Hey, Oscar pundits: Don’t count out Bill Murray just yet to win Best Supporting Actor for his role in the A24/Apple TV+ release “On the Rocks.” Over the years this specific category has been the equivalent of the veterans achievement award, with 10 men claiming victory after the age of 70 (see below). Murray just turned 70 in September, which makes him one of only two septuagenarians in Gold Derby’s Top 8, the other being 73-year-old Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”). Could Murray’s decades of experience in the industry give him a secret advantage in this race?
Murray plays Felix in “On the Rocks,” a caring father who gets involved in the marital troubles of his daughter Laura (Rashida Jones) and her possibly cheating husband Dean (Marlon Wayans). Sofia Coppola wrote and directed the dramedy film, which serves as a reunion of sorts between she and Murray. The first time they collaborated in “Lost in Translation” (2003), Coppola won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and Murray was recognized for Best Actor, his only Oscar nom to date. They next joined forces for “A Very Murray Christmas” (2015), in which Jones co-starred.
Throughout his career Murray has also racked up six Golden Globe bids, four Emmy nominations and so much more. He took home the Golden Globe for “Lost in Translation” and pocketed two Emmys for acting in “Olive Kitteridge” and writing “Saturday Night Live.” However, it’s the Oscar that he really desires.
The Academy Awards previously snubbed Murray’s heralded performances in “Rushmore” and “St. Vincent,” so the I.O.U. factor is starting to build up for this underrated actor. Could “On the Rocks” be his ticket to victory? As of this writing, seven Oscar Experts predict Murray will be nominated, though no one picks him as the winner.
According to Gold Derby’s racetrack odds, the five men at the top of the Best Supporting Actor race are Leslie Odom, Jr. (“One Night in Miami”), Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Raci (“Sound of Metal”) and Mark Rylance (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”). Murray currently places in the next group of five alongside Chadwick Boseman (“Da 5 Bloods”), Stanley Tucci (“Supernova”), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) and David Strathairn (“Nomadland”).
SEE Sofia Coppola on reuniting with Bill Murray and Rashida Jones for ‘On the Rocks’
Here’s the list of all of the men over 70 year old who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”) — 82 years, 75 days
George Burns (“The Sunshine Boys”) — 80 years, 69 days
Melvyn Douglas (“Being There”) — 79 years, 9 days
John Gielgud (“Arthur”) — 77 years, 349 days
Don Ameche (“Cocoon”) — 77 years, 297 days
Jack Palance (“City Slickers”) — 73 years, 41 days
Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) — 72 years, 336 days
John Houseman (“The Paper Chase”) — 71 years, 192 days
James Coburn (“Affliction”) — 70 years, 202 days
Edmund Gwenn (“Miracle on 34th Street”) — 70 years, 176 days
PREDICT the 2021 Oscar nominations through March 15
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