Top Ten: Greatest Supporting Actors of the Decade Who Weren't Oscar Nominated
Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 12:21AM A truth. Year after year, Best Supporting Actor is the category with which we have the most disagreement with Oscar. Before our hearts are broken anew this impending season we wanted to celebrate the decade that's nearly behind us. We tend to view it Best Supporting Actor as the category wherein the Academy acting branch is at their absolute laziest each year, though we've never quite figured out why so much of their laziness funnels into this category ("whoever's in a best picture! YOU")
Today, for fun, a grumpy what-coulda-been list celebrating ten performances that rank among the best supporting work this decade...
10 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR PERFORMANCES OF THE '10s
THAT WERE NOT OSCAR NOMINATED
10 Tracy Letts, Lady Bird
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: All but Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project
Want to buy him all the "World's Greatest Dad" mugs for this performance. This kind of warm performance easily finds a home in Supporting Actress but "Supportive" fathers are a no go for voters for reasons we've never been able to ascertain apart from basic toxic masculinity... and that being supportive is just not considered an interesting or valuable thing in a male role...
09 Oscar Isaac, Ex Machina
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: ALL though we'd hear arguments for the two frontrunners
Mad scientist filtered through hedonistic oversexed isolation. Inspired and riveting throughout.
08 Samuel L Jackson, Django Unchained
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: All but Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln
Number one reason we hate category fraud: It prevents worthy actual supporting performances from getting their just due recognition. Waltz had no business drawing attention away from the film's best performance: Jackson was running circles around everyone in this film and what's more he wasn't repeating himself (like Waltz) or hamming it up against type (like Leo), but finding fresh satiric inspiration in his longtime collaborators problematic epic.
07 Alden Ehrenreich, Hail Caesar (2016)
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: All but Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
A star-is-born moment and yet somehow it didn't take? Would that i t'were so simple to become a star with a performance about becoming a star that's this savvy and charismatic.
06 Lakeith Stanfield, Short Term 12
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: All but Cooper and Fassbender
Nearly everyone in this great indie went on to much bigger careers but we're so proud to have been in on all of them at the ground floor, particularly Lakeith Stanfield. This incredibly raw and wounded performance of a teenager about to enter the real world after growing up in the system, aimed straight for the heart but without the soggy weight of sentimentality.
05 Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life (2011)
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: All but Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Every once in a while Oscar voters notice the well worn soulfullness just milimieters below the surface of that perfect movie star face. But they should do that more often.
04 James Franco, Spring Breakers
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: All but Cooper and Fassbender
Though his worst impulses have long since caught up with him, we shouldn't rewrite history and pretend he was never inspired. "Look at mah shiit!"
03 Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash (2016)
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: ALL
Fiennes is in that special small category of actors that is hampered by being brilliant too frequently. It's obviously taken for granted by Hollywood rather than celebrated. That he only has two Oscar nominations is an outright embarrassment (for the Academy not for him) when he should have already won twice (Grand Budapest Hotel and Schindler's List). In A Bigger Splash he played against type, subverting his usual restraint for a balls out charisma/exasperation of a man who is always "on"
02 Michael Fassbender, Prometheus (2012)
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: ALL
Where can we buy a David8 model? No price is too high.
01 Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike (2012)
Oscar nominees he was superior to that year: ALL
His all time greatest performance and so easily awardable, too, in all the traditional ways. But for the ass-shaking and selfsploitation, that is. If only the Academy hadn't been so stuffy, nominating five men who'd already won, all doing less than career best (though Tommy Lee Jones was fab). McConaughey won the Oscar the very next year so we just pretend it was for this incredible star turn instead.
See any patterns here? What made these performances so tough for voters to see the worth in?
Reader Comments (63)
As it counted down, I was absolutely sure that Michael Stuhlbarg (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) was going to be high on the list. Man, he has now even been robbed of a place on the list of those who were robbed of a place!
But a good list nonetheless.
Travis -- i had him in 11th place. LOL
Tree of Life is literally Pitt's best, and that it was in the same year as Moneyball (also among his best) was ridiculous. Either one is head and shoulders above (the still-good) OUAT in Hollywood.
More than Waltz, Jackson's biggest problem was DiCaprio. I remember he had ALL the buzz before the movie premiered. I remember being shocked at little he actually ended up doing with Candy. You're right, it was all ham, but Jackson made a fucking gourmet sandwich. Django Unchained ends up being problematic because not everyone seems to be willing to go where the film demands. Jackson totally gets it and is revelatory. Waltz and DiCaprio showing up at awards spots instead of him shows how useless critics can be sometimes.
The lack of nominations for Fiennes this decade may be proof of the Academy actually hating him somehow.
As fine and deserving as all of these performances are, I think the only one that feels like an outright snub may be Pitt, because of Tree of Life's overall presence that year, but I guess they weren't willing to give him a double dip even in a week year for Supporting (even if Plummer's performance is the best win of the decade for me). I think the other performances suffer from genre bias, and in the case of McConaughey, the work getting lost in how fun/effortlessly is all seems to come together. They ended up making it up to him, but I keep thinking did Dallas die so that Ramona could live, or will Lopez have the same problem this year?
Leo was better than Jackson I thought, but they both should have been nominated.
10 - Not a big fan of the movie, but loved this performance
9 - My personal pick that year
8 - MVP of that film
7 - Ehh
6 - Need to rewatch
5 - Same as 6
4 - Very good, but no
3 - Never saw it
2 &1 - That lineup was the worst in any acting category this decade.
My List:
1. Michael Fassbender, Fish Tank (surprised you didn't mention it - do you count it as 2009?)
2. Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
3. Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash
4. Steven Yeun, Burning
5. Sam Elliott, Grandma
6. Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name
7. Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade
8. Alden Ehrenreich, Hail, Caesar!
9. Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid Love
10. Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life
Typing this out, I realize that this is also a list of the greatest Supporting Thirst Traps of the decade. Whoops, lol!
(Maybe it's just because most of the older Supporting Actor contenders actually got nominated...?)
Great choices. Mine:
1. Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name)
2. Tom Bennett (Love and Friendship)
3. Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike)
4. Stanley Tucci (Spotlight)
5. Brad Pitt (The Tree of Life)
6. Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight)
7. Benicio del Toro (Sicario)
8. Barry Keoghan (The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
9. Andrew Scott (Pride)
10. Patton Oswalt (Young Adult)
Jackson was actively terrible in Django Unchained. It was autopilot mugging.
I have Isaac and Fiennes as Leading (though I nominate both and they're borderline so no real arguments).
I love Magic Mike but no actors from it make my Top 10s - McConaughey was WAY more impressive to these eyes in Killer Joe (Leading) and The Paperboy (Supporting) - 2012 was quite his year, wasn't it?
Seconding Brad Pitt, Trevante Rhodes and Benicio Del Toro (Leading) who were all my WINNERS and missed out...
I have Fassbender in Fish Tank as 2009 (and he's my winner too).
Benicio Del Toro was absolutely incredible in Sicario. One of the most menacing and enigmatic villains since the original Hannibal. I remember being totally shattered by his final verbal showdown with Blunt. Genius.
Nathaniel, I’m curious: who else would you include in the “brilliant too frequently” group alongside Fiennes?
Does Jacob Tremblay in Room count as supporting?
I would love to see Rossy de Palma in Julieta, when you do the supporting actresses...
I agree with kermit that Isaacs and Fiennes are co-leads.
In my opinion also is DelToro.
FYI Fish Tank was not elegible in its year...
With almost every single one of these I could come up with a reason why they didn't get the nom (category fraud, genre bias, just straight up not seeing or liking the film). Everyone, but Letts. I look at who was nominated and at who else was in the conversation (I remember people were convinced they were gonna fraud Hammer here), and it baffles me that he got so little attention PERIOD. I mean, every awards body clearly loved Lady Bird (5 Oscar noms, 2 GG wins), so why was he left in the dust?!
Well it seems you’v changed your mind about some of film bitch awards medalist!
I'd also like to mention Steven Yeun in Burning, Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name, Benicio Del Toro in Sicario, Ezra Miller in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Andrew Garfield in The Social Network, who were my personal favorites of their respective years.
I have so many problems with Oscar's Supporting Actor field almost every year.
I consider Oscar Isaac a lead. And although I love Ex Machina, his is my least favorite acting in that movie.
Mine:
1 - Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name
2 - Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash
3 - Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
4 - Nicholas Houtl, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Favourite
5 - Armie Hammer, The Social Network
6 - Rob Morgan, Mudbound
7 - Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
8 - Kenneth Branagh, Dunkirk
9 - Tadanobu Asano, Silence
10 - Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Michael Stuhlberg is a name I expected to see. Definitely agree with Lakeith though. He's wonderful.
On my spot, in place of Javier,
10 - Steve Yeun, Burning / Benicio Del Toro, Sicario
The two omissions for supporting recognition in the past decade that stand out are Henry G. Sanders as Cager Lee in Selma and Harry Belafonte as Jerome Turner in BlacKkKlansman. Each veteran actor brought a sense of dignity and truth to their films. I find it impossible to watch Dr. King comfort Lee in the aftermath of the murder of his grandson and not weep. Sanders underplays the emotion, a choice that only intensifies the heartbreak. Belafonte reminds us what an extraordinary actor he is as he delivers a riveting monologue of eye witness testimony to a horrific lynching. Both actors were unjustly snubbed by Oscar for their fine efforts.
Albert Brooks being left out for Drive still rankles
Nathaniel, what a fun post! Agreed that the Supporting Actor category is infuriating. Looking over the nominees for the past decade, there is an alarming percentage of truly meh performances in there.
It's insane that Fassbender and Fiennes, two of the best actors EVER, have not won Oscars. They should have handily won for Schindler and Slave, both more deeply resourceful performances than the actors who won those years.
And I'd join the chorus for Andrew Garfield...he helped The Social Network reach near-Shakespearean proportions.
Nat: I REALLY don't buy Franco as supporting in Spring Breakers. He's not one of the title characters, but he's absolutely the lead of that movie.
Sorry but I can't agree with many of these apart from Fiennes.
Here's 10 men men I enjoyed in supporting roles this past decade
Chris Cooper August Osage County
Jude Law Anna Karenina
Simon Russell Beale The Deep Blue Sea
Trevante Rhodes Moonlight
Hugh Grant Florence Foster Jenkins
Issey Ogata Silence
Emory Cohen Brooklyn
Russell Crowe Boy Erased
James Gandolfini Enough Said
Michael Stuhlbarg Call me by your Name
Fassbender's character ruined a classic franchise,we all loved the Alien so they go and make it about the robot no one cares about
Matthew McConaughey grates on me pre and post Oscar.
Good list. Three I'd add, though I'm not sure where or who I'd leave out:
Benicio del Toro - Sicario
Tony Revolori - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nicholas Hoult - The Favourite
Was shocked to be reminded Brad Pitt wasn't nominated for "The Tree of Life". He'd be on my list along with:
Mark Strong "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"(2011)
Michael Fassbender "Prometheus"(2012)
Matthew McConaughey "The Paperboy"(2012)
Liev Schreiber "Goon"(2012)
Patrick d'Assumcao "Stranger By the Lake"(2014)
Nicholas Hoult "Mad Max: Fury Road"(2015) maybe the biggest omission of the decade
Andre Holland "Moonlight"(2016)
Simon Russell Beale "The Death of Stalin"(2018)
Linus Roache "Mandy"(2018)
That's limiting it to ten. Hated leaving out such richly deserving performances as:
Jack McGee "the Fighter"(2010)
Albert Brooks "Drive"(2011)
Josh Brolin "Men in Black 3"(2012)
Buddy Duress "Good Time"(2017)
Tracy Letts "Lady Bird"(2017)
Russell Hornsby "The Hate U Give"(2018)
I will never ever ever tire of hearing people praise Alden Ehrenreich in Hail Caesar - sooooo good. And happy to see Fassbender/David on this list too.
Am pleased to see others are bringing up Keoghan (my favorite film performance that year) and Yeun (to me, the best thing about Burning) and Hoult (sure, both times, but especially for Fury Road), and yes, I'd understand The Social Network eating up about a third of any list of recent best actors/performances. But unless I've missed it, has no one brought up Alex Wolff yet? C'mon folks - Hereditary was only last year.
In no particular order except #1:
John Hawkes Martha Marcy May Marlene
Jacob Tremblay Room
Peter Sarsgaard Black Mass
James Ransone Tangerine
Jim Broadbent The Iron Lady
Hunter McCracken The Tree of Life
Lucas Hedges Lady Bird
Noah Jupe Suburbicon
Simon Russell Beale The Death of Stalin
Christoph Waltz Big Eyes
And a special mention to Ben Kingsley for Boxtrolls for his hilarious voice work.
Trevonte Rhodes and Jude Law: ooooooowwww booooooooyyyyyy!!!
My additions would be...
