Best Supporting Actor Ballot, Theirs and Mine.
Monday, March 4, 2024 at 11:45PM by Nathaniel R
OPPENHEIMER
Last time we discussed TFE's second favourite category (Best Supporting Actress)... or is it actually our favourite category given how often we speak of it? (hmmm). Now it's time for the male half. Historically Best Supporting Actor, is dullest acting category at the Oscars. It's not just that the roles aren't always as interesting as those the women get to play, but that Oscar chooses so weakly.
Once again this season it's a category that feels a little thin with an obvious future winner who definitely has fine moments but doesn't exactly do anything with his role that dozens of other solid actors wouldn't have. You can guess that RDJ is not on my own ballot! Nevertheless, let's discuss Oscar's choices and my own dozen favourites from 2023 (and your favourites in the comments)...
OSCAR'S LINEUP
As early as July it looked like the Oscar would be a contest between dramatic Robert Downey Jr in Oppenheimer and comic Ryan Gosling in Barbie. with the caveat that the end of the year usually brings formidable contenders for the statue. That didn't turn out to be the case this season and the summertime favourites kept their position as the two most golden options for the top industry honor. Once televised awards started it was clear that Downey Jr would win the Oscar in a landslide (though if we had a vote it would be Gosling, no question). Oscar filled out the ranks with Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things (who, with his fourth nomination without a win, is now in pretty rare territory for this category) and long time favourite Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon. The final nominee proved to be Sterling K Brown in American Fiction who benefitted from great timing, overall career acclaim (he's already a three-time Emmy winner), and Oscar's tendency to be impressed with straight actors playing gay onscreen. More about this race on that Oscar chart.
NATHANIEL'S TAKE
The Film Bitch Awards force me to narrow down favourites to 12 in each category from which 5 become nominees. These are not the only supporting men who I thought were good this year merely the dozen who impressed most.
SEMI-FINALISTS
aka excellent praiseworthy work
AIR
Ben Affleck as "Phil Knight" in Air. What is it about Ben Affleck that we enjoy him most by far when he's at his least centered and most relaxed (see also Shakespeare in Love way back when). Not that Phil Knight is "relaxed" in this corporate sports drama. But he's justright throughout as the impatient, annoyed, but once-daring CEO who is considering how to react to all of this sponsorship gambling.
THE IRON CLAW
Holt McCallany as "Fritz Von Erich" in The Iron Claw. I first noticed this reliable character actor in small roles in David Fincher's filmography. Netflix's sadly deceased serial killer drama Mindhunter gave him his greatest awards-worthy role to date. Once again he proves he deserves a much bigger career as this relentless wrestling dynasty father, who thinks only of his sons but still makes no room for their own feelings in his legacy-building fanaticism.
FALLEN LEAVES
Janna Hyytiainen as "Hannes Houtari" in Fallen Leaves. A sideline delight as the karaoke loving co-worker who bristles at romantic rejection, fancies himself an undiscovered star, and unexpectedly plays matchmaker to two lonely souls.
FINALISTS
aka I was sad I couldn't find room for them as nominees
ALL OF US STRANGERS
Jamie Bell as "Dad" in All of Us Strangers. Being well employed is a form of recognition but we still feel that Billy Elliot himself hasn't gotten enough flowers for his consistent deployment of talent across 24 years of cinema. He's impressively expressive here despite the character's innate reserve. A decent man who lost his chance to fully understand his son.
POOR THINGS
Willem Dafoe as "Godwin" in Poor Things. He demonstrates his impressive range again as the alternately cruel but loving, domineering yet permissive 'father' to a science experiment who develops a mind of her own.
ANATOMY OF A FALL
Milo Machado Graner as "Daniel" in Anatomy of a Fall. We have an 'extra' acting category for child actors, and yes he'll be a medalist there as the increasingly centered blind "witness" of this courtroom mystery.
PAST LIVES
John Magaro as "Arthur Zaturansky" in Past Lives. Incisively sure about the places where Arthur is unsure, in this tricky third-wheel role as a writer and husband who fears one whole piece of his wife's soul is out of his reach.
AND THE NOMINEES ARE (ALPHA ORDER)
ANATOMY OF A FALL
Swann Arlaud as "Maître Vincent Renzi" in Anatomy of a Fall. In a film chalk full of strong performances, his sturdy work might be the most modest, but no less brilliant as the loyal friend / silver fox lawyer who doesn't appear to care whether his client / friendly is guilty as he walks her through the ordeal.
