Adams / Weisz + Oscar
Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at 12:47PM 
Weisz and Adams at their first Oscars as nominees
This year marks the second time Rachel Weisz & Amy Adams have been nominated together in the supporting actress category: Weisz for The Favourite, Adams for Vice. The first time they did so was for their first nominations, thirteen years ago for The Constant Gardener and Junebug respectively. They are linked together in my mind -and possibly for some of you - because of that. Adams’ performance in Junebug is my favorite of her nominated performances and I've always said that if she had won that year we wouldn’t be talking about overdue status for years on end.
Since that time their Oscar careers have diverged...
Weisz only really had awards heat once in the interim years. In 2012 she won the New York Film Critics Circle award and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea. Alas she didn’t make Oscar’s final shortlist.
Adams arriving at the Oscars as a nominee
Adams meanwhile had better luck with the Academy raking up six nominations in thirteen years. That is nearly a nomination every other year. Wow. She has been brilliant many times but has also been lucky to be in movies that the Academy's acting branch went crazy for. Junebug remains the last time she was her movie’s sole acting nominee. In fact she has always been one of either three nominees (The Fighter, The Master, Vice) or four (Doubt, American Hustle) from her film, while being unsuccessful in her bids to be the sole acting nominee (Enchanted, Big Eyes, Arrival -- three films for which she received precursor recognition but no Oscar love).
Adams has been consistent since that Junebug breakout and has endeared herself to fans with several great performances. My favorite remains Enchanted, a star turn that's pure joy as she embodies goodness and kindness. Her work in Vice is arguably a retread of her previously honored performance in The Master, though it was fun to watch her deliver faux Shakespeare.
Weisz has had more ebbs and flows to her career, but she always delivers. However for a while her films didn’t connect with audiences or critics despite her stellar work. Since The Lobster -her first collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos - she’s been on a tear. I heard her in an interview earlier this year stating that for her to take on a project it has to be “transgressive.” She certainly showed us exactly that in 2018 with Disobedience and The Favourite. I still can't get over her performance in the latter. She gets Lanthimos’ sensibility like no other actor, and her facility with the cadence of delivering those cutting line is delicious. And have we talked about her determined walking? I’m so happy to see her get Oscars’ recognition this year and can't wait for next transgressive film.
Adams and Weisz by the numbers
Oscar Nominations
Adams: 6 (Junebug, Doubt, The Fighter, The Master, American Hustle, Vice)
Weisz: 2 (The Constant Gardener, The Favourite)
Golden Globe Nominations
Adams: 7 (Doubt, Enchanted, The Master, American Hustle, Big Eyes, Arrival, Vice)
Weisz: 3 (The Constant Gardener, The Deep Blue Sea, The Favourite)
Major Critics Awards
Adams: LAFCA for The Master, National Society of Film Critics for Junebug and The Master.
Weisz: NYFCC for The Deep Blue Sea
Metacritic Average
Adams: 59
Weisz: 57
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Reader Comments (61)
I'm still hoping for a recount, leading to an Elizabeth Debicki nomination and win.
Haven't seen any of the movies, but I've loved Regina King as an actress for years, so she gets my current vote. If/when I finally get around to watching the nominated films I sure it will change
Love both actresses but I want Marina de Tavira Marcia-Gay-Harden her way to oscar.
It's also the second time Weisz and Stone have been nominated in this category.
As brilliant as that trio is in The Favourite, my favorite is Weisz. Her way with a cutdown is just delicious, like no other. I thought she was fantastic in Youth as Michael Caine's daughter. She has a monologue that just kills.
Adams is great, and I've often loved her. But I feel she's often miscast. And I don't get the love for her performances in The Master and Doubt. She just wasn't right for either role.
Weisz gave my favorite performance of the year. Her talent is so refined—like an English Binoche.
"Hell. I'm sure you shall pass through it one day," is an unforgettable line reading for me. FYC!
I'm a De Tavira/King voter.
Good post. You made me realize that Adams never gets noms when she has to carry the movie on her shoulders.
I love Weisz. She has a great voice and I always imagine her doing a morphosyntactic analysis of the script during her lunch break.
@Jorge: Marina would actually out-Marcia Gay Harden Marcia Gay Harden! MGH actually won an award that year before her surprise nom (NYFCC).
But not nominated together, in the same year. That's his point with Adams and Weisz.
The Deep Blue Sea actually was a 2012 release (in the U.S.), so most of her accolades for that film (Globe and OFSC noms, NYFCC and TFCA wins, etc.) were for the 2012—not 2011—film year. (And, wowza, that was a pretty dynamite best actress year.)
P.S. Weisz was co-lead in The Constant Gardner so ought not have been competing against Adams for Junebug anyway.
God, I don't remember Adams' 2005 Oscars dress at all. (Her other gowns are fairly iconic.)
Adams was also my pick in 2005, but Weisz was nearly as excellent in The Constant Gardener. One of the best winners in that category.
