SUPPORTING ACTOR
While front-runners range from venerable veteran Christopher Plummer in a plum role to Jonah Hill in his first serious part, these less-discussed performances are equally worthy:
-Charles Parnell, Pariah. His haunting but understated performance as an NYPD detective, husband and father is complex, fascinating and unpredictable. As Arthur, he is charismatic, alternately affectionate and aloof. He clearly loves his 17-year-old daughter but is in denial about her budding maturity and independence. There is so much that goes unspoken between father and daughter, but Parnell communicates it in the nuances of his character.
-Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Serkis offers one of the year’s most mesmerizing and under-appreciated performances. With the aid of motion-capture CGI technology, he brings emotional life and dramatic heft to Caesar, a chimp raised from infancy by Will (James Franco), a scientist seeking a cure for Alzheimer’s. Largely because of Serkis’ convincing performance, we believe the loving bond between him and Will.
-Patton Oswalt, Young Adult. He nearly steals the movie from Charlize Theron’s Mavis Gary with his witheringly witty lines and outwardly cheeky portrayal. Oswalt takes a role that could have been one-note — Matt, the overlooked geeky guy who is quick with a wisecrack and whose locker was next to the popular Mavis’ — and gives it dimension, intelligence and poignancy.