Best Supporting Actress Oscars Predictions (November)

Hillbilly Elegy has finally been seen and Hillbilly Elegy has been absolutely savaged by critics (including yours truly). With the film currently sitting on a dismal 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this may put a huge dent in Glenn Close’s Supporting Actress campaign. However, Close’s performance has been widely praised as the best aspect of the film. And it wouldn’t be unlike the Academy to embrace a movie that critics have derided.

While Olivia Colman remains firmly in the race, two other performances appear to be picking up steam. At 88 years and 98 days old on nomination day, Ellen Burstyn has the chance to make history as the oldest acting nominee in the history of the Academy Awards; a record currently held by Christopher Plummer. If she were to win, she would usurp Plummer as the oldest acting winner too. Her performance in Pieces of a Woman is brief, but she has the kind of killer monologue scene the Academy loves to reward.

There has been a mildly divisive critical response to David Fincher’s Mank, but the film has received unanimous praise for the luminous performance of Amanda Seyfried, who steals focus in a small but memorable turn as actress Marion Davies. This category has often gone to younger performers (Anne Hathaway, Alicia Vikander, Lupita Nyong’o, Jennifer Hudson) and Seyfried could be next in line for the best performance of her career.

Elsewhere, newcomer Maria Bakalova joins the race for her hilarious and surprisingly heartwarming performance in Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm. Comedic turns rarely capture Oscar attention, but never say never.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS PREDICTIONS:
1. Ellen Burstyn – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
2. Amanda Seyfried – Mank (Netflix)
3. Olivia Colman – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
4. Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
5. Yuh-Jung Youn – Minari (A24)

MAJOR CONTENDERS:
Maria Bakalova – Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)
Priyanka Chopra – The White Tiger (Netflix)
Olivia Cooke – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Dominique Fishback – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)
Nicole Kidman – The Prom (Netflix)
Saoirse Ronan – Ammonite (NEON)
Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features)
Kristin Scott Thomas – Rebecca (Netflix)
Charlene Swankie – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Helena Zengel – News of the World (Univeral Pictures)