Supporting Actor 2024

This was a boring race to follow all season long as it was Culkin from start to finish and no one else even came close. And I have heard some not so great things about Culkin's performance, so I'm hoping that's wrong and it deserves the win and it's not just because he's likable and gives a nice speech. Cool to see Pearce finally nominated because it feels like he should have had one already and Strong feels like a good addition because of his dedication to the craft. Let's get going on this one.

2024 Best Supporting Actor

 

Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain

Category fraud is a serious offense, Jim! But for real, Culkin is in most of this film and is a co-lead, why is this Supporting? Because the other main actor, Jesse Eisenberg, wrote and directed this maybe? I dunno. Also, just to get it out there, I have never seen Succession, which got a ton of Emmy love and wins and many folks said that this performance was a carbon copy of Culkin's character in that show. That's annoying if true, but also, I don't feel like enjoying someone's TV work should come into play when judging their nominated work at the Oscars. We all know that stuff happens, but I wish it didn't. I have no frame of reference for his Emmy winning work, so I'll just judge this performance as is. And boy is it insufferable! His character is an annoying asshole. He is apparently homeless and dealing with the death of his grandma, who he was super close to, as he and his cousin go to Poland to see where she was from (she was a Jew who escaped Poland and a concentration camp, I think). So Culkin's character says some wild, random shit that kills moods, but of course the other tour members and the tour guide thank him for being real and honest. Gag me please. The character is awful and somehow we are supposed to like this guy? I get we are supposed to separate character and actor, and Culkin does a great job at being this character, but I also see from throughout the awards season that he was exactly like this character in real life and this feels like more of just an extension of Culkin and not actual acting. I found myself relating so much more to Eisenberg's character as he didn't like social interaction and was constantly trying to get his cousin to stop or shut the fuck up. I recognize that Culkin is a great actor in a very specific type, which this fits, but I don't like the character and that's due in part to how Culkin plays it. Not a fan, but get why it swept. And if this is anything like the TV character, then I need to get on that show ASAP.

Yuri Borisov - Anora

Talk about a complete unknown, move over Norton. Borisov is a name and face no one knew prior to this film and that's what I love about Sean Baker films. You can get some really good performances that way and Borisov delivers one that is so subtle and quiet that it's kinda wild that this got singled out for some love. Borisov plays Igor, who is a goon that goes to check on the son of a Russian oligarch who has gotten married to a stripper, to make him divorce her because the family is embarrassed. Igor seems like your typical henchman but comes off as more measured and not just a mindlessly violent thug as they try to corral and calm down the son and keep Mikey Madison's Ani out of it and calm herself. Igor brings some welcomed humor to the film and role as he and the other bumbling goon struggle to contain Ani as she fights them and he bear hugs her and then ties her up. There's no inclination that he will be a vital part of the story or that he is anything more than just a goon (I obviously like that word a lot). But he does seem to bring a bit of empathy to a role that would often not lend itself to having any kind of depth and we start to see that Igor is a bit different. He has these one word responses that are funny and seem typical of some dumb goon. As the story unfolds, and the group go all over looking for the son with Ani in tow, we start to see these little moments of empathy where a look or Igor asking about if her coat is mink or not to try and assuage her fears and Igor starts to fully form in front of our eyes. No better scene shows who Igor is than when on the private plane with the Russian oligarch, the son, his mother and Ani and Igor asks the family to apologize to Ani. I don't know if he just feels sorry for her or if he's attracted to her and is acting like a white knight or he's just a stand up guy who happens to be a goon. But then we get towards the end of the film and see their playful, almost flirty interaction before he drives her home and then she hops on top of him to ride him and the ending ends up a little ambiguous as in what's going on between these two. Is there going to be a happily ever after where this man is who she really deserves or is she just reacting to trauma with sex because that's the only way she knows how to deal with it? I really enjoyed Borisov in this film. It was like this strange character that we have to try and figure out and see where it's going to end up. Just a very fascinating supporting performance that feels like it would usually get overlooked and thankfully didn't because it's such a rewarding performance from Borisov.

Edward Norton - A Complete Unknown

Norton's 4th acting nomination, it feels like he has more to me for some reason. He's done a lot of terrific work and is again nominated here for his work as Pete Seeger, a folk music legend who from the film helped launch Bob Dylan in a way. Again, I have no frame of reference for who Pete Seeger is, so I'm only judging Norton's performance as is. There is a gentleness and warmth to this performance that I don't think I've really seen from Norton before. He cares deeply for his friend Woody Guthrie, who is in the hospital with a debilitating disease, and helps introduce Dylan to the folk scene in NYC and really loves folk music to the point he doesn't want to see it die out and wants it to keep being the voice of the people. We even get to see Norton play a song and does it well, to the point where it didn't feel out of place at all. We see Norton excel in the scenes where he is playing almost a mediator to make sure Dylan comes to a show or plays a certain thing. He's trying to keep folk relevant and alive as the world keeps changing and that begets the conflict of the film as Dylan wants to grow and expand his sound into rock and electric. We see Norton calmly keep trying to talk with Dylan about a festival even though he keeps getting brushed off or Dylan comes off as an asshole, but Norton never lets it get to him. Maybe the best scene for Norton is when Dylan takes the stage at the festival and goes electric and the crowd is in an uproar because they want the Dylan songs they know and love and management is running around on fire trying to figure out what to do and Norton goes to the sound board to try and get them to turn it down or off and he is finally showing his exasperation and anger at the situation and probably at how the world is moving on from folk music. He looks at an axe nearby and the cables on the ground and we see the idea going through his head before his wife snaps him out of it. I like that we got to see that brief instance of the intensity we know from Norton before it subsides back into who the character actually is as a peaceful man. It's honestly just a good performance, certainly not amazing or up to his previous nominations but it was good to see him back in this space again.

