What is a supporting actor/actress?

[Hammad AsifParticipant Joined: Sep 4th, 2015 Topics: 28 Posts: 577 View Predictions]

#1203002042

Recent year award season we saw Mahershala Ali getting nominated and win in for Best Actor Supporting whereas you can argue his was a co-lead with Viggo.Olivia Coleman,no matter how much I loved here winning Oscar wasnt actually a indisputable lead,we can argue “The Favourite” was an ensemble of 3 stunning women performances and all were supporting.Recent situation is of Brad Pitt in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”.You can argue that Pitt is co-lead as he have considerable amount if not as much screen time as Leo DiCaprio and also helps the plot of the movie.You can argue he alongside Margot are the only supporting character(which he most likely will be nominated for) in the film and others are just extended cameos because after all film revolves around Rick Dalton’s life but that wont be indisputable thing to say again.

• This topic was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Hammad Asif.
• This topic was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Hammad Asif.
• This topic was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Hammad Asif.

Kubrick-Scorsese-Nolan-Coens-PTA-Fincher-Hitchock-Spike Lee-Tarantino
19yr old Film School Student

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[Hoster1Participant Joined: Aug 8th, 2016 Topics: 2 Posts: 773 View Predictions]

#1203002077

Hammad Asif wrote:

we can argue “The Favourite” was an ensemble of 3 stunning women performances and all were supporting.

I can’t fathom how anyone can argue that Emma Stone is Supporting in The Favourite.

If we want to prevent the biggest frauds just introduce the rule that performances that take up at least 40% of screentime are banned from competing in Supporting. Boom, no more Alis, Maras and Vikanders competing in this category.

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[ChimichanggasParticipant Joined: Dec 13th, 2017 Topics: 16 Posts: 1488 View Predictions]

#1203002083

<p style=”text-align: left;”>

Hoster1 wrote:

I can’t fathom how anyone can argue that Emma Stone is Supporting in The Favourite.

It’s her story because she is the “favourite”. Lady Marlborough is ranged from a major supporting role to a co-lead while Queen Anne is pure supporting.</p>

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[MukundParticipant Joined: May 27th, 2018 Topics: 5 Posts: 2192 View Predictions]

#1203002095

Chimichanggas wrote:

<p style=”text-align: left;”> It’s her story because she is the “favourite”. Lady Marlborough is ranged from a major supporting role to a co-lead while Queen Anne is pure supporting.</p>

I don’t think it’s Abigail’s story. It might have started out like that but the focus shifts to Queen Anne and her relationship with Sarah later in the film. None of them are supporting. It is a three lead film.

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[Hammad AsifParticipant Joined: Sep 4th, 2015 Topics: 28 Posts: 577 View Predictions]

#1203002192

Mukund wrote:

I don’t think it’s Abigail’s story. It might have started out like that but the focus shifts to Queen Anne and her relationship with Sarah later in the film. None of them are supporting. It is a three lead film.

there perhaps is no such thing as 3 lead,when such situation arrives.I guess all are considered supporting by Academy basis.

Kubrick-Scorsese-Nolan-Coens-PTA-Fincher-Hitchock-Spike Lee-Tarantino
19yr old Film School Student

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[Anonymous Joined: Jan 1st, 1970 Topics: 5 Posts: 1004 View Predictions]

#1203002266

This post was found to be inappropriate by the moderators and has been removed.

[JROCK1772Participant Joined: Jul 13th, 2017 Topics: 7 Posts: 968 View Predictions]

#1203002339

Hammad Asif wrote:

Olivia Colman, no matter how much I loved her winning the Oscar wasn’t actually a indisputable lead. We can argue that “The Favourite” was an ensemble of 3 stunning female performances and all were supporting.

This line of thinking bothers me tremendously. How the hell does a movie contain a story if there isn’t a single leading performance? All three are leads; Joe Alwyn and Nicholas Hoult are supporting. We shouldn’t be trying to find every loophole possible to defend category fraud. I loved Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, who both give career-best performances, but they don’t make my personal ballot, simply because they are not as strong as the other leading performances, with whom they should have been contending with in the first place.

