Now that I’ve seen Danielle Deadwyler’s incredible performance in “Till,” it’s time to assess the current Best Actress race.
It turn out that TÀR’s Cate Blanchett is no longer a shoo-in to win the Oscar. Deadwyler has come out of nowhere to challenge her in this category. That has now made the stacked Actress field one of the more fascinating ones of the 2023 Oscars.
If Deadwyler were to win the Oscar then she’d become the first black actress since Halle Berry (Monsters Ball) in 2002 to win the category. That kind of stat cannot be underestimated as it build’s a juicy narrative around Deadwyler’s performance.
There is a lot of love for Michelle Yeoh’s performance in “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” She’s not only received a large amount of tributes this fall season, from Telluride to Toronto, but plenty of timely offers for roles in big movies. Yeoh is the dark horse of the category.
Michelle Williams’ switch from Supporting to Lead puzzled some, but her performance is a very chewy one with more than 90 minutes of screentime. Portraying Steven Spielberg’s mother is a daunting task, but Williams passes the test with flying colors. She’s also due for a win, having already been nominated four previous times. This could be the fifth.
As for Babylon’s Margot Robbie, I’ve now spoken to almost a half dozen people who went to this past Spring’s test-screening, and many of them say that not only should Robbie be campaigned as a lead, but she has a serious shot at winning. However, that’s not what THR’s Scott Feinberg is hearing, he tells me word on the street is that Paramount might, just might, campaign her as Supporting.
If that were the case, and I don’t buy it just yet, then that leaves us with an empty spot for that fifth and final slot. The toxic media onslaught against “Blonde” has, more or less, put Ana de Armas’ excellent performance on the back burner. Olivia Colman might surprise, but her film has a 40% score on Rotten Tomatoes and has been critically panned. How about Rooney Mara for “Women Talking”? No chance. It’s a slight role and she’s outshined by the supporting cast.
If it were up to me, I’d honor Mia Goth (Pearl), Thandiwe Newton (God’s Country), and Rebecca Hall (Resurrection). But who are we kidding here? Their respective films are too small to be noticed. Same thing goes for foreign-languages performances from Lea Seydoux (One Fine Morning), Vicky Krieps (Corsage) and Tang Wei (Decision to Leave), who all delivered great work.
This leaves us with Viola Davis for “The Woman King”, Emma Thompson for Good Luck to You” Leo Grande and Jessica Chastain in “The Good Nurse”. For now, Robbie is in my predictions, but any of these three actresses can snatch up her spot if it becomes vacant. The same goes for Naomi Ackie and the still unseen “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett (TÁR)
Danielle Deadwyler (Till)
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)
Margot Robbie (Babylon)
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.