What a Cast of Character (Actors)
Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 12:57AM
by Deborah Lipp
Has anyone else noticed the enormous overlap of faces in Oscar buzzing movies this season? It’s like they ran out of character actors in Hollywood. For the record, I love everyone listed here, but surely there are other talented thespians who need work! Here are the actors I spotted in multiple awards movies, in alphabetical order. If I left any off the list, jump in to add them (for the sake of having a touchpoint, I was including any movie that appears anywhere on Nathaniel’s Prediction Index):
Alison Brie: The Disaster Artist and The Post
Timothée Chalamet: Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird
Zac Efron: The Disaster Artist and The Greatest Showman
Lucas Hedges: Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Lily James: Baby Driver and Darkest Hour
Caleb Landry Jones: Get Out, The Florida Project, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Tracy Letts: Lady Bird and The Post
Kathryn Newton: Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (and Big Little Lies on the small screen!)
Michael Stuhlbarg: Call Me By Your Name, The Post, and The Shape of Water
Bradley Whitford: Get Out and The Post
Michael Stuhlbarg is our clear winner here, appearing in three movies that all seem likely to be nominated for Best Picture.
Reader Comments (14)
If Chalamet counts as a character actor, I would like to throw in Michelle Williams (THE GREATEST SHOWMAN and ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD).
Woody Harrelson (3 Billboards & War for planet of apes), Hugh Jackman (Greatest showman & Logan) .
I wondered if you were excluding 'star' actors but, if so, should Zac Efron be excluded?
The Post is the perfect example of a lazy casting. They basically summoned all the actors with a hit TV show.
Stulbarg's 2 supporting performances are hard to choose which is best,it's a shame he hasn't been singled out more for his role in TSOW but I have to say Jenkins is v good too.
Originally I was leaving out stars, but these are good additions. Basically, as we were leaving The Post, I started thinking, 'Hey, wait a minute...' I'd seen Three Billboards the night before, so it all kind of hit me in the face. After that, I tried to be thorough -- although I missed one that Nathaniel caught on edit (Caleb Landry Jones in Florida Project, which I haven't seen yet).
Actually I think the casting of The Post has to do more with everyone in Hollywood dying to get the chance to work Spielberg, Streep and Hanks.
Remember in 2002 when John C. Reilly was in Gangs of New York, Chicago, and the Hours (all best pic nominees)
Paranoid -- and in the era of only 5 Best Pics no less. Quite an accomplishment.
ACTUALLY UNRELATED: Bitch Awards. Nat: Make a note for best cameo o limited performance by an actress: Cicely Tyson in Last Flag Flying. And PLEASE complete the years who've left unfinished.
Even though it's not an Oscar player, Caleb was in American Made as well.
Kathryn Newton was also in Halt and Catch Fire.
It's a mystery to me that Tracy Letts has gotten no awards traction this season. He was so great in Lady Bird and the standout among the large supporting cast in The Post.
We should probably distinguish between actors in a first third of the year film and then a Nov/Dec film (Whitford), but people in two films opening in the same month or two? That's just greedy.
I loved it when Jim Broadbent was in Moulin Rouge!, Bridget Jones' Diary, and won for Iris. Such a great year for him!
Who was Jones in Florida Project? Totally missed that.