Supporting races are havens for lead actors

In "The Reader," Kate Winslet has star billing and loads of screen time against two actors playing the title role at different ages: David Kross as the young reader and Ralph Fiennes as the old reader. She gets to be young and old, sexy, dramatic, conflicted — you name it.

In "Doubt," Philip Seymour Hoffman as the priest accused of inappropiate behavior with one of his students goes toe to toe with star Meryl Streep and shares lead above-the-title billing. Brian F. O'Byrne, the man who originated the role on Broadway, was nominated for a Tony as best actor in a leading role.

Both have one thing in common. As long as award season lasts, they consider their work in these films  as supporting. And who can blame them?

If Winslet were to go for lead actress in "The Reader," a place she might naturally belong, she would unquestionably siphon off votes from her other big performance in the category, the one in "Revolutionary Road," directed by her husband, Sam Mendes, and put a nomination for either film into major jeopardy. Despite the size of the role, her "Reader" character could indeed be construed by some to be supporting the Michael character even as it is split between Kross and Fiennes, so this gambit does make some strategic sense.

As for Hoffman, a lead actor Oscar winner for "Capote" and a nominee in the supporting lineup last year for "Charlie Wilson's War," the lead actor race this year is just too crowded, and logic would dictate no matter what size the part is, everyone in "Doubt" is supporting the great Meryl. No doubt about it. Or is there?

Both stars' strategic placement in the 2008 Oscar race was reportedly debated by their respective studios before leaping into the warmer supporting waters.

Do Hoffman and Winslet risk having some actors place their names in lead despite ads promoting the lower category, thereby getting votes in both but not enough in either one to be nominated?

The question seems to come up every year, and it's not easily answered.

Even though the Golden Globes deemed co-lead Catherine Zeta-Jones a leading actress in "Chicago," she went on to be nominated and win in the supporting actress Oscar race after actively campaigning for the spot, beating out Queen Latifah, who truly was supporting.

Walter Matthau won supporting actor for "The Fortune Cookie" in 1966, even though his part was bigger than that of top-billed Jack Lemmon.

Patricia Neal won for lead actress in "Hud" in 1963 for her role as Alma, the housekeeper, a part that is half the size of Winslet's in "The Reader."

Susan Sarandon voted for herself as supporting actress in 1981's "Atlantic City" but was stunned when she was actually nominated ... for lead actress.

Young Keisha Castle-Hughes was handed a good spot in a supporting role for "Whale Rider" in 2003  but turned a lot of heads Oscar nomination morning when her name was read off in the lead actress race.

Jake Gyllenhaal quit on Heath Ledger and squeezed himself into supporting while Heath went lead in "Brokeback Mountain."

The list goes on and on.

"Frost/Nixon's" Michael Sheen is unquestionably a lead, but some pundits are trying to tell him he should be going for a sure nomination in supporting. He and his reps won't bite. He wants to be thought of as a leading man in the role and won't play the Oscar game any other way. Good for you, Sheen, but you'll probably draw the short straw. The last time two lead actors were nominated for the same movie was in 1984, when Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham were both nominated for "Amadeus" (Abraham actually won). And while Frank Langella won a "Frost/Nixon" Tony, Sheen regrettably wasn't even nominated.

Others who are contending for that supporting slot in addition to Hoffman are, of course, the season-long front-runner, the late Heath Ledger as the Joker in "The Dark Knight."  That's the performance to beat for a number of reasons. Those who are going to try include:

Michael Shannon, brilliant as the disturbed son in "Revolutionary Road." He has few scenes, but you can't take your eyes off him even when director Sam Mendes shoots him out of focus.

Josh Brolin as Dan White, Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones and Indie Spirit nominee James Franco as Scott Smith, all in "Milk." All are fine, but since Brolin will likely get edged out for lead actor in "W." and also had a big role in last year's best picture winner, "No Country for Old Men," we will give him the edge here over the other two who "Got 'Milk' " on their resumes.

Speaking of "W.," it offered two juicy supporting opportunities for vets James Cromwell as George H.W. Bush and Richard Dreyfuss as an uncanny Dick Cheney, but so far Lionsgate's efforts on their behalf have been low-key.

Robert Downey Jr. has been having a banner year, and his hilarious role as the Australian thespian who plays it all blackface in "Tropic Thunder" could make him the unlkely comic contender in the race.

Alan Alda pulled off a surprise nomination in "The Aviator" in 2004. Can he do it again in the indie "Nothing but the Truth"? He has a big courtroom speech that could do the trick if anyone sees the Rod Lurie drama from the Yari Group.

Two younger actors come into the race with late-breaking rave reviews: 18-year-old David Kross, as the sexually charged younger version of Michael in "The Reader," and 13-year-old Brandon Walters, the aboriginal heart and soul of Baz Luhrmann's epic, "Australia." The fact that Walters is a cancer survivor (he had Leukemia at age 6) makes his emergence here even more poignant.

Broadway vet Bill Irwin as the dad in "Rachel Getting Married" also shouldn't be discounted.

If superstar Brad Pitt misses out for his "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" turn in the crowded lead category, he might grab a longshot nom for his dim bulb of a gym trainer in the Coen brothers' "Burn After Reading."

If anyone sees it, "Cadillac Records," the musical about the merging of blues into rock 'n' roll in the '50s, boasts sensational supporting possibilities, including Jeffrey Wright's Muddy Waters, Columbus Short's L'il Walter and Mos Def's Chuck Berry.

And bringing us right back to the leading-versus-supporting debate, there's "Slumdog Millionaire's" main player, Dev Patel, being placed in supporting because nobody had ever heard of him before.

AS FOR THE LADIES ...