A THOUSAND AND ONE
William Catlett as "Lucky" in A Thousand And One. Teyana Taylor won deserved kudos for this fine picture about a single mother struggling to raise her son off the grid. Where was the praise for Catlett's equally brilliant work? He exudes a tricky combination of surface hardness and inner decency as her hard-to-know boyfriend, slowly revealing a deep well of feeling.
THEATER CAMP
Noah Galvin as "Glenn Withrop" in Theater Camp. Supremely hilarious and fully imagined from Glenn's behind-the-scenes introversion to his hidden breakout talent. Unexpectedly, Glenn proves the sanest person in this laugh-a-minute comedy. Galvin never pushes the jokes as jokes but lives in their funny reality.
BARBIE
Ryan Gosling as "Ken" in Barbie. For his playful abandon, nimble delivery, and genius physical comedy as a dim doll on his own stunted journey; hilariously, he never reaches Barbie's destination of self-awareness.
and...
POOR THINGS
Mark Ruffalo as "Duncan Wedderburn" in Poor Things. With a mix of effete pretense, classist self-regard, and sexual bravado, he's an unexpected twin to Gosling's Ken...albeit with genitalia. What a year for movie stars sharing the joy of silliness with audiences!
Hope you enjoyed. Please share your own ballots in the comments!
Reader Comments (23)
Haven't seen a couple of your finalists, but good 12-long list. Agree -- this year it was excrutiating to narrow it down to a final 5. Mine would be:
Jacob Elordi, "Saltburn"
Jamie Bell, "All of Us Strangers" (winner)
Ryan Gosling, "Barbie"
John Magaro, "Past Lives"
Holt McCallany, "The Iron Claw"
Just thinking about Bell's line reading of "would it be okay if I hugged you now?" -- heartbreaking.
Melton delivered a beautifully subtle and internalised performance, while on the opposite end, Howerton gave the loudest and most ludicrously entertaining gonzo performance of the year... easily the 2 best supporting men of the season... and the fact that neither made your Top 12 is making me physically ill...
So weird that people are acclaiming Graner and Arlaud for Anatomy of a Fall when, in my opinion, the MVP of the whole picture is Antoine Reinartz as the prosecutor. He does a fantastic job being maddening and channelling George C. Scott in Anatomy of a Crime.
Marmalade -- if I considered Melton supporting he would have made the nominee list. but i don't.
It shows how strong this category can be when Graner, Magaro and Bell are all just below the cut.
Great choices in your top 5 - though I assume the 2 oscar nominees are gold and silver.
I must say I struggled for really standout performances in some of my best films of the year when it came to the supporting category, especially actor where my tops where certain but completing the lineup was a bit of a struggle.
I like your list even if I have no personal crossover.
Robert Downey, Oppenheimer
Milo Machado Graner. Anatomy of a Fall
John Magaro, Past Lives
Charles Melton, May December
Ben Whishaw, Passages
I am such a fan of all five of top performances. i do think Downey gets a lot of undeserved hate and probably a lot of that has to do with his domination of the televised awards, no one likes a steam roller no matter how strong the performance. Milo is such a brilliant child performance that I've had the pleasure of sitting with when I first saw it at Cannes. Whishaw, Magaro and Melton give a similar energy of variations on a supportive husband/partner but in such different ways that make each of the three so incredible.
Agree with Downey not on the list. He was fine, but just about any competent actor could've played that role. Lifetime achievement award.
"...an obvious future winner who definitely has fine moments but doesn't exactly do anything with his role that dozens of other solid actors wouldn't have."
I find this argument preposterously presumptuous, because we don't actually know what any other actor would have done, or if they would give this exact same performance because it's the way the director shaped it, or if the director would have shaped it differently with another actor. The point being, all we have in this role from this particular script is RDJ's performance directed by Christopher Nolan.
@cal roth 100% agree with you
For Oscar, I would switch Sterling K. Brown for John Ortiz which is very funny in American Fiction
Lee Byung Hun in Concrete Utopia is remarkable too
Ruffalo No 1 really!
I initially thought Robert Downey Jr was doing one note villainy but after viewing him again I got what he was doing and think he's superb but i'm not too keen on his Oscar clip scene,the rest is great,very pleased he'll win as my 2 faves were snubbed.
I loved your supporting actress list but I can't say I agree with anyone in your Top 5 esp Ruffalo who I though was just way too much in an already too much film,I understand now why Bafta and SAG left him off,it's Spotlight Part 2.
