The Paw Print

By Elena Whitford

Welcome back for another round of Oscar nominations! This time, I’m discussing the Best Actor and Best Actress categories. The nominees are below; like before, I’ve bolded my prediction for the winner and starred my ideal winner.

Actor nominees: 

• (*) Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”
• Colman Domingo, “Rustin”
• Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”
• Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
• Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”

Actress nominees:

• Annette Bening, “Nyad”
• (*) Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
• Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”
• Carey Mulligan, “Maestro”
• Emma Stone, “Poor Things”

Margot Robbie’s absence from the Best Actress nominations for playing the title toy in “Barbie” is the biggest news in this category. While I don’t support the omission, I understand why she was left out. She played Barbie well, but I didn’t come out of the theater in awe of her performance the way I did with Lily Gladstone’s in “Killers of the Flower Moon” or Sandra Hüller’s in “Anatomy of a Fall.” Many criticized Robbie’s snub from the Academy, however, including co-star Ryan Gosling.

In both these categories, unsurprisingly, biopics dominate. Three of each of the nominations come from portrayals of real people. The Academy seems to believe that it takes more acting skill to portray a person who existed, instead of a fictional character where an actor can put their spin on the role.

It could also be that 2023 was the year of historical and biographical films. From “Oppenheimer” and “Killers” to lesser-known movies like “Nyad” and “Rustin,” the most important movies of this awards cycle were based on true stories. 

Finally, there’s an interesting disparity between the types of performances nominated in each of the gendered categories. Women’s performances this year were very understated, and in several (“Killers” and “Maestro,” for example) these protagonists, all naive at the start of their movies, dealt with new realizations about the world and the people around them. This called for subtle and emotional performances, exactly the thing that the Academy likes.

Men’s performances, however, were much bigger in scale. Whether it was Bradley Cooper’s energetic performance in “Maestro,” Jeffrey Wright’s and Paul Giamatti’s comedic turns in “American Fiction” and “The Holdovers,”, or Cillian Murphy’s favored-to-win performance for “Oppenheimer,” many of this year’s movies were entirely centered around men. 

All in all, it’s difficult to ignore how both Gladstone in “Killers” and Mulligan in “Maestro” were not their films’ lead, but anchored the male protagonists. Meanwhile, all five of the movies in which the lead actors were nominated were about those men; even “Maestro,” which centers around Leonard Bernstein’s relationship with his wife, Felicia, is still a Leonard Bernstein movie.

What are your thoughts? Do you think the favored Cillian Murphy and Lily Gladstone will take home their Oscars, or will there be an upset? Make your predictions, and keep watch for my next piece where I’ll cover Best Director and Best Cinematography!