SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk” Amy Adams, “Vice” Emma Stone, “The Favourite” Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite” Nicole Kidman, “Boy Erased” On the cusp: Claire Foy, “First Man”; Michelle Yeoh, “Crazy Rich Asians” In the mix: Marina de Tavira, “Roma”; Elizabeth Debicki, “Widows”; Margot Robbie, “Mary Queen of Scots”; Emily Blunt, “A Quiet Place”; Thomasin McKenzie, “Leave No Trace”; Natalie Portman, “Vox Lux”
Analysis: It would be a welcome surprise to see voters recognize Yeoh’s work as the protective mother in “Crazy Rich Asians,” a commanding performance laced with a heartbreaking vulnerability. The film would have been a shoo-in nominee for the academy’s scrapped best popular film category. Nominating the deserving Yeoh would be a terrific way to honor it.
For “The Favourite,” Fox Searchlight is campaigning Colman in lead and Stone and Weisz in supporting, though their categories could easily be flipped. The strategy makes sense. The last time two women from the same film were nominated in lead came in 1992 with Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon for “Thelma and Louise.” (Both characters’ names are in the title, for crying out loud.)
Since then, there have been nine occasions when one movie boasted two supporting actress nominees, the last being Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer for “The Help” in 2012. (Spencer won.) Expect that number to roll over to 10 this year with Stone and Weisz.