LEAD ACTRESS

(The names and numbers that matter this awards season)

Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young

Woman” Frances McDormand, “Nomadland” Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman” Andra Day, “The United States vs. Billie

Holiday”

On the cusp: Amy Adams, “Hillbilly Elegy”; Yeri Han, “Minari”; Zendaya, “Malcolm & Marie”; Sophia Loren, “The Life Ahead”

For your consideration: Nicole Beharie should have been on everyone’s radar after she won the lead actress prize from the Gotham Awards, the season’s first notable event. In “Miss Juneteenth,” she plays Turquoise Jones, a struggling single mother who wants her 15-year-old daughter to follow in her footsteps, wear the Miss Juneteenth crown and win the college scholarship that comes with it. Beharie conveys Turquoise’s longings and worries with an empathy that lingers long after the film ends. She also picked up a Spirit Awards nomination for the performance, another sign of its potency. Basically, anyone who takes the time to find Channing Godfrey Peoples’ movie recognizes that Beharie’s work is among the year’s best.