Actress in a Supporting Role

The 2024 Oscars could be shaping up to be a historic year for Indigenous American Women. The ceremony could see the first ever woman of Indigenous American descent ever nominated for an Oscar. “Lily Gladstone”, who stars in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of a Flower Moon is of Blackfeet and Nimiipuu descent, and is the early frontrunner following rave reviews at Cannes in May. Another contender fresh out of Cannes, is Oscar-winner “Julianne Moore” for her supporting performance in Todd Haynes’ May December, scheduled to be released by Netflix later in the year.

If Apple decide to campaign Gladstone in a Leading Role, the competition will get blown wide open. With large ensemble casts amongst films such as: Barbie, Oppenheimer and The Colour Purple, we could see one of these movies recieve a double nomination in this category. The most likely to achieve this would be the musical production of The Colour Purple, with “Taraji P. Henson” and “Danielle Brooks” looking to repeat history, as Steven Spielberg’s adaptation bagged two supporting actress nominations back in 1986.

We will have to wait for later in the year until we find out if these performances are Oscar worthy, the same goes for “Da’Vine Jay Randolph” in The Holdovers and “Rosamund Pike” in Saltburn. As a result, it would be unwise to rule out Academy favourite “Viola Davis” for her powerhouse performance in Air, which was the first real contender out of the blocks this year.

Here are my predictions as of 27th July 2023:

Strong Contenders

1. Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
2. Danielle Brooks (The Colour Purple)
3. Julianne Moore (May December)
4. Taraji P. Henson (The Colour Purple)
5. Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Possible Contenders

1. Viola Davis (Air)
2. Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
3. Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson)
4. Rosamund Pike (Saltburn)
5. Jodie Foster (Nyad)

Outsiders

1. Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer)
2. Rachel McAdams (Are You there God? It’s Me, Margaret)
3. America Ferrera (Barbie)
4. Penelope Cruz (Ferrari)
5. Carey Mulligan (Saltburn)