You can’t accuse Michelle Williams of taking the easy way out. The multi-Oscar nominee had been tapped as an obvious, very-far-ahead front-runner for this season’s best-supporting-actress Oscar for her powerhouse turn in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans immediately after its premiere in Toronto earlier this month. That feeling was bolstered when the semi-autobiographical family drama won TIFF’s coveted people’s choice award, affirming it as a major awards contender. But then, as if to counter the expectation that Williams—who plays Mitzi, based on Spielberg’s real mother, in the movie—would be cruising to Oscar gold, a bombshell dropped earlier this week: She’ll be campaigning as a lead, further intensifying the most exciting best-actress race in years.
I’m David Canfield, and I agree with my colleague Katey Rich’s assessment that the move is about far more than ego or lofty expectations; it’s a corrective to the way this kind of maternal role, topping the call sheet while siloed into a supporting conversation, has been positioned over the years. As she writes, “A best-actress Oscar campaign instead of supporting actress is not exactly an act of protest against the invisible labor of mothers, but it’s something, and potentially a valuable strike against the 95-year-old Oscar tradition that places mothers firmly on the sidelines whenever possible.”
In terms of screen time, Williams really could go either way—she’s more present than, say, Viola Davis in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom or Minari’s Steven Yeun from a few years ago; the latter even similarly played the parent of the child protagonist, based on the movie’s director (in its case, Lee Isaac Chung). But hey, we’re entering “category fraud” season, where pundits and strategists cry foul at virtually every borderline positioning, and as races start to take active shape postfestivals—and indeed, following Williams’s surprise, things only got more complicated.
Searchlight announced that both The Banshees of Inisherin’s Brendan Gleeson and Empire of Light’s Micheal Ward will run in supporting, despite their ample screen time and making up slightly less than half of their respective two-handers. In the case of Empire, there’s more precedent for a discovery like Ward to run supporting in such an equation, as the industry veteran (Olivia Colman) goes lead. Gleeson is another matter, though; Banshees’ breakup story is told more through Colin Farrell’s eyes, but both men drive the action. (Farrell is officially a strong best-actor contender, going up against top players Brendan Fraser and Austin Butler.) In a relatively shapeless supporting-actor field—one that Gleeson’s costar Barry Keoghan was hoping to crash, and still might—I’d argue we might have a new man to beat, albeit one who will be facing plenty of criticism for his decision to compete there.
Anyway, back to Williams—does the move doom her chances at the big win? Not necessarily. Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh will be tough to beat, particularly, and next month will introduce Till’s Danielle Deadwyler, who I expect to make a major mark on the race. But recall that the last best-actress race didn’t represent a single best-picture nominee—another instance of the Academy’s frustrating trend of devaluing female-led films. The Fabelmans, by contrast, is a very strong best-picture contender. Who’s to say its officially designated lead actress can’t get swept up in that embrace?
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