The hardest category to pick right now has got to be Best Supporting Actor. Among my top five I’ve seen only one of the films and merely heard buzz from a couple of sources about two others. Within my top ten I’ve only seen two of the films and within the top twenty only four. For whatever reason 2013 is carrying a big anchor, which means the final four months of the year may hold all the gems the year has to offer… Let’s just pray we’re not getting our hopes up for nothing.
That said, the big monkey wrench in the works right now is where to place the actors in the newly dated Foxcatcher. At this point I have both Steve Carell and Channing Tatum on both my lists for lead and supporting performances, though it seems early conversation is steering Carell to Supporting and Tatum to lead with Mark Ruffalo also like getting supporting consideration.
I’ve also shuffled a few additional names around as Tom Hanks is now my #1 after hearing his role in Saving Mr. Banks isn’t nearly as small as I was originally led to believe. For this reason he catapults back to the top spot, moving Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) down a notch.
The introduction of Carell and Hanks into the top five also pushes Bradley Cooper (American Hustle) and Javier Bardem (The Counselor) out of the top five and John Goodman (Inside Llewyn Davis) also gets the bump as I move Alec Baldwin (Blue Jasmine) back in the mix.
With so many films left to be seen this is mere speculation, but at least it helps pad that list of most anticipated movies we’ve all got running through our minds.
Once I get back from the Toronto Film Festival I will have also seen films such as 12 Years a Slave, Labor Day, Gravity and Rush and soon Saving Mr. Banks will have been seen by the New York Film Festival crowd and this list should start to shape up a little more nicely.
All things considered, directly below is my current top five for Best Supporting Actor and you can check out the full field of 36 contenders right here.
- Tom Hanks (Saving Mr. Banks)
- Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
- Josh Brolin (Labor Day)
- Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
- Alec Baldwin (Blue Jasmine)
