This late afternoon, Warner Bros. shook up the Oscar conversation with its decision to campaign Chase Infiniti in the Lead Actress category for “One Battle After Another.” The move has caught many off guard. Is it category fraud?
What I think’s happening here is Warner Bros’ likely avoidance of a vote-splitting scenario with co-stars Teyana Taylor and Regina Hall, both of whom are expected to campaign in Supporting Actress. Strategically, it makes sense. Whether Infiniti now has a clearer path to a nomination in Lead Actress, though, I’m not entirely sure.
Infiniti’s lead designation may be borderline, but it’s somewhat defensible, and perhaps smarter than risking a Supporting Actress campaign where she would compete against Taylor and Hall. I mean, listen, if everything aligns, “One Battle After Another” could become the first film since “American Hustle” to earn nominations in all four acting categories, and that would be an impressive feat. If it gets five acting noms, it’ll be the first film to accomplish that since “Network” (1976).
In fact, how many nominations can “One Battle After Another” conceivably get? Certainly in the double digits. The current record is a 3-way tie between “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land” — 14 nominations each.
So, who will Infiniti be competing against? Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”) is the clear frontrunner of the category. Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”) has to be up there. If enough voters get to see Rose Byrne’s astonishing performance in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” she’ll easily crack the top five. Emma Stone goes bald in “Bugonia,” so voters will likely want to reward her.
Infiniti has a shot, but I don’t believe her performance is even top five in her own film. What does that say? Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor all left a more lasting impression on me.
I’d be curious to read through some of our readers’ thoughts on this: is Infiniti’s role genuinely a lead performance? Is she onscreen enough to warrant this category?