Amy desrved to win for junebug and she should have been nominated for enchanted and arrival too.
This is by far the most actressexual take on the Oscar noms I've read today. ;)
mareko - corrected the 2011 / 2012 as I was going with imdb. Thanks for catching that.
SanFranCinema - it's what we do here. thanks for noticing!
Weisz had supporting time in The Constant Gardener so her nomination in that category is accurate. She's not in the movie as much as her presence is, and that's more power to her performance, as it lingers even when she's not on screen.
I'm Weisz all the way and always have been. I even felt she deserved at LEAST a nomination for Youth and/or The Deep Blue Sea. Her role in The Favourite is the one that's stuck with me the most in the category, but I also am in the camp of those who don't quite understand why Regina King is the one to beat or that Amy Adams was nominated at ALL this year.
I don't believe Weisz nabbing the golden dude this year, but I'm happy (mostly) everyone is supportive of her and she's a two-time nominee (and that the public and film community are taking a shine to her more publicly than before). AND that her career has undergone an intriguing and wonderfully "transgressive" renaissance.
Here's to ya, Lady Sarah! :)
Mareko - Are you sure? I don't see The constant gardener since 2007 but I clearly remember she was supporting
Amy Adams should have won: Junebug, Arrival
Amy Adams should have been nommed: Enchanted, The Fighter, Drop Dead Gorgeous (sue me), American Hustle
Amy Adams should not have been nommed: Doubt, The Master
I get people being mad about category fraud (although I'd say she's the most supporting of the 3 actors in it), but I very much want Weisz to win this. As you note, she is perfectly in tune with Lanthimos' style - no minor feat - and it's just sensational work.
I wish they'd have snagged more nominations - Adams for Her, and Weisz for The Brothers Bloom. And that Constant Gardner/Junebug year is one of those times I kind of wish there'd have been a tie. Both were excellent (as they usually are).
So what's preferable: winning a forgotten Oscar on first try and frustratingly waiting over a decade for a follow-up nod, or be a continual also-ran on a SIXTH nomination that will lose yet AGAIN to a first-time nominee? I know the answer is always the former, but I'm not sure really. Wouldn't you rather be in the "conversation" than not year after year, which Adams constantly is. I have issues at all with Weisz's Oscar, but I think opportunities have been lacking for her in a way that's not the case for Adams. But if the former is really picky about roles, then who knows? Everything's a conscious choice in the end. Intriguing blog entry.
Amy Adams (5 nominations) now pulls within one Supporting nomination of tying the reigning champion, Thelma Ritter (who scored 6 nominations). Today, Adams has outdistanced herself from Barrymore, Grant, Moorehead, Page, Smith, Stapleton and Streep for career Supporting Actress nominations. It's interesting to note that out of all of those actresses, the only NON Oscar winners (either lead or supporting) are Ritter, Moorehead and Amy Adams.
Adams for me is doing fairly standard work next to badly cast co stars delivering ham skits,she has been much better before,
Wiesz on the other hand lives Yorgos's film completely outshining Stone who was giving us her best in Battle of the Sexes last year and was snubbed,I too loved her determined walking in The Favorite,she's my winner.
King will win maybe but her film isn't loved and TF and V are which makes me feel that a surprise win wouldn't be shocking.
Nat did you nominate Wiesz in 2012.
I am firmly in Regina King’s corner, but I’m just happy to see Weisz back in the race. She should’ve been there for The Deep Blue Sea and her other 2018 performance in Disobedience deserved more attention.
I love Amy and I’m sure she’ll eventually get the gold. She’s clearly loved and I can see a DiCaprio-esque narrative forming around her in years to come - I just hope that doesn’t happen this year.
In 2005 my choice was Michelle Williams for Brokeback Mountain.
Amy Adams should have won as Supporting for The Master in 2012 and as Lead for American Hustle in 2013. She deserved all her nominations and should have also been nominated for Big Eyes in 2014.
Rachel Weisz was absolutely exquisite in Deep Blue Sea and should have won in 2012. Her non-nomination was/is disgraceful.
Category fraud or no category fraud Rachel Weisz would have my vote this year.
Both of Weisz's nominations are for lead roles!
Rachel Weisz is Leading in The Constant Gardener. I remember in 2005 that nobody believed that she was supporting until the campaign began.
In England she was only nominated in Leading (Bafta, British Independent, London)
Seriously Amy Adams has 6 nominations now officially the most overrated actress urggghh she is unremarkable in most of her nominated performances not sure why it hasn’t been called out before , please let her lose and Oscar then finally move on
She's probably supporting in The Constant Gardener. To be honest, quite surprised so many people think otherwise.
She's lead in The Favourite. Stone even more so. If anything, Colman would be supporting. So given arc, screentime and then fame, that's a funny thing.
Regina King is great in If Beale Street Could Talk, but surprised she's the unanimous critic's choice. Weisz and Stone are both leads and borh have Oscars, so I'll easily cheer on King.
