I did it… I moved Sandra Bullock’s performance in The Blind Side into the fifth slot for Best Actress, and with Sasha Stone at Awards Daily debuting the “Entertainment Weekly” cover you see to the right I feel much better about doing it. Then again, it also has a lot to do with a few of the films I have seen lately.
First off, I had Helen Mirren’s performance in The Last Station at the #4 slot… She’s not there any longer. I also had Abbie Cornish from Bright Star in the fifth slot, unfortunately for her that film seems to have pretty much dropped off the map (thankfully). Therefore, Cornish has slid below the bubble as well…
Previously above Bullock — beneath my Bubble Line — I had (in order) Saorise Ronan (The Lovely Bones), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart) and Marion Cotillard (Nine). Of that trio I have only seen Cotillard’s performance in Nine and there are two things to say: 1) Cotillard is amazing in Nine, but 2) it’s hardly a lead performance. The same thing goes for Mirren in The Last Station, but it appears the studios aren’t concerned with how large the role is as much as who has the largest part, and in both cases with Mirren and Cotillard, they have the largest parts in their respective films and have therefore been considered leads. I guess this begs the question, “Does a film have to have a lead?” Does Love Actually have a lead actor? Lead actress? If so, who?
I will be seeing both Ronan and Gyllenhaal’s performances next week, which should help me get closer to solidifying my list, but for now you can check out my just updated predictions for Best Actress right here.
