Following the announcement of the nominations for this year's Academy Awards, attention is often turned to the biggest prizes: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director. However, often the most surprising and, eventually, the biggest talking points of Oscars night come from the supporting categories, with shocks across the years proving that Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress are a pair of races worth keeping an eye on.
In 2025, many will say that these races are all but done, with a duo of standout performances likely to take their respective crowns. However, if history has taught us anything, it's that the Academy is no stranger to leaving viewers stunned and, with a selection of impressive supporting turns also nominated, a shock may even be for the best. The following is a ranking of each of the ten supporting performance nominations for this year's Academy Awards. The ranking is, of course, based on the quality of each performance, the demands of their role, the complexity of their character, and their ability to support the lead performances, a requirement often forgotten by the Academy in recent years.
10
Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez
'A Complete Unknown'
Image via Searchlight Pictures
The music biopic is a fond favorite of the Academy, with the likes ofBohemian RhapsodyandJudyearning their central stars the top prizes. However, for the leading performance to truly shine, the supporting performances must help hold them up. This is a compliment that can be paid to Monica Barbaro, the woman behind folk legend and nine-time Grammy nominee Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown.
Not only does Barbaro have the unenviable job of accurately portraying a woman beloved by her many fans, but she does so whilst also allowing the spotlight to still shine on Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan. Although facing tough competition for the best performance in the movie, Barbaro still holds her own admirably and even earned the praise of Baez herself, who said in an interview, "I loved what she did in the film. If I didn’t think she was good at it, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it in general. But she looked enough like me, and she had my gestures down. You could tell who it was. She worked so hard. Kudos to her for taking the role on."
A Complete Unknown
Release Date
December 25, 2024
9
Zoe Saldaña as Rita Mora Castro
'Emilia Pérez'
Image via Netflix
The controversial Emilia Pérez has had the world talking ever since it debuted worldwide on Netflix. The highest nominated movie at 13 nods, Emilia Pérez follows Karla Sofía Gascón as Emilia Pérez, a former cartel kingpin who hires the services of lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldaña) to help set in motion her transition into a woman.
Because of the many controversies surrounding Emilia Pérez—especially pertaining to the historic tweets of its star, Gascón—it seems that this movie may fade into the background come the day of the ceremony, much to the pleasure of many online commentators. Nevertheless, Emilia Pérez's best shot of a golden statue is Saldaña's supporting performance. The actress dances and sings her way through an often strange and always demanding story. With Saldaña having already won the Golden Globe for her performance, might another prize be incoming?
8
Edward Norton as Pete Seeger
'A Complete Unknown'
Image via Searchlight Pictures
A Complete Unknown is brimming with talented performances, with the Academy making sure to acknowledge this with another supporting nomination for Edward Norton as Pete Seeger. A talented musician and social activist, Seeger is the man who introduces his friend Dylan to a burgeoning New York folk scene, setting in motion the journey this doting tale takes.
A terrifically detailed performance from Norton sets the bar high for the rest of the A Complete Unknown cast. Somehow, the Hollywood veteran manages to capture everything from Seeger's vocal styling to the way he held his banjo, showcasing just how talented the Golden Globe winner is. Although, like Barbaro, Norton is eventually overshadowed by Chalamet, this supporting turn is well worth its praise.
7
Felicity Jones as Erzsébet Tóth
'The Brutalist'
Image via A24
Brady Corbet's The Brutalist is the epic of this awards season, running for an astonishing 215 minutes and detailing the journey of Adrien Brody's acclaimed architect, László Tóth, who travels across the world to chase the American Dream. By his side is journalist Erzsébet Tóth (Felicity Jones), László's wife, who becomes evermore crucial as the narrative unfolds.
A recipient of ten nominations at this year's Academy Awards, it is likely The Brutalist may walk away with several trophies, including for Best Picture and Best Actor. However, one of its least likely winners is Supporting Actress for Jones, something purely due to the extreme talent also on display in this category, as well as Jones only appearing after the film's halfway mark. Nevertheless, it's likely her turn as Erzsébet is being overlooked by many, with this grounded, emotionally mature performance one of the best in her acclaimed career.
6
Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn
'The Apprentice'
One of the most divisive movies of 2024 is earning its flowers at this year's Academy Awards, with Sebastian Stan's central performance as Donald Trump earning a surprising nomination for Best Actor. However, this performance simply wouldn't be as impressive as it is without the energetic Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, a New York attorney who takes a young Trump under his wing and guides him on the path to corporate greed.
