Monica & Mikey before the sprint

The BAFTAs are this weekend, the SAG Awards are next weekend, and the Oscars are the weekend after that. Thanks to wildfire-induced delays, awards season is an all-out sprint to the finish. To that end, everyone is outside, including nominees Mikey Madison and Monica Barbaro. 

Both are first-time nominees, though neither are a favorite in their categories (Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively). Sometimes that’s for the best, though, to be nominated, invited everywhere, but have no pressure on you to deliver in the big moment. You can usually tell the difference in the nominees who know there’s a chance they’ll win, and the ones for whom the win is the nomination. The nominees with no expectations always look WAY more relaxed, especially late into awards season.

Case in point, here is Monica Barbaro in New York, looking breezy in a white suit that combines contemporary slouchy fit with Eighties power suit lines. I love it. She looks completely unbothered. At the same time, