Film Bitch Awards: Best Supporting Actor Ballot
Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at 7:47PM by Nathaniel R
Brian Tyree Henry in "Causeway"
Historically among the main acting categories, Best Supporting Actor is where the Film Bitch Awards diverge most strongly from Oscar's path. Oscar tends to use the category for co-leads (anathema to us!) or for career achievements (that's fine when the performance is excellent but otherwise, no thanks!) or for star turns that are fine but don't do much for your host here. So imagine my surprise when Oscar exhibited mostly good taste in this category this year robbing us of a superiority complex in our exceptional taste in this category (haha). During awards season it was a pleasant surprise to see Barry Keoghan pick up steam (despite internal competition from a co-lead, which often ruins the chances for honors for supporting actors) for Banshees of Inisherin. And he even won the BAFTA this weekend!
On nomination morning my biggest inclusion thrill was the long shot triumph of Brian Tyree Henry in Causeway...
Though I beieved it would happen for months, given his growing reputation among his peers and a tremendous performance, I was beginning to lose hope. There was little reason to expect that his film would score elsewhere and, as Eddie Redmayne and Danielle Deadwyler and countless others have discovered in the past, it's a treacherous matter to have precursor heat but no widespread support for your overall film. Essentially "coattails" work in all directions. People are either thinking about specific films when they're voting or they aren't.
I haven't decided on my own Gold Medalist yet but it won't be Ke Huy Quan. Nevertheless I'm thrilled about his forthcoming Oscar. Though his "narrative" -- child star who quit the business discouraged due to lack of roles for someone like him only to return decades later in a beloved hit -- has done far more work in making him a lock to win the statue than his acting, in a happy turn of events the performance is wonderful! It's a joy when unbeatable narratives actually coalesce around worthy work. That combo is less frequent than we'd like!
The similarities from Oscar's lineup to my own end with those three.
Paul Dano in "The Fabelmans"I also chose Albrecht Schuch's anchoring sidebar in All Quiet on the Western Front for my final lineup. Finally, I absolutely couldn't live without Paul Dano from The Fabelmans in the Best Supporting Actor grouping. Pity that Oscar could! (I confess though that I have my own biases and favored 'types' just as Oscar does and just as everyone does if they really investigate their own ballots. Throughout the two decades of the Film Bitch Awards there have been multiple "sensitive dads" nominated but it's not a character 'type' that tends to excite Oscar's acting branch, who are very binary about these things preferring any 'nurturing' characters to be female.)
You can the reasonings behind my picks (plus the seven finalists... I always work from a top 12 in making the final decisions) on page two of the Film Bitch Awards.
On a related note, make sure to see the "How'd they get nominated?" breakdown on the Oscar chart for Best Supporting Actor and vote on the daily poll of who SHOULD win.
Reader Comments (28)
I'm on the same page - I'm happy about the Quan train, but I'm obsessed with Henry and Keoghan. In some alternate universe, EEAAO and Banshees came out in different years, and Keoghan is a lock to win.
I think there should be room in the Film Bitch Awards for an overlooked magnificent performance from Women Talking. Trans actor August Winter is stunning as Melvin, a sexual abuse survivor who becomes a selective mute.
Winter reminds us that our identity is an undeniable truth. Melvin has no past introduction to queerness or questions of gender identity. Rather, Winter shows us how Melvin accepts his truth and chooses to only communicate with children who are comfortable with Melvin. Melvin's brave decision to live as trans man in a community completely ignorant to trans issues is fascinating. I found Winter's delicate performance to be one of the most memorable of the year.
Speaking of WOMEN TALKING, I was a bit shocked not to see Ben Whishaw mentioned, but I do love that you found room for Theo Rossi.
I might be tempted to also mention Conrad Ricamora from FIRE ISLAND though... is he supporting? And speaking of is he or isn't he... Harris Dickinson in TRIANGLE OF SADNESS was great too.
I actually misread the title and thought it was for Smackdown for supporting actor and I was excited because I thought all the performances and actors were worthy of praise.
fyi: on your supporting actor page you have barry keoghan playing colm, which is brendan gleeson's character. barry plays dominic [beautifully]
I'm totally team Hirsch.
He's really brilliant in his scene. It reminds me Beatrice Straight in "Network".
Little screen time, but...WOW!
Quan is the frontrunner and his performance is lovely. Nevertheless, I think Keoghan can surprise. (Yes, BEFORE his BAFTA win). He's marvelous and have the most "Oscar worthy role" in the category.
YES to the mention of José Luis Gómez... Official Competition is one of the best acted films of the year... Banderas and Cruz should have been Globes nominees for Comedy and should have been in the conversation for Oscar... but I think for some reason, the film wasn't ellegible for Oscar?
C'mon, Henry is co-lead.
Finally saw Fabelmans, Great movie. Never listening to the Internet again. Hirsch has like 8 Oscar clips in two minutes.
I found this category infuriatingly thin this year. As much as I love Keoghan in that one scene by the lake, I found him A Bit Much. I really liked Dano, but I wanted just a bit more to reach love. Henry and Quan a great. My top two of the two were Theo Rossi and Albrecht Schuch. I was putting them at the tops of my ballots. Truly very few others would even rate a mention.
For me Gleeson is totally supporting. He also has half of Farrell screen time
This years supporting actor list is actually my favourite acting category at this years Oscars.
My own ballot is similar to yours naming Dano,Quan,Keoghan,Henry any of those 4 I would happily give the statue but I put Eddie Redmayne in the 5th spot.
If I had to give gold today i'm torn between Quan and Keoghan.
I really love your semi-finalist list. Especially Jose Luis Gomez and Ed Norton. Gomez's character is such a stark contrast to the others in the film, especially, Cruz's, that it helps to really sell the situation and the comedy. Ed Norton was great, and it made me miss seeing him on screen and in comedies.
My favorites of the year, besides the Inisherin actors, are Toby Maguire in the otherwise atrocious Babylon (or is he a cameo?) and Paul Dano ... in The Batman. Maybe his outstanding work in that film was just enough to siphon off enough votes to deny him his expected Fabelmans nomination.
Dano gave my favorite film performance of the year. You are correct about Oscar not valuing sensitive dads. It still stings that Tracy Letts was overlooked for Lady Bird. Keoghan is just behind Dano for me, though, and I am hoping he pulls off an upset.
The other two supporting actor performances that stand out for me are Hopkins in Armaggedon Time and Tobey Maguire in Babylon (but maybe he'll turn up in your limited performance category).
I've been all Keoghan all season and am not about to stop singing his praises now - but still I am really pleased to see you also have Schuch and Norton in the mix. Both did great work. Not sure how I'd fill out my own top five but I'd probably throw Justin Min from After Yang into the mix. And hey I looooved Karl Glusman in Please Baby Please so why not him too.
@PP92: According to Screen Time Central (an invaluable resource, by the way), Gleeson is on screen for 30.32% of Banshees as compared to 60.96% for Farrell, so yeah, it's almost exactly half the screen time, and despite the importance of the role, I would also say the supporting categorization is totally justified (if still debatable). Ke Huy Quan actually has the biggest role of any of this year's Supporting Actor nominees at 42.03% of screen time, and there's also less of a difference between him and Michelle Yeoh than there is between Farrell and Gleeson, so I'm actually kind of surprised that so many people seem to be calling Gleeson's placement category fraud while Ke Huy Quan isn't being cited as a co-lead by pretty much anyone. It's not like his role is any less pivotal to his movie either. In fact, looking back on past years, if we're just going by time on screen, Ke Huy Quan actually has the biggest role to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor over the past four years.
Edwin -- I actually agree -- earlier in the season at the first mention of Quan being in the supporting category, I was rather shocked, as I had seen the movie twice in theaters and fully considered him leading. It's been so long now, and I've gotten so used to it that I totally forgot that's how I felt at the time.