Case in point, there needs to be a better way in which the voting bodies of the Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG, etc. quantify what can be deemed as a supporting performance. Personally, I would argue that a performance must have a substantial difference in screen-time from the leading performance. Likewise, as I previously articulated, there should never be an instance where a film has strictly supporting performances. That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.

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[JGibsonParticipant Joined: Jul 8th, 2012 Topics: 0 Posts: 693 View Predictions]

#1203002362

Mukund wrote:

I don’t think it’s Abigail’s story. It might have started out like that but the focus shifts to Queen Anne and her relationship with Sarah later in the film. None of them are supporting. It is a three lead film.

The story never stops following Abigail. It’s basically her rise and “fall”. It was almost her dispute with Sarah but the latter went missing for a quarter of the film and basically is ignored towards the end.

Queen Anne is the object and objective of the film. She’s a setting, not a an agent. People are using her the whole film.
She is indeed the motivation of the story, but she never acts through it except in the last scene.

In the narrative, she’s just a tool for the actual leads. And when putting that in awards contention she is a supporting player. (Just like Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada who should’t have contended in lead).

That would result in a two-lead story but Rachel Weizs arc’s get lost and she disappears. Then objectively speaking she becomes supporting for her screentime.

In any case, nothing justify Emma Stone being anything other than lead as she’s the story agent through the whole film.

Simply put, the movie is not as well written as people say it is.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  JGibson.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  JGibson.

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[JGibsonParticipant Joined: Jul 8th, 2012 Topics: 0 Posts: 693 View Predictions]

#1203002364

On another note, is it too bad of an idea for the governors or something to create a panel to discuss categories placements? Just like the grammys have for music genres?

Or would that lead to more insane decisions?

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[Eddy QParticipant Joined: Oct 13th, 2012 Topics: 19 Posts: 3250 View Predictions]

#1203002558

JROCK1772 wrote:

This line of thinking bothers me tremendously. How the hell does a movie contain a story if there isn’t a single leading performance?

Quite easily; Gosford Park and Crash are two examples where the entire cast could truly be said to be supporting. I agree that The Favourite is a three-lead film though.

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[Hammad AsifParticipant Joined: Sep 4th, 2015 Topics: 28 Posts: 577 View Predictions]

#1203002566

Has there ever been a case where 2 actors were nominated for Best Actor/Actress Lead from same movie at Globes and Oscars

Kubrick-Scorsese-Nolan-Coens-PTA-Fincher-Hitchock-Spike Lee-Tarantino
19yr old Film School Student

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[Sam_MaloneParticipant Joined: Aug 22nd, 2018 Topics: 1 Posts: 89 View Predictions]

#1203002575

Supporting categories have become co-lead categories. True supporting performances rarely stand a chance or get laughed at for being ‘glorified cameos’ (Ali’s first win).

For me it’s ‘if in doubt, go with lead’, just to be sure. For the Oscars, it’s ‘if in doubt, go with supporting’.

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[Sam_MaloneParticipant Joined: Aug 22nd, 2018 Topics: 1 Posts: 89 View Predictions]

#1203002577

Hammad Asif wrote:

Has there ever been a case where 2 actors were nominated for Best Actor/Actress Lead from same movie at Globes and Oscars

You’re joking, right?

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[Hammad AsifParticipant Joined: Sep 4th, 2015 Topics: 28 Posts: 577 View Predictions]

#1203002599

Sam_Malone wrote:

You’re joking, right?

I am just questioning,was there a time when 2 different actors got nod for Lead Actors for same movie.It happens in Supporting category but I’m curious about Lead category.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Hammad Asif.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Hammad Asif.

Kubrick-Scorsese-Nolan-Coens-PTA-Fincher-Hitchock-Spike Lee-Tarantino
19yr old Film School Student

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[JGibsonParticipant Joined: Jul 8th, 2012 Topics: 0 Posts: 693 View Predictions]

#1203002635

Hammad Asif wrote:

I am just questioning,was there a time when 2 different get actors got nod for Lead Actors for same movie.It happens in Supporting category but I’m curious about Lead category.

It used to happen all the time in the past. But studios avoid it now to avoid vote splitting in the lead category. Bette Davis and Anne Baxter for All About Eve is a classic example

The last one to happen was Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis for Thelma & Louise in 1991 when nominated for Lead Actress. Both lost

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