In addition to Winslet in "The Reader," the Weinstein Co. has had another hot contender since May's Cannes festival, when the film world took notice of Penelope Cruz's great comic chops in Woody Allen's terrific "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." She's still in my No. 1. Woody has directed a lot of women into supporting Oscars, and most of them are named Dianne Wiest.

Viola Davis can get her Oscar gown ready now, as she's a cinch nominee for her one extended scene in "Doubt," the same role that won her counterpart a Tony on Broadway.

Taraji P. Henson as Queenie in "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" also should start thinkng about designers. Her nomination here would appear to be a no-brainer. Tilda Swinton is also fine in the same movie, but she won last year for "Michael Clayton," so forget it. She'll have to settle for presenting the supporting actor award this year.

Oscar vets Kathy Bates in "Revolutionary Road," Marisa Tomei as a stripper opposite Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" (she should get an award just for showing up) and Debra Winger for a couple of scenes in "Rachel Getting Married" all are possibilities, with former acting branch governor Bates probably having the most goodwill of the bunch with the academy.

Rosemarie DeWitt, the "Rachel," as in "Getting Married," could overcome resistance to all the hand-held camera work and land the newcomer slot. She's really good.

Other possibilities include:

Vera Farmiga, great in "Nothing but the Truth," but how many will see it?

Rosario Dawson in a breakout dramatic turn opposite Will Smith in "Seven Pounds," a late arrival.

Amy Adams, lovely in "Doubt" but doesn't have the big scenes.

"Dreamgirl" Beyonce Knowles showing dramatic chops and doing her best Jennifer Hudson impression as blues diva Etta James in "Cadillac Records."

Finally two that might be considered when the actors' branch checks out its leading player costars:

Elsa Zylberstein, wonderful as Kristin Scott Thomas' conflicted sister in the French drama "I've Loved You So Long."

and ...

Hiam Abbass, the fantastic Lebanese actress so moving in her scenes opposite Richard Jenkins in the early '08 indie gem "The Visitor."

Of course, there's always a longshot no one has thought of.

Jamie Lee Curtis in "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" anybody?

—Pete Hammond

(Photo "The Reader," courtesy Melinda Sue Gordon / The Weinstein Company)

Comments

[Carlos]

I've always thought life's too short to waste time watching terrible films, so I skipped "Chihuahua". But I know Jamie Lee Curtis is a fantastic comic actress, and since it is indeed possible to find good performances in bad movies, I have to ask: Is she really any good in that, or is my sarcasm detector failing?

[James]

I'm not with you on Brolin, Hammond. Everything else though equates to a beautiful article =).

The reason I have doubts about Brolin are the role. The way it wasn't introduced until after the halfway point, so he didn't capture you immediately. The way he's an emotional blank, and it's hard to connect with him. He was very, very good, but Franco was excellent, in my eyes. He resonated, unlike Brolin (who only had the drunk scene, really). And I'm glad he's being represented so far, and hope it continues. I see him as being the young male breakout nominee. But I could actually see both score a nom, too. That category has a dearth of heavyweights....

[Mike Smolinski]

The real shame about Oscar's supporting categories is the lack of true supporting characters getting written into films in the first place. Gone are the days when films were layered and made more interesting by characters like the mother, the neighbor, the best friend, the sibling, the peer, the boss, the clergy, the store owner, etc. Seems like the lead characters in today's films were born without parents or siblings, have no friends and work alone someplace with no interaction to anyone else. The truly great supporting actors of yesterday had plenty to do and the category was created for the likes of Eve Arden, Marjorie Main, Thelma Ritter, Walter Brennan, Charles Bickford, Anne Revere, Donald Crisp, Edward Arnold, Basil Rathbone, William Demarest, Mildred Dunnock, Mildred Natwick, S.Z. Sakall, Helen Broderick, Arthur Kennedy, Agnes Moorehead, and Claude Rains. Not only would those brilliant actors not get nominated today, they wouldn't even be able to find work. Bring back films where the world is peopled by interesting secondary characters and you will fix the supporting Oscar categories...and make more interesting films as well.

[Sam The Man]

I'll try to keep this short. Jamie Lee Curtis is one of Hollywood's most underated actresses, and I would love it if she actually snuck in the Oscar race this year, just to see those Oscar pundits crap their pants. Really, she was the best part of (whether you like to hear this statement or not# the surprise hit of the year Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Jamie hit the nail on the head portraying one of those airhead purse puppy lovers. At the same time she was very sweet and funny. But anyway she doesn't give herself enough credit as an actress. She lights up the screen, and isn't afraid to be real. Having to wait 4 years just to see her on screen again was hard enough. #She "semi-retired" and was going to leave us with the Christmas crap, Christmas With The Kranks.) With a pretty weak Supporting Actress Race this year, who knows, just maybe.... Here is hoping that she does do some more acting, and finally gets an Oscar nomination in the next few years. Actually come to think of it, she has been snubbed pretty badly in the past. Check this out:

Trading Places (1983): She won a Supporting Actress BAFTA for that role, what do you know?
A Fish Called Wanda (1988): Nominated for Globe and Leading BAFTA, showed us that she was in fact a gifted comedian and dramatic actress.
True Lies (1994): Won Globe, Nominated for Supporting SAG, was teriffic in one of the biggest films of 1994 and blew Arnold Schwarzenegger out of the water. Really though, did the Academy feel the need to fill that final Supporting Actress slot with Jennifer Tilly in Bullets Over Broadway?
Freaky Friday (2003): Nominated for Globe, again a surprise hit of the year. But plain and simple, try to name one other actress who could have pulled off a performance like that. Only Jamie Lee.