Leslie Odom Jr. is looking good for his first ever Oscar nomination for his role in “One Night in Miami,” and if he wins, he’ll be one step closer to coveted EGOT glory.
That’s because he’s already halfway there thanks to his iconic performance in the blockbuster musical “Hamilton,” for which he won a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical in 2016 after sharing the show’s Grammy win for Best Musical Theater Album earlier that year. If he ends up winning an Oscar for “Miami,” he would then only need to score at the Emmys to ascend the EGOT throne alongside the likes of Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend and 13 others who have achieved that distinction.
SEE Gotham Awards nominations preview: ‘Nomadland,’ ‘One Night in Miami,’ ‘The Father’ …
“One Night in Miami” is acclaimed actress Regina King‘s big-screen directorial debut, adapted by writer Kemp Powers from his 2013 stage play of the same name. It imagines what would have happened if boxer Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), football player Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), singer Sam Cooke (Odom) and civil rights activist Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben Adir) came together after Clay defeated Sonny Liston in February of 1964. What transpires between the legends is a lively and timely discussion of the tumultuous civil rights movement at the time.
We already know that the Amazon Studios film is a strong Oscar contender. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival over Labor Day weekend, where King made history as the first African-American female director invited to show a film there. Critics have praised her deft first-time turn at the helm and have gushed over its cast. And King has been a regular awards magnet of late, winning four Emmys in the last five years and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 2018’s “If Beale Street Could Talk,” so we know the industry is paying close attention to her and her work.
Now that the film has been so well received, it is no surprise that “One Night in Miami” is trending strongly in our predictions for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Its main cast are also in the hunt, particularly Odom, who currently ranks equal first in Best Supporting Actor in our overall predictions with 9/2 odds, tied with the late Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom“) based on the combined forecasts of Gold Derby’s Users, Experts and Editors.
If Odom makes it all the way on Oscar night, we’ll be watching for him to return to the Emmys next year for a second nomination after having scored his first nom this year for Best Character Voice-Over Performance in AppleTV+’s animated musical “Central Park.” It’ll be back for a second season, so he could potentially wrap up his EGOT in about five years, faster than anyone else has ever achieved it.
SEE Regina King is the queen of Venice, thanks to her big-screen directorial debut, ‘One Night in Miami’
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s newsletter with experts’ latest predictions
