Cate Blanchett, Carey Mulligan, Saoirse Ronan, they’re all previous Oscar winners and/or nominees. Brie Larson is hoping for her first nomination for her performance in Room. And it’s Brie who, right now, is considered a lock to make the list, along with Cate in Carol, followed by Saoirse in Brooklyn. All of them showed up for the Governors Awards, securing favour with the Academy.
Rooney Mara was there too – I posted photos of her in LifeStyle just now, click here to see. What’s interesting about Rooney is that the studio was originally pushing for her to be considered in the Supporting Actress category. Which, if and when you see Carol, is Hollywood trickery. She’s a co-lead, along with Cate Blanchett, but they spread their campaigns around so that their actors don’t compete against one another. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, however, has ignored the studio’s submission and has declared that Rooney belongs in the Best Actress category, alongside Cate.
This is especially intriguing because, as you know, the HFPA, most of the time, just wants to be best friends with Hollywood, and they don’t often go against the wishes of the studio. “Integrity” isn’t exactly the attribute anyone would use to describe them. And still, both Rooney and Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), positioned by both their studios to go Supporting, have been bumped up to Lead. And their new classification might affect Carey Mulligan in Suffragette if the Screen Actors Guild and, finally, if the Academy decides to follow.
It’s mid-November and it’s an actual race in almost all major categories. I’m excited.
