Last night at the Gotham Awards, in the battle of the himbos, Reggie took out Ken, with Charles Melton winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance in May December over a field that included Ryan Gosling’s performance in Barbie. 

 

We’ve been on the Charles Melton hype train for a while here at LaineyGossip – shout-out to Kathleen who was all about him when he took over from Ross Butler in Riverdale – so it’s thrilling to see him come into this moment. As Sarah wrote in her review of May December last week, he is the heart and soul, the moral centre, of the film. So this win could just be the beginning of a ride that takes him all the way to the Oscars for a nomination. 

 

The Gothams do not separate the acting categories by gender, so going forward, Charles will be contending against some big names who were not in the field at this event. Ryan Gosling, for sure, will remain in the conversation, and both Robert De Niro and Robert Downey, Jr. will likely be in the Supporting Actor conversation. That said, Charles has broken through first, and given that he doesn’t have the name recognition of the others, this win is a major boost to his campaign to be considered as one of the five names eventually called on nomination day in January. Keep in mind, the last two Supporting Actor winners at the Gothams went on to Oscars: Troy Kotsur and Ke Huy Quan.

 

Here's Charles accepting his award, thanking co-stars (and Oscar winners) Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, and also director Todd Haynes who clearly adores him: 

 

As you heard, Charles thanks his mom there at the end, and he’s been giving away jars of his mom’s kimchi to people on the press tour. It’s sweet and endearing but it’s more than just sucking up to the media. This is about representation, too. Charles is of Korean descent on his mother’s side, and he is sharing one of the most quintessentially Korean side dishes, making sure that everyone who comes into contact with him as he campaigns understands that who he is, who he came from. That he is the vessel for their dreams and hopes. 

 

Which is why, as Sarah wrote in her post about him yesterday, he did not fall into the trap that so many handsome white actors fell into before him. Because, quite simply and obviously, he’s not white. Charles Melton is the child of an immigrant mother. No child of an immigrant mother is going to be out here in these streets sh-tting on the Riverdale doors he had to walk through in order to make his way as an actor. Jacob Elordi wouldn’t understand that perspective. 

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