Initially I understood the placement, it's much easier to become locked and loaded in the supporting categories, but considering how weak this year was for best actor, and how well-loved the movie was, he probably could've snagged a lead nomination. A win on the other hand, probably wouldn't have happened.
I don't think his supporting categorization is the most egregious thing ever, but I am surprised I never heard a peep about it at all.
@Edwin and Philip-for me also Quan is totally supporting.
The movie is all about Michelle and her relashonship with herself, her delusions, her alternatives and these people (daughter especially and her husband). And the role of Quan himself is supporting her along the movie in the strict sense of the word
I just added Albrecht Schuch to my own personal list after finally seeing ALL QUIET this weekend. He's the secret weapon of the film, with more dimension and personality than Kammerer, the ostensible audience surrogate who was fine but didn't do much beyond what George McKay did slightly better in 1917.
I think Dano is repeating Christopher Walken's performance in Catch me if you can - sensitive father of genius kid, struggling with his wife's infidelity. He's good, but not revelatory.
Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name
Tracy Letts in Lady Bird
Who else fits the Overlooked Sensitive Father trope? lol
Overlooked sensitive Father Trope includes
Donald Sutherland in Ordinary People
Joseph Schildkraut in The Diary of Anne Frank
Jamie Dornan in Belfast
Levon Helm in Coal Miner’s Daughter
Nehemiah Persoff in Yentl
Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire
Laurence Fishburne in Boyz in the Hood
J. K. Simmons in Juno
Ah yes, I was just thinking the other day about how crazy it was that Donald Sutherland was overlooked for Ordinary People. That's a great example of showing that type of role is really not Oscar's type. They clearly loved the movie. That was the perfect opportunity to nominate him.
It's a fun year for the category! My own list of nominees would be:
Brian Tyree Henry -- CAUSEWAY
Judd Hirsch -- THE FABELMANS
Bokeem Woodbine -- THE INSPECTION
Bowen Yang -- FIRE ISLAND
Steven Yeun -- NOPE
Donald Sutherland in Pride and Prejudice...
I was thinking that since we might be talking about John Magaro in the 2023 Best Supporting Actor conversation for “Past Lives”, how about a little foreshadowing, and nominating Magaro this year in the Film Bitch category of Limited Role?
John Magaro has one single scene in the 2022 movie “Call Jane” and it’s a memorable eye opening surprise. Our heroine, Elizabeth Banks, comes home to see a police car in front of her house. Inside, sitting at the dining room table with her husband, is an unkempt aggressive undercover cop, John Magaro. He’s obviously there to trap and arrest our heroine.
During the course of the scene, with the verbal fencing, the threats and the stone walling, he transforms and we see him as a person, not an obstacle. The two are on the same side, and our opinion of him has completely changed during the course of one short scene. One believable perfect scene.
Dano: He was good in Fabelmans, and way better than Williams. He would have made a good nomination. It was a great year for Dano. He's not on my ballot, though.
Henry: He's good and charismatic in the film, but I think he's slightly overrated. Wasn't blown away by him.
Keoghan: He's great in Banshees as he is always great. Should have gotten nominated for Sacred Deer.
Quan: He's very charming in the film, which is surprising because I absolutely loathe him in Indiana Jones.
Schuch: One of the few highlights in a remake that offers nothing new.
Honorable mentions:
Buric: He's great and to me, better than Dolly De Leon.
Hopkins: Standard Hopkins performance. Still good, yes, but it's not The Father.
Gomez: I honesly don't remember him in Official Competition.
Norton: Ugh. No. Can't stand Glass Onion. The only saving grace was Kate Hudson.
Rossi: Haven't seen this movie yet!
Castillo: He was ok. Certainly the best out of the cast. But that movie is truly horrible.
Cheadle: He did his best in an extremely annoying film.
Justice for Ben Whishaw.