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The Oscars was always played fast-and-loose when it comes to category placements for actors. This isn’t the case however when it comes to the Tony Awards.
For the biggest awards for Broadway theatre, category placements involve the billing of a production’s billing: the literal listing of names on a show’s credits page.
A Lead Actor is a performer above the title and a Featured Actor is a performer below the title, unless deemed otherwise by the committee.
One of the most notable examples of this rule in effect was May Alice winning for playing Rose in Fences in Featured Actress but Viola Davis winning in Lead Actress,
As no named performers appear above the title of Dear Evan Hansen, Ben Platt would’ve had to compete in Featured Actor before appealing to the Tony committee.
In regards to the Oscars, who would’ve had to move category based if this rule also apply to films posters? Would they still be nominated in the opposite category or would another performer from the film have replaced them?
ReplyOff the top of my head…
Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz for The Favourite – all three appear above the title
Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Adam Driver for Blackkklansman
Mahershala Ali for Green Book
There’ll be more but they’re the most recent ones I can think of, and it could definitely be argued that all of them apart from Driver and Weisz should have been campaigned in Lead. But I think a lot of the time when movies have co-leads in terms of screen time, the actor playing the character the story is based around always gets campaigned Lead and the others Supporting.
ReplyCopy URLDo you actually think Driver was supporting? He was only in a little over a quarter of the movie.
The point being that his name appears above the title, so if it were Tony rules he would be lead. If you mean my point about how it could be argued that all of them were Lead, you’re right – I did mean to exclude Driver from that point so I’ll edit.
ReplyCopy URLI was thinking maybe there should be new rules similar to how the Tony Awards have been deciding if the performers billed above the title are lead or featured in recent years. Regardless of which categories movie studios would like to campaign certain performances for Oscars, the Academy should ultimately decide long before nomination voting begins where the performances will actually be eligible.
ReplyCopy URLI don’t think it should be about billing. I think it should be about screentime.
1. Lead if in 50%, or more, of film.
2. Supporting if in 25%, or less, of film.
3. Lead if in 75%, or more, as much of film as another Lead.
4. Lead if in film the most out of any other actor, so long as the previous three rules are not broken. If they are, then entire cast is ensemble, and, therefore, supporting.
ReplyCopy URLI don’t think it should be about billing. I think it should be about screentime. 1. Lead if in 50%, or more, of film. 2. Supporting if in 25%, or less, of film. 3. Lead if in 75%, or more, as much of film as another Lead. 4. Lead if in film the most out of any other actor, so long as the previous three rules are not broken. If they are, then entire cast is ensemble, and, therefore, supporting.
And what about people who are in 26-49% of a movie?
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