The 88th Academy Awards is slated on February 26, 2017 to be held at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California but one of the expected highlights of the event is the very competitive race for the Best Actress award.
Five actresses have been nominated for the category including prohibitive Oscar favorite Emma Stone for “La La Land,” Isabelle Huppert for “Elle,” Natalie Portman for “Jackie,” veteran Meryl Streep for “Florence Foster Jenkins,” and Ruth Negga in “Loving.”
Most critics, however, are one in saying that the competition is already a toss-up between Emma Stone and Isabelle Huppert. Both Stone and Huppert actually won as Best Actress during the 2017 Golden Globes – Stone for musical and Huppert for drama.
However, Huppert is the dark horse between the two and it would not be surprising to see her outclass the “La La Land” actress, reports IndieWire.
Quite interestingly, two stars of Best Picture contenders for this year’s Oscars did not make it as nominees including five–time nominee Amy Adams for “Arrival” and Taraji P. Henson for “Hidden Figures.”
A third possible contender who also did not make it is the veteran actress and four-time nominee Annette Bening for the movie “20th Century Women,” which is not nominated for Best Picture.
The second time may be a charm
It can be recalled that Emma Stone also made it as nominee for Best Actress last year for the movie “Birdman” but she did not get the recognition so the second time might be sweeter for “The Amazing Spider-Man” actress.
After winning in the 2017 Golden Globe as Best Actress for Musical, Emma Stone also won as Best Actress in Venice, Telluride, and Toronto for her role in “La La Land” as an enchanting singer-dancer-actress.
She also went on to get Critics Choice, SAG, and BAFTA nominations and took home Golden Globe and SAG awards. The Oscar is hers to lose, most critics note.
But some critics believe that the Best Actress could also be a shocker, the same way it happened last year when Sylvester Stallone did not win the Best Supporting Actor award for the movie “Creed” despite the odds seemingly tilting in his favor then.
A possible game-changer
Some are even saying that Natalie Portman also has an outside chance of being named the winner after delivering a moving performance as Jackie Onassis in “Jackie,” reports Gold Derby.
The outlet also suggested not to underestimate snob appeal when calculating Oscar odds. However, it added that Huppert is considered one of the world’s great actresses and it is really a great wonder why she has never been nominated until now.
Her dramatic work in “Elle” has earned her rapturous reviews, and more critics’ prizes than her competitors combined.
Few thought that she had a serious chance at the Golden Globes, yet there she was up on stage, grasping for the right words and then struggling for the proper translation. Her surprise victory became the gab of the Globes, not to mention a golden game changer.
But there are a number of factors going against Huppert. Like Stallone in “Creed,” it’s difficult to win an acting trophy on a single nomination.
No one has ever taken a lead Academy Award without an SAG nomination. She doesn’t play a real person or undergoes a major onscreen physical transformation.
Huppert’s winning dramatic performance in Paul Verhoeven’s taut mystery “Elle” also debuted well at Cannes. The veteran French actress pulls off one of the year’s most challenging characters – a rape victim, who refuses to let her abuse define her.
Her character claims her identity as an entrepreneur, mother, and sexually active older woman.
The Academy occasionally embraces foreign actors in its acting categories and could do so again. Critics also believe that Huppert is long overdue for an Oscar award.
Meanwhile, Natalie Portman’s performance in Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie” as the grieving widow of John F. Kennedy broke out at the fall festivals.