Category Confusion '24: LEAD or SUPPORTING – Part Two
Sunday, December 1, 2024 at 7:30PM 
As promised, the debate about category placement shall continue to encompass new releases as we all head into the awards season proper. This year seems especially ripe with category fraud, so there's a lot for us to discuss – there's a world of possibility where no supporting performance gets nominated at the 97th Academy Awards. In any case, let's think back to the first round of voting. Last time, when deciding if a given performance was lead or supporting, you deliberated on various titles that have become more widely available since. So, feel free to go back and cast your vote if you have just now seen such pictures as Emilia Pérez, Blitz, and A Real Pain. I also have some campaign updates from my purview as a Golden Globe voter. It turns out that at least one of these category fraud cases changed to lead…
That would be Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness. Initially, the Yorgos Lanthimos' Cannes prizewinner was placed in the Drama races where only Emma Stone campaigned as a leading actress. However, when the voting ballots were finally distributed to Globes voters last week, a couple of changes had taken place. The original FYC submissions void, Kinds of Kindness now competes as a comedy and Plemons will now be recognized in the Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical race. It seems that either the Globes authorities or the distributors thought like 73% of TFE readers, that Plemons tryptic performance shouldn't be deemed supporting.
Moving on, the big release of the past few weeks is Wicked, without a doubt, and it brings a juicy case of category confusion to discuss. In this adaptation of the musical's first act, is Glinda a lead or a supporting character? Where should Ariana Grande compete? While one could argue that Wicked is fundamentally Elphaba's story and that the Maguire novel never centers the "Good Witch" to such an extent that these discussions could be justifiable, I think Glinda is an obvious co-protagonist. The movie starts with her, it's framed as her remembrance, and the visual idioms of the thing keep privileging the character's reaction, both to shape tone and keep her at the center of the narrative.
Ariana Grande delivers a phenomenal performance, but seeing her compete for Supporting Actress gold feels dishonest. Strategically, it makes sense. She will outshine anyone in an actual supporting role, and this way, Universal can avoid internal competition and vote splitting. On stage, there have never been any doubts that Glinda is a role on par with Elphaba, but that also means that it's been impossible for both the show's stars to take home accolades in the absence of a tie. Famously, Kristin Chenoweth lost the Tony to Idina Menzel. That won't happen with Cynthia Erivo and Grande, but it doesn't feel fair. Not to me, at least. What about you?
The Piano Lesson is another stage-to-screen adaptation with high hopes of a Best Supporting Actress nomination. However, like with Grande in Wicked, one could argue that Danielle Deadwyler belongs more rightfully in the Best Actress race. After all, in August Wilson's play, Berniece is presented as a rhetoric opposite to her brother, Boy Willie, and their diverging opinions on the matter of legacy propel much of the play. Their conflict is the text's backbone on a thematic and structural level to such an extent that it seems silly to deem one a protagonist and the other a side character. Screen time-wise, Deadwyler has around three minutes less than John David Washington, so, even on the base of such dubious criteria, she seems like a lead.
That being said, the original Berniece, S. Epatha Merkerson, ran as a featured player in the 1990 Tony season. However, the Drama Desk Awards nominated her as a lead. For the 2013 Off-Broadway revival, Roslyn Ruff won plaudits as a lead actress, while Danielle Brooks was considered supporting for the 20222 Broadway production. To complete this look at historical precedent, one should mention the 1995 TV Movie that saw many of the original cast members reprise their roles. Alfre Woodard took over Merkerson, however, and was nominated for the Emmys as a leading lady. She also won Best Actress awards from SAG and the NAACP.
Next we have Queer, another recent release with Oscar hopes. However, those golden wishes center around Daniel Craig's sweaty abstraction of William S. Burroughs, re-imagined by the author as Lee in his semi-autobiographical novel. The rest of the film will need major critical support to figure into the broader awards season. That includes Drew Starkey as Craig's object of desire cum obsession, an addictive beauty whose gravitational pull shapes much of Queer's narrative. Is that enough to consider him a co-lead, or is A24 right to run him as a supporting actor?
Mohammad Rasoulof's latest drama is bound to figure in the Best International Film Oscar race, representing Germany. That said, there's no reason its awards season impact should be restricted to that category. It wouldn't be surprising if Rasoulof got some love from the director or the writer's branch of the Academy, for example. The film's actors are less likely to make a dent in most voters' ballots, but that's not reflective of any lack of merit. The Seed of the Sacred Fig's ensemble is exemplary and worthy of much acclaim. For campaign purposes, NEON has categorized Misagh Zare and Soheila Golestani as leads – they play the father and mother of the family around which the story revolves – while Masha Rostami and Setareh Maleki go supporting – they are the couple's daughters. Does this division make sense to you?
All those previous films are in theaters, but it's also worth looking at some titles making their way to streaming and PVOD. Consider Clint Eastwood's Juror #2 and Titus Kaphar's Exhibiting Forgiveness, both of which will have their digital premieres this Tuesday now that their theatrical runs are over. Both films have one clear lead, but one may argue about the existence of co-protagonists. Watching Juror #2, I was surprised at how much Toni Collette's prosecutor is on par with Nicholas Hoult's titular juror in terms of narrative weight, culminating in one of the year's best finales and strongest moral conundrums.