Strong is one of the most astute castings of the year as Roy Cohn. His Succession-esque attitude and unlimited energy make him a dastardly, power-hungry villain worth staying glued to the screen for. As a man full of contradiction in the real world, Strong's ability to capture the dichotomy of this unique character is his best asset, crafting a performance that neither scathingly criticizes nor romanticizes the man even 40 years after his death.
5
Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes
'Conclave'
Image via Focus Features
Edward Berger's Conclave is a rising force in the race for Oscar gold, with support for this indulgent tale gathering speed at just the right time. The film tells the tale of Ralph Fiennes' Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, the man who must lead the vote for the new Pope following the sudden death of the former.
In a world dominated by men—and a movie dominated by male performances—Isabella Rossellini quietly shines as Sister Agnes, the head caterer and housekeeper for the Cardinals. Conclave is a beautifully paced film that ebbs and flows between brewing tension and rage-fueled outbursts, with Rossellini shining in many of the movie's biggest moments. Despite a lack of screen time, the daughter of the iconic Ingrid Bergman truly steals the show whenever she is given the chance.
4
Guy Pearce as Harrison Lee Van Buren
'The Brutalist'
Image via A24
Key to the success of The Brutalist's narrative is the American Dream-shattering reality of the world László Tóth arrives in. This heart-aching realization comes at the hands of Guy Pearce's Harrison Lee Van Buren, a snobbish industrialist who offers wealth and prosperity to Tóth before mechanically dissecting his promises fueled by jealousy.
In the eyes of many, Pearce might be overdue, and The Brutalist comes at a crucial moment in his career.
In a race for an Academy Award, although it perhaps shouldn't happen this way, an actor's past can often influence the Academy's decision. This key aspect might help this acclaimed Australian actor, with his impressive list of captivating performances simply paling in comparison to this career-defining turn as Van Buren. Indeed, in the eyes of many, Pearce might be overdue, and The Brutalist comes at a crucial moment in his career. The hatred audiences feel for this exploitative, bitter villain is perhaps the greatest testament one could give to Pearce.
3
Yura Borisov as Igor
'Anora'
Image via NEON
Anora is anything but shy, with Sean Baker delivering a loud, proud, and Palme d'Or-winning flick that shows the very best and worst of modern romance. The story follows sex worker Ani (Mikey Madison), who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, much to the eventual dismay of his parents. Her husband then goes on the run, and Ani, alongside his Armenian godfather, Toros (Karren Karagulian), and his henchmen, Garnik (Darya Ekamasova) and Igor (Yura Borisov), gives wild chase.
The beauty of the Oscars supporting categories is the platform they offer to relatively unknown stars. This year's breakout performance is from Borisov, who excels in a role that only really comes to life in the film's final third. Borisov's role as a weight-throwing henchman always contains a hint of more beneath the surface, with the subtle reveal of his heart brilliantly taking the audience by surprise. This subtle and often elusive narrative leads to the best ending to a movie of the past year, with Borisov playing a crucial role in its success.
Whether it's Bob Dylan or Donald Trump, 2024 has been full of top actors taking on already famous names. Another who has excelled is Ariana Grande, with the role of Glinda already famous the world over for more than two decades. Alongside Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba, the pair journey through school and eventually travel to Oz to meet the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum), but all may not be as it first seems.
Against a stacked lineup of deeply dramatic performances, Grande is the breath of fresh air the supporting categories need. Despite dreaming of one day playing Elphaba, Grande seems born to play Glinda, with her laugh-a-minute, doe-eyed sparkle simply never fading. Considering just how famous the role of Glinda is on the stage, Grande pulled off the improbable and truly made the role her own. Will she receive the Oscar on the night? Probably not, but it's likely that 2024 will always be remembered for Grande's Glinda above all others in the supporting actress category.
Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain may have been snubbed from the Best Picture category, but it can surely feel confident that it will be walking away with at least one Oscar because of this incredible supporting performance by Kieran Culkin as Benjamin "Benji" Kaplan. The movie follows Bejji and his cousin, David (Eisenberg), as they travel throughout Poland on a heritage tour to try and better understand the life and plight of their late grandmother.
Although some may argue that Culkin's Benji is so similar to the actor that he does not stretch his range to find the performance, it is also worth saying that Culkin is, simply, the perfect actor for this role, and this truth is not his fault. Culkin still needs to dig deep to find the incredibly nuanced-loving cousin and self-destructive enigma at Benji's core. A Real Pain is a demanding story with an even more demanding screenplay that offers many questions soaked in the subtext that Culkin must carve a performance from. What he realizes is nothing short of career defining and will likely earn him a prize come Oscars night.
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