The perspectives of the two female acting categories of the 94th edition of the Oscar Awards could not be more different. On the Cast side, the season has seen the 31-year-old dancer win over and over again Ariana DeBose by Love without barriers, so it will arrive on Sunday with the label of undisputed favorite hanging around its neck. Radically different is the scenario in Leading Actress, mainly because most of the associations formed, unlike what happened among the men, a group of nominees very different from each other. So much so that none of the five women present at the BAFTAs make up the Oscar quintet. As well as Penelope Cruz was conspicuous by its absence in these months and the first red carpet to be covered this year will be that of the Dolby Theater, Lady Gaga had a place in all the previous ceremonies, but will not have it in this weekend. She is not nominated. In that troubled river, the fisherwoman who seems to have a nose advantage is the red one – turned blonde to play televangelist Tammy Faye in Tammy Faye’s eyes– Jessica Chastain. Will he be able to put his first Academy statuette in the display case?
leading actress
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It had been a long time since an interpretive category was not as unpredictable as this year’s Leading Actress. Yes OK Kristen Stewart swept almost all the awards organized by critics associations thanks to his troubled Lady Di in Spencerhis absence from the SAG of the Screen Actors Guild -whose winners usually coincide with the Oscar because a good portion of members of that entity also belong to the Academy- and his fall before Nicole Kidman in the devalued Golden Globes they made him lose the initial push. It should come as no surprise that Stewart has not been to the BAFTAs, where Joanna Scanlan won for After Love: It is known that the British academics did not like the characterization of the royalty of the Chilean director Pablo Larraín.
But the protagonist of Being the Ricardoswhere she plays the comedian Lucille Ball, did not take any statuette again, and her chances of getting her second Oscar after doing it in 2003 for The hours plummeted as Chastain shares rose. The colorada came running from behind with a role in a film with little impact in terms of nominations such as the biopic Tammy Faye’s eyesuntil a few days apart, the SAG and the Critics Choice won, thus becoming the only one of the group that accumulated more than one statuette and, therefore, a favorite to go on stage for the first time at the Dolby Theater in its third nomination (the previous ones were in 2012 and 2013 for Crossing stories and The darkest nightrespectively).
And the other two? The remarkable work of Olivia Colman on the dark daughter did not translate into awards. But she is one of the most appreciated contemporary actresses by the Academy thanks to her three nominations in the last four years. She even had the pleasure of winning in her debut in the leading section thanks to her work in The favourite (2018). Although she could not repeat last year, when she was part of the cast list for The fatherit should not be ruled out that voters – who vote more with their hearts than with a spreadsheet – lean towards her.
what of Penelope CruzInstead, it is more striking. Owner of one of the only nomination of parallel mothersthe Spanish, winner in Casting in 2009 for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, was not included in any of the relevant galas that precede this Sunday. At that time it will be revealed if the Academy has a surprise up its sleeve so that there are thanks and dedications in the language of Cervantes.
Supporting Actress
Except for the veteran Judi Denchwho at the age of 87 got his eighth nomination – with a win, at the 1999 gala, for shakespeare passionate– thanks to Belfast and equaled Gloria Stuart (Titanic) as the oldest woman present in this category, the Supporting Actress contenders have in common the fact that they will be attending the Academy ceremony for the first time. Among them is Kirsten Dunstwho after appearing with one of the great revelations between the end of the ’90s and the beginning of the millennium, left the entertainment world for several years and, thanks to the power of the dogcrowned his return to Hollywood close-ups.
But the remembered Mary Jane of the Spiderman by Sam Raimi – who won the Palm for Best Actress at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for Melancholia– has attended all deliveries in recent months to do the same as Jessie Buckley (the dark daughter), Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard: A Winning Family) and the aforementioned Dench: applaud the triumph of Ariana DeBose by Love without barriers, in what seems to be the only safe statuette for Steven Spielberg’s remake of the 1961 musical. A multifaceted artist with more experience on the Broadway stage than in front of the cameras, the 31-year-old won the four main posts prior to the big night of the industry, staying with the SAG, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and the Critics Choice. Then, a celebration of pure dance and song is coming.
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