In Exhibiting Forgiveness, the story hinges on a painter's relationship with his abusive father. André Holland is being rightfully campaigned as a lead, but so is Andra Day as the artist's songwriting wife, though her part feels much smaller on almost every base, including its structural influence on the film's shape. John Earl Jelks would be a more rightful candidate for co-lead status, playing the patriarch whose past misdeeds haunt the entire family. The picture's climax involves father and son as its central players and the whole thing could be summarized as a two-hander between two men who can't resolve the tension between them. So, is he a lead like Holland?
Next time, it'll be time to discuss such films as September 5 and Nosferatu, among other older releases that might factor in critics' awards. For now, please vote on these polls and argue for your position in the comments.
Reader Comments (8)
Grande is totally lead in Wicked, it doesn’t matter who Gregory Maguire “centered” in the novel.
And by the way, I feel there’s a bust coming for the Wicked hype. People who saw it early seemed to have a rapturous response (selection bias?) but the movie, while a lot of fun in the theater, doesn’t live up to the hyperbole those first responses generated—what could? Even if you double-click on the “favorable” reviews driving up the Tomatometer score, I’m seeing very few unequivocal raves. The idea that it’s suddenly a lock in all these above-the-line categories is bananas. The fact that it’s probably clearing the low bar of a Best Picture nomination doesn’t mean anything for the tougher-to-crack acting, directing, writing, editing, etc. categories.
Again, it’s a lot of fun—go see it. But keep your expectations as low as they were a month ago, not as high as Twitter would have you set them.
Yes, there’s no guarantee that Wicked will grab a boatload of nominations, but if it does Grande could easily be nominated in lead. The Academy doesn’t always obey the campaigns, nor should it.
Grande and Collette are both leads.
Ariana is channeling Cheno all the time. I hope she acknowledges that in her speeches.
Toni is fantastic in Juror. Fantastic. She has the most extraordinary face.
DK -- Agree. Also, the two parts thing is here to stay and I hate it. Give me the whole thing.
I'm so glad Jesse is going lead - and in comedy. Hope he gets it. Joaquin did with Beau Is Afraid.
I'm confused cause I'm a vocal opponent of category fraud myself but I don't see how Grande should be lead. You can frame a story as Glinda remembering but it immediately goes to Elphaba's backstop and the narrative is completely about the who, what, where and why of Elphaba. Glinda only serves Elphaba's continued story and her one big song is in service to Elphaba.
I compare it to Bening/Foster of last year. Jodie Foster' Bonnie isn't the lead of Nyad, but her screen presence is consistent of what is percieved as a lead but she's there in support of Diana. Glinda has some growth but the character is mostly a comic foil to what is happening to Elphaba. This isn't a Streep/Roberts or Bening/Moore situation where those characters have completely separate stories that make the entire picture. Even Glinda's romantic subplot is even in service to Elphaba and moves her plot forward. I don't think this justifies a co-lead situation.
Now Emilia Perez....those are just two leads and if the part of Emilia was actually played by a man playing a trans character, we wouldn't even be having that conversation.
It's very complicated to me speak about "Wicked".
I love the musical. I love "Defying Gravity". I love Kristin Chenoweth. I love Glinda. I love Elphaba. And about all I love Idina Menzel. Her Elphaba is unique, a landmark.
This movie should've been made 18 years ago.
For me, there's no "Wicked" without Idina and Kristin.
And now... this...
Ok, the world is not right.
After 18 years, other actresses. But, Cynthia Erivo? Ariana Grande? They're totally miscast. Not for a single second they look like Elphaba and Glinda.
Even Jonathan Bailey doesn't fit right for Fiyero.
Maybe if Lea Michele was cast as Elphaba... She'd be the only alternative to Idina. For Glinda, maybe a great name like Elizabeth Debicki (or even the unknown Dove Cameron) it could works... maybe... it would have a chance... but with these actresses? And this director? Really?
All about this movie looks terrible, grotesque, over the top.
I didn't watch it yet. I'd like to be surprised, but I doubt.
For me, it seems to be a garbage like "Cats".
I think there's a legit argument for Grande as supporting. She does have a lot of screen time but Elphaba is the lead of the story in a number of ways. We see her childhood and not Glinda's, Elphaba gets the "I want" song, we get several Elphaba-only sub-plots like her meeting with the goat teacher at night and her helping the lion cub escape, and the film ultimately hinges on Elphaba's decision to defy the Wizard at the end. Outside of the framing story I can't think of many places where the film privileges Glinda's POV over Elphaba's.
Perhaps even more importantly Elphaba was the main driver of action. Had Glinda not been in the film at all the story wouldn't really have changed; Elphaba still would have arrived at the school and been discovered by the Michelle Yeoh character, still would have become radicalized by witnessing the treatment of the animals, still would have been invited to Oz, and still would have rebelled upon arrival. Elphaba drives the action at every point.
| Morgan (the 1st),
Karla Sofía Gascón isn't "a man playing a trans character".
Gascón is a trans woman, a trans actress living a trans character!