Guy Pearce - The Brutalist

 

It's about time Pearce has an Oscar nomination after turning so many great performances like Memento, LA Confidential, and The Rover, which I love a lot. Finally he's here, but how is the performance? It's complex and very strong work. He plays a very interesting character in a wealthy industrialist who becomes a sort of benefactor to Adrien Brody's accomplished architect who seemingly becomes jealous of Bordy's talent and eventually rapes him. I didn't get the rape part but I felt like it was Pearce showing that he owns Brody and can do whatever he wants with him, though Brody may be the artistic genius. I didn't like that moment of the film and still don't fully understand it and don't feel it was necessary and think it was to shock the film awake, honestly. I was worried about this performance from the first moment we meet Pearce as he comes screaming into his home wondering what the hell is going on and who these people are that are working on it. I thought, oh, is this what the performance is going to be? Loud and histrionic? But thankfully that was pretty much the end of that as he mostly played a calm and collected guy, this introductory scene shows who he is inside, as the rest of the performance is mostly internalized. Pearce becomes a likable guy, schmoozing Brody with praise and compliments and trying his hardest to get Brody on his side to be able to use him for his benefit, which ends up being a huge complex/building in the nearby downtown. He definitely has ulterior motives which seem to be to leave a lasting legacy via being the guy who commanded Brody to build iconic buildings and for him to create a downtown. Pearce sees Brody as an opportunity to greatness and thus uses him as he sees fit. I guess that can make the rape scene make sense in a way, but I still don't think it fits the character. Pearce does a lot in making this guy charming and very WASP-y and hiding who he really is underneath his collected facade. I think it boils down to Pearce discovering the guy who renovated his study room was an accomplished, well regarded architect and he used his kindness as a way in to Brody's world despite that being a front to garner himself acclaim and more prestige. There is so much depth and nuance to this performance that if you aren't paying attention you might miss a man who is toying with his property. I think it's some solid, incredible work from Pearce and we see exactly most reviews and talk online always said finally, he has an Oscar nomination. This performance has only gotten better in mind since I finished this film a couple days ago. Surprised this made no play for the actual Oscar as this seems right up the Academy's alley.

Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice

 

This is a strong performance, pardon my obvious pun. I'm honestly sitting here wondering how this didn't win and Culkin did. Both coming off massive success with Succession, the TV show, and both nominated here together. I bet that was a pretty cool moment for them. What I know of Strong as an actor is that he is one of those super dedicated people who will become a character through and through in the method acting style and the result is some intense, amazing work. Some would say overacting, and I guess you can see that in earlier work, but not in this performance. Strong plays Roy Cohn, a lawyer to Trump in the early days, who basically created the Trump we know today. He's essentially a villain like figure that Trump admires because he has money, power, respect, and influence. It's what Trump looked up to with his Daddy issues and formed his persona to an extent. Strong is great at being the guy who can make Trump do what he wants. Strong has the bravado and confidence that Trump seems to lack. Strong exudes power that Trump wants and Strong makes it come off as believable power. The undercurrent of Cohn's homosexuality is ever present and it's almost as if you can believe Trump will buy into that part of the power as well. Of course, we now know he used sex to control his wife and was a degenerate rapist of young girls with Epstein. I just think Strong is convincing in the role as a man who has the power necessary to help crown kings and unfortunately uses it to mold the Trump we know today. Eventually, Cohn becomes this pathetic figure who is dying from cancer, which was really just AIDS because he couldn't admit who he really was. The apprentice is Trump as he becomes the new Cohn in spirit, though not in intellect. Strong also looks so much like Cohn if you look at pictures of him and see why Trump is the Orange fucktard he is now, since Cohn was super tan from I would assume tanning beds or sprays. I think this is a great performance that seems to capture who Cohn is and I hope we see more great work from Strong in the future, because he is on a roll.

This turned out to be a pretty good group even if the winner was severely lacking for me. I didn't much care for Culkin, as we have seen this same performance from him in other work. Yawn. I'd much rather watch Burisov than Culkin. A welcome performance in his film with humor and sympathy. Pretty good stuff for an actual unknown actor to achieve. Norton is okay, he's fine. Nothing amazing but he has the pedigree and brings a warmth to the film at times. Pearce should have been much more of a challenge to the winner. I think it's his best work in a long time and I'm glad he was rewarded for it. Strong was...strong (womp womp). I think he should have won but I wonder if the voters didn't want to reward Cohn/Trump, which I think is a valid reason to not vote for Strong. It feels like the Academy got both Supporting categories wrong to me. This is why I should have an At-Large vote Academy, if you're listening/reading! I can dream, anyway. On to the next.

Oscar Winner: Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain

My Winner: Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice

Guy Pearce

Edward Norton

Yuri Borisov

Kieran Culkin