I like One Thousand and One but it's Taylors film and like you say about RDJ anyone could've played Catlett's part.
I thought that Graner was the best of the supporting actors in Anatomy of a Fall.
Magaro's quiet resigned wounded b/f was excellent far far more deserving than Ruffalo and Gosling who despite being sproradically funny are both hamming.
My own Top 5
Melton,Sessa,RDJ,Dafoe and Whishaw.
Honorable mentions Reinartz,Bell,Elordi in 2 roles,Howerton,Gosling,Bateman in Air and John Magaro.
Consistently the worst category.
Melton is not supporting. He's just unknown and ethnic.
Whishaw is not supporting. He's just the bottom.
I don't particularly like any of your five.
I would definitely nominate Antoine Reinartz, that mean bitch.
Supp. Actor is always the most depressing acting category and I rarely root for any particular player. This year, among the nominees, there are two men I can’t stand (Downey and Ruffalo) and one which I found truly undeserving in a trash movie (K. Brown). About the rest, De Niro in which I believe is a “Silver Lining playbook” kind of nod and the great Gosling making his third nomination out of a collective hysteria when some of his better works were snubbed in the past (Blue Valentine, Lars and the Real Girl).
So, how can I pick 5 other players this season? Whishaw on top, of course. The unsung but brilliant Mateo Garcia as the dying father in Tótem. Dafoe and Bell, always loved. Maybe Magaro just because he’s my kind of man…
It's funny to me that the word "steamroll" gets used pejoratively against Randolph this year but not Downey Jr? He's won every single major award. (After December it truly doesn't matter what the 300 regional critics groups decided, even the big ones.) Second place is so distant you can barely even tell it's Gosling.
This is what it looks like when the industry puts its finger on the scale for someone, for reasons other than the work! Would Randolph be in this position if it weren't for the work? No chance in hell.
Peggy Sue, I love how Wishaw has such bottom energy than even after we saw him top Rogowski he gets that definition.
This is always a disappoiting category but not because of the offer, but of the Academy selections. Just looking at this list, how good would a lineup with Jamie Bell, Milo Machado Graner, John Magaro, Charles Melton and Willem Dafoe be? They just pick the boring ones. And this year I swear I'm going to cover my eyes and ears when Downey wins, he's so smug.
ruffy is fast becoming the new thelma ritter
Lucky I don't enjoy RDJ's smugness either but I enjoy his role in Oppenheimer,The way he says correct in his first senate scene and correction Oppenheimer on his names pronuniciation.
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Mr Ripley -- these are not in order so Ruffalo is not #1. He's just last alphabetically among the nominees.
DK -- yep yep yep
Deep bench of possible nominees this year, but my 5 would be:
Ryan Gosling, Jacob Elordi, Casey Affleck, Swann Arlaud - and Charles Melton, if he counts. If not, Alden Ehrenreich (I think he's crucial to the second half of that movie working, at least to the extent that it does).
Honorable mentions: Melton/Ehrenreich, John Magaro, Milo Machado Graner, Dominic Sessa, David Krumholtz, and someone no one has mentioned yet - Arian Moayed in You Hurt My Feelings. I thought he he was a surprisingly good fit for the Holofcener world.
We agree on the most deserving of the Oscar nominees! For my the other slots in my personal ballet, I’ve got Milo, Melton (who I consider supporting), and Donnie Yen from John Wick 4. I did recently watch All of Us Strangers and I’m considering putting Jamie Bell and/or Paul Mescal in my lineup, but I’m not sure who to drop.
Ryan Gosling
Charles Meltong
Milo Machado-Graner
Paul Mescal
Donnie Yen
Hon mentions:
Jacob Elordi
Rhys Ifans
Josh Hartnett
Jamie Bell
Alden Ehrenreich
Swann Arlaud
Bell
De Niro
Downey Jr.
Gosling
Mescal
Honorable mentions: Sessa, Magaro, Graner.
I love your choice of Noah Galvin - while he wasn't on my ballot, he was really the best thing about Theater Camp. He was a joy to watch.
And nice call on Swann Arlaud, too - I liked his performance a lot, even if it wasn't quite top five for me. Kind of looks like a French Cillian Murphy, non?
My ballot kept changing, so I can't quite remember who ended up on it, but I think it was your finalists + Ryan Gosling, with Dafoe as my #1.