Adams, like the rest of the cast, is terrific in Vice. Whether or not she should be nominated, I don't know. I was a little distracted by all the shit going on in Vice (should have gone with the original title).
Funny, her performance is quite subtle. Ah well.
I really like Adams, but she should've only received nominations for Junebug and Arrival. Her breakthrough in Drop Dead Gorgeous (!) was also far more interesting than most of her nominated work.
I've not seen The Master, though.
Vice was a garbage heap with Adams delivering fine, but ultimately forgettable work (with McKay's piss poor screenplay and shoddy direction to blame). Weisz was absolutely fabulous in The Favourite, but she also had a golden script and wonderful direction. Here's hoping Weisz wins the BAFTA and perhaps even SAG.
And by interesting, I mean hilarious and perfect for the role.
Weisz should have been in Best Actress - for Disobedience!
I just don't see anyone being "Oh Amy has to win for this we've ignored her too long"
She's fine in Vice but that's it.
cal roth; I think she's terrific in the first half of the movie. I think the film is shockingly bad in the second half.
I want Regina King to win, but I won’t be made of Rachel Weisz takes it.
I'm more surprised that Stone is 3 time nominee as I think her best performances were Easy A and Battle of the Sexes.
An actress as diverse as Kidman only has 1 more and Stone as good as she can be is not Kidman.
It's a shame Amy is such a coattailer as her nominations are often frowned upon becuase of this yet she is q often the best parts of her movies..
I kind of want Adams to win so they can stop nominating her. Her fans sincerely believe she has this great all time performance in her which will tower over others and I simply don't believe that's her. Beale Street's lackluster showing this morning coupled with snubs from SAG and BAFTA for King -- it won't be controversial if she loses.
I don't mind them nominating her again but don't let her win for her least accomplished role in such an awful film with every other actor around her doing such a poor job,Bale or Malek winning fills me with bigger dread.
Amy was also nominated twice along with Jacki Weaver, back in 2010's The Fighter and Animal Kingdom and two years later with The Master and Silver Lining's Playbook respectively.
Bale is terrific. Nothing wrong with the Vice cast. People don't like the film so are harping on every aspect.
Since category fraud is something we've all agreed is wrong, the two ladies from The Favourite are out (even though I liked them both). I haven't seen Vice so I can't comment on Adams performance but she's consistent in the quality of her performances so I'll assume she's good. King and de Tavira both have equally good performances but I think the goodwill King has built up pushes her ahead ; the nomination is the award for de Tavira.
Having said that, I think one of Weisz or Stone wins it.
Bale is terrific
Really?
It would be anticlimactic for Amy to win for Vice but I wouldn’t mind it. She’s good in it and it wouldn’t be her worst nominated performance, that would be Doubt.
Although she’s the best nominee, Weisz is in the wrong category, this I can’t in good faith cheer her on. I am rooting for Regina King. Amy Adams is clearly the worst of the bunch, and I really hope this isn’t her win.
@/3artful I've been thinking the same thing all season - if Adams would win then maybe the Oscars could forget about her for a while.
Murtada, it's fun to see you frame the match in this way...I hadn't fully made that connection. I thought Rachel deserved to win that year for The Constant Gardener, but also love Amy in Junebug that year, and if Rachel had lost back then, I'll bet she would solidly and easily win this year for The Favourite. She's my personal vote for Best Supporting Actress this year, even though I know she won't win. I'd like to see Amy get her Oscar, but it's hard to root for what she gets to do in Vice.
If Amy loses this year, I believe it will be very hard to deny her an Oscar on her 7th nomination, tying Glenn's record (assuming Glenn is a lock to win this year), regardless of her competition. And her 7th nomination may very well come next year, with The Woman in the Window, since the pedigree is there (Joe Wright, Scott Rudin, Tracy Letts, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Bryan Tyree Henry).
for those who read the book, how meaty is Amy's role in The Woman in the Window?
Adams really has to win.
Weisz is the female lead in The Constant Gardener but it's a pretty decent sized supporting role. As someone said, her presence is felt but considering Ralph Fiennes screentime and overall arc, that's the lead of the film.
I even like Frances McDormand in North Country but I'd have replaced her with Thandie Newton in Crash or Anne Hathaway in Brokeback Mountain and nominated Catherine Keener for 40 Year Old Virgin.
Why couldn't Adams have won for "Junebug" so Weisz can win now for "The Favourite"?
This is why we can't have nice things.
:-/
I love both these actresses, I find them versatile and interesting in a variety of roles. I wish to emphasize that Weisz takes on roles that deal with tricky political issues quite often. (Whistleblower, Denial, Constant Gardener, Disobedience, etc.)
Then she can turn around and do light comedy with equal ease. (The Lobster, The Brothers Bloom, For the Boy).
Amy Adams can do Arrival, and also win my heart over while singing and dancing with The Muppets. Great careers and they both handle fame with grace.