and Carrie and nobody needs that. Not even Chloe who doesn't strike us as the sort that needs the validation to go on. (Horror of horrors that's already occurred back in 2010 when she won a double nom) And then I pictured Quvenzhané Wallis getting nominated for her one line in 12 Years a Slave and remembered that frustrating nomination for Asa Butterfeld in Hugo (he could repeat this year for Ender's Game) and I knew I had to intervene with some advocacy or at least a helpful voting cheat sheet.
Thomas Horn & Quvenzhane Wallis, the last two winners of this category
See, sometimes the lazy voting in this category can be attributed to its low profile. If you're not actually researching / thinking about "which actors that aren't yet 21 did good work this year?" chances are when it comes time to vote you'll just be scribbling down whoever comes immediately to mind. That strategy favors the famous and the lucky (are they in a film you're thinking about for other categories?) and "Best" is not really even a part of the equation.
HELPFUL CHARTS AND READER BALLOT REQUESTS AFTER THE JUMP...
Three former Oscar nominees are eligible in this category this year. I mean I like Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine rapidly growing up) as much as the next person but does she deserve a nomination in this category simply because people will be thinking about August: Osage County when they're voting in other categories? Do Hailee Steinfeld and Saoirse Ronan deserve nominations for Romeo & Juliet and How I Live Now because people know who they are?
So in the interest of smarter voting, I've compiled a cheat sheet of eligible performers. Despite my efforts I am reasonably certain I forgot someone but this should be enough to get the conversation going.
YOUNG ELIGIBLE ACTRESSES
(update: originally these charts were compiled merely to get people talking about the category but they seem to have been miscontrued as recommendations. So if you see an asterisk that is someone that I personally am considering for my own ballot)
Pictured
Abigail Breslin - August Osage County
Katie Chang - Bling Ring
*Adele Exarchopoulus - Blue is the Warmest Colour
Tavi Gevinson - Enough Said
*Pauline Burlet - The Past (so believable as Berenice Bejo's daughter.
*Kaitlyn Dever - Short Term 12 (my pet film this year but it deserves the attention. Dever is also in Spectacular Now)
Annie Buckley - Saving Mr Banks
Taissa Farmiga - Bling Ring
AnnaSophia Robb- The Way Way Back
Hailee Steinfeld - Romeo and Juliet
Saoirse Ronan - How I Live Now
*Onata Aprile - What Maisie Knew (what a natural)
Megan Charpentier -Mama
Waad Mohammed -Wadjda
Sophie Nelisse -The Book Thief
*Nell Cattrysse-The Broken Circle Breakdown (heartbreaker... foreign films are a bonanza of good child performances each year)
And yes the presence of Adele here (she turns 20 this week) in an extremely adult movie reminds me that I've always felt this award should be restricted to under 18s instead of under 21s.
YOUNG ELIGIBLE ACTORS
(update: originally these charts were compiled merely to get people talking about the category but they seem to have been miscontrued as recommendations. So if you see an asterisk that is someone that I personally am considering for my own ballot)
Pictured:
*Tye Sheridan - Mud (the lead)
Jacob Lofland -Mud (...and his best friend "Neckbone)
*Elyes Aguis -The Past (this is his first acting role, terrific as Tahir Rahim's frustrated son)
Gattlin Griffith - Labor Day (3 actors play this role but he gets the bulk of the movie)
*Israel Broussard - Bling Ring !!! Tricky part, but a total success, don't you think?
Ty Simpkins - Iron Man 3
Alex Calloway - Short Term 12
Liam James - The Way Way Back
Jacob Latimore - Black Nativity
Abdullrahman Al Gohani - Wadjda
Nick Robinson - Kings of Summer
Asa Butterfeld - Ender's Game
IF YOU WERE VOTING... which young actors and actresses would you be rooting for in this category?