Following the London premiere of May December, Charles Melton and Julianne Moore stuck around for another screening and Q&A at Soho House, finessing the BAFTA voters and whatever Academy members are in London right now.
As Lainey mentioned, the Golden Globe nominations will be announced Monday, and it’s looking more and more like Charles is a frontrunner for a nomination, at least. But the campaign isn’t just about him, it’s also about Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, as well as the film itself. May December is on the Best Picture bubble, certainly not a shoo-in but circling that outer ring with films like Air and Rustin.
Netflix could probably push harder for director Todd Haynes and the film itself, but they’re backing Maestro and Bradley Cooper as their #1 Oscar best boy, and there’s something about their approach to Oscar campaigning, like they haven’t quite figured out how to run their own films against one another. That’s not what is actually happening, there are some very experienced people working on awards marketing for Netflix, yet every year their approach remains the same—they have one film they back in a major way, and nothing else is really allowed to compete with it. Not for nothing, Charles Melton is competing for Best Supporting Actor, and Maestro isn’t fielding a serious supporting candidate. He can succeed without taking any shine off Bradley Cooper, which feels like the impetus of Netflix’s entire awards run this year. No one is allowed to outshine Bradley Cooper.
Speaking of, while was Charles in London with Julianne, Coop served Brooke Shields—and other people, but also Brooke Shields—Philly cheesesteaks in New York from a “pop up food truck”. Aren’t all food trucks, by their very nature, pop ups? What even is this Oscar season.
