HOLLYWOOD—Oscars are less than a week away and its time for our annual predictions on who is going to walk away with the top prizes in our main six as I like to call them: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor. In the past, I would do a separate column for each category in the acting fields, but I don’t think that is warranted in 2025. Why?
There are some races that just have clear-cut favorites and I truly don’t see anyone taking them out. I’m still going to highlight the candidates, but Best Supporting Actor has to be one of the most obvious ones. This is Kieran Culkin’s prize to lose. He has dominated all Awards Season long with his performance in “A Real Pain.” I expect him to win the Screen Actor’s Guild Award this weekend and then cap off the season with that Oscar victory next week.
If there was one actor I felt had the chance to give him a run for his money its Guy Pearce for his turn in “The Brutalist” which is just wicked good. Sometimes when an actor portrays a villain or the bad guy they can be more captivating then our protagonist. We don’t always get a backstory to why they’re so evil, they just are and as a spectator that is indeed fun to witness. With that said, the other contenders in the race include: Yura Borisov “Anora,” Edward Norton “A Complete Unknown” and Jeremy Strong “The Apprentice.”
Borisov is great in “Anora,” but there are other thespians who give captivating turns in this race like Norton and Strong. Norton is impressive in the Bob Dylan biopic where Timothee Chalamet eats the role up, but I found Strong’s turn as the Donald Trump mentor Roy Cohn as fascinating, gritty and just mesmerizing to watch. It is such a performance I can’t believe Strong is not getting more attention for the role, I don’t know if the political climate or politics in general has a role to play in things, but Strong is one hell of an actor who goes to great lengths when he portrays a character and it works.
This just is Culkin’s year people, similar to the race for Supporting Actress. Now before the scandal involving “Emilia Perez” star Karla Sofia Gascon I’d argue no one stood a chance against Saldana. However, that could change. Why? The buzz is building for the other contenders in that race. Look, I liked the movie “Wicked,” but I will admit, Ariana Grande could be dubbed Lead Actress, not Supporting, plus her character just annoyed me. I felt like it was Ariana being how she actually is in real life, and if that is true that is scary.
Felicity Jones is a terrific actress and her performance in “The Brutalist” is awesome to watch, but it’s a movie that clocks in at 3 hours and 35 minutes. I’m not sure many Academy members are going to sit thru such an expansive movie, even though they should. Perhaps the dark horse in the race is Monica Barbaro as Joan Saez in “A Complete Unknown.”
She edged out a Screen Actors Guild nomination and an Oscar nomination when she wasn’t on the list for many others. If there is a surprise upset when those envelopes are opened, don’t be surprised if you hear Barbaro’s name called instead of Saldana similar to what unfolded with Angela Bassett and Jamie Lee Curtis 2 years ago for “Black Panther: Wakanda Foreve” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
The last contender who would be my pick is Isabella Rossellini for her performance in “Conclave.” It is a small part, but it is so impactful and sears into your soul. I loved what Isabella did with the character and to finally see her get some Oscar love after such a long career it is well earned. However, Saldana is indeed one of the strongest characters in the musical and after her dominance up to this point.
I would be surprised if she did walk away with the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. However, history has shown us plenty of time the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress races are always the ones that deliver curveballs come Oscar night.
