Ranking the Decade's Best Supporting Actress Oscar Winners

A fairly solid list – not a great one, but up and down, it’s pretty good – even the two winners I was not a fan of went to deserving actresses, with wonderful resumes, even if they weren’t for my favorite roles of theirs.

 

10. Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl (2015) – I really do love Alicia Vikander, and in 2015 had she won an Oscar for her amazing performance in Ex Machina, then she would be MUCH higher on this list. But her role in The Danish Girl doesn’t give her much to do other than cry – which she does well, and she is the best thing in the movie. But it shouldn’t be her story – and the whole movie feels off kilter because of it. She is as good as she could be – it’s just not a role that should have won.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Even though she should have been nominated for Lead Actress, easily the best performance nominated this year was Rooney Mara in Carol – who is absolutely brilliant in that role, and should have walked away with this easy.

 

9. Octavia Spencer, The Help (2011) – I love Octavia Spencer as an actress, and I love the fact that she went from working actress to Oscar winner in one swoop, and she hasn’t let go of it since – delivering one great performance after another, and picking up a few other nominations (even if her best performance, in Luce, didn’t get nominated). This is a broad performance to be sure – but also has moments of emotional power. I don’t really like the film – but it’s hard to bash her performance in it – it’s just not an Oscar caliber role.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): This wasn’t my favorite year for nominees – so out of what they picked, I’d go with Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids – which is the kind of performance that is legendary, but never wins.

 

8. Melissa Leo, The Fighter (2010) – Leo is one of those great character actresses – so good on TV shows like Homicide: Life on the Streets – who didn’t get a movie break until late. Here, playing the profane mother of the central pair of brothers in a boxing movie, Leo goes fully over the top – for the most part brilliantly. Personally, I liked the also nominated Amy Adams in the same film, but Leo is great.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Although she was the lead, I absolutely loved Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit – who really makes that film. If they wanted to go with a mother, there was Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom – who is even better.

 

7. Laura Dern, Marriage Story (2019) – Dern has been one of my favorite actresses for a long time, and while I would have loved to see her win an Oscar for one of performances in David Lynch films (her work in Inland Empire in particular is brilliant) – her performance in Marriage Story is excellent as a divorce lawyer, who can be both compassionate and ruthless. Is it a little bit of a lifetime achievement award for an actress on a hot streak? Yes, but a deserving one.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): My opinion on what should have been nominated this year was very far away from the Academy’s, so Dern was probably the right choice – but I did love Florence Pugh in Little Women as well.

 

6. Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables (2012) – I kind of think that Hathaway’s win, which was preordained at the time, has been come to seen as not as not earned – this really does seem to be where people turned on her. The film itself is a missed bag, strangely directed by Tom Hooper – but Hathaway nails her scenes that she needs to, and then gets out of there before things get weird. It is a great performance – and has somehow become underrated over the years.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): I know a lot of people (who didn’t love the film) didn’t understand how Amy Adams got nominated for The Master – but it’s such a controlled, subtle performance where she absolutely commands and controls the entire action of her husband. It is a brilliant performance by Adams – and deserved to win.

 

5. Allison Janney, I, Tonya (2017) – Allison Janney is one of those actresses who is clearly beloved by her peers – just look at all those Emmys she’s won over the years. And that love is warranted – Janney is always terrific, and is often a scene stealer. The movies haven’t been as good to her as TV – but in I, Tonya she has a role that allows her to pull out all the stops, chew the scenery, and be brilliant – and she doesn’t let the opportunity pass her by. She is wonderful.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Many people wanted another TV veteran – Laurie Metcalf – win for Lady Bird, and that would have been a better choice. But my favorite was Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread – who is so brilliant, so quiet, so subtle, and devastatingly hilarious.

 

4. Viola Davis, Fences (2016) – Denzel Washington is smart enough as a performer – and director – that he knew full well he needed someone as good as he is to hold her own in Fences – because he was going to be all sorts of great. Davis, as his long suffering wife, is every bit as good as Washington – even better – and she goes toe-to-toe with Washington, and more than holds her own. This is a devastating, intense performance by one of the best.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): There is basically one scene that Michelle Williams has in Manchester by the Sea which is among the best pieces of acting I have ever seen – and reminds you why she is one of the very best actresses in the world, and should have an Oscar by now – and for this.

 

3. Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)- Regina King is one of those actresses who is terrific in everything – from TV to movies, and everything in between, King is never less than a compelling screen presence, and often the best things about her projects. In Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, she delivers a beautiful, emotional subtle, sensitive performance as a dedicated mother, who will do anything for her kids. She is a portrait of motherly love, second to none, and a wonderful performance.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): King really was the best of the nominees – and by quite a bit – as much as I liked the duo from The Favourite and Marina de Tavira from Roma.

 

2. Patricia Arquette, Boyhood (2014) – This is the performance that really kicked off a renaissance for Arquette, and deservedly so, as she really is great in this film – the mother, who has to pull herself together for the kids, and then is left alone when they get their own lives. It is an honest, down-to-earth performance by Arquette – and she nails it. The fact that she finds this consistency over the course of the decade is even more remarkable.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Arquette was really the best one nominated this year – and by quite a margin.

 

1. Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave (2013) – Once in a while, an actress comes out of seemingly nowhere to deliver one of the best performances you can imagine – and Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave is an example of that. As the “favorite” slave of an abusive – sexually, physically, emotionally – slave owner, Nyong’o performance is devastating and emotional, and a remarkable physical performance to boot. This made her a star – and deserved to – and she’s become one of the best actresses working.

Who Should Have Won (of the Nominees): Nyong’o really was the best of the nominees this year – even if I love Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine or June Squibb in Nebraska.