Andrew Scott in Pride
Corey Stoll in Midnight in Paris
Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name
Andrew Garfield in Social Network
Tom Holland in The Impossible
In my list of richly deserving performances I somehow left out Henry G. Sanders' moving work in "Selma", eloquently saluted above by James.
The first thing I thought when I saw the title of this piece was Ralph Fiennes in A Bigger Splash, but that's not a film or a performance I ever saw many people discussing so I figured it would be absent and that was okay.
Imagine my surprise to see it on the list. Yes! What a great performance. I have been the introvert in the room when someone like that walks in and Fiennes captures everything about that type of person that is an absolute nightmare, while completely holding onto their humanity.
Patterns? The fuckability except for Letts and Jackson.
Andre Holland, Moonlight
David Oyelowo, The Butler
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
It would have been nice for the article to point a finger at all the LEADING or Co-LEADING actors who usurped spots in the Supporting actor category in the corresponding years.
As I always say, when are Patricia Clarkson and Katherine Keener going to win an Oscar unless someone puts a stop to category fraud? Dev Patel in Lion was Supporting? Please!
Marcos:
2010: Christian Bale (winner) and Geoffrey Rush, no question. Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo, debatable.
2011: Jonah Hill.
2012: Christoph Waltz (winner) and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
2013: Barkhad Abdi, no question. Bradley Cooper, debatable.
2014: J.K. Simmons (winner)
2015: No one egregious OR all that arguable. Yay! But 1. Tremblay probably would have been able to push out Tom Hardy or Mark Ruffalo if he'd been pushed here and 2. Supporting ACTRESS was still dealing with fraud that year. Boo!
2016: Jeff Bridges, Dev Patel.
2017: Sam Rockwell, debatable.
2018: Mahershala Ali.
From the last decade the two supporting performances that i have stick in my mind are both from young actors in horror movies:
Harvey Scrimshaw in The Wicth and Alex Wolff in Hereditary
1. Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name
2. Trevante Rhodes, Moonlight
3. Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
4. Ben Foster, Hell or High Water
5. André Holland, Moonlight
6. Oscar Isaac, Ex Machina
7. Timothée Chalamet, Beautiful Boy
8. Jeremy Irons, Margin Call
9. Michael Fassbender, Fish Tank
10. Nicholas Hoult, The Favourite
Great list, BTW
Excellent list. Although I'd have included Michael Stuhlbarg ("Call Me By Your Name") for sure and ranked Oscar Isaac higher.
Jennifer Lopez is to "Hustlers" what McConaughey was to "Magic Mike"?
Will the Academy be as stuffy again? 🤔
Great list. Mine would be:
1. Michael Stuhlbarg, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
2. Issei Ogata, SILENCE
3. Brad Pitt, THE TREE OF LIFE
4. Matthew McConaughey, MAGIC MIKE
5. Oscar Isaac, EX-MACHINA
6. Brian Tyree Henry, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
7. Steven Yeun, BURNING
8. Andrew Garfield, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
9. Alden Ehrenreich, HAIL CAESAR!
10. Michael Fassbender, PROMETHEUS
Honorable mention: Michael Fassbender in FISH TANK, who wasn't eligible for Oscar.
I was literally just talking to my brother the other day about how Mathew should have won for MaGiC MiKE!
@César Gaytán: yes! Many agree that Alex Wolff was tremendous in Hereditary but Harvey Scrimshaw as the bedeviled oldest son in The Witch was also fantastic. Good call.
I love this topic. It's fascinating. So many great picks. But as much as I love Letts in Lady Bird, I do think that 2017 lineup is perfect.
I also don't know why Paul Dano wasn't nominated for his brilliance in Love and Mercy. Sigh.
Love all these performances, except for Alden (his is just good) and McCaughney (overrated)
Samuel L Jackson and Oscar Issac snubs hurt especially (easily some of their best work, if not their very best) but was rooting for this whole bunch.
Always fun to be part of the discussion.
My choices would be:
1. Michael Fassbender (Prometheus)
2. Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight) [Actually - in my opinion - is a lead performance in a ensemble film, but I cheat here]
3. Brad Pitt (The Tree Of Life)
4. Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max - Fury Road)
5. Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!)
6. Michael Keaton (Spotlight)
7. Andrew Garfield (The Social Network)
8. Matthew Goode (Stoker) [A leed-ish]
9. Dwight Henry (Beasts Of The Southern Wild)
10. Rob Morgan (Mudbound)
I LOVE THIS DISCUSSION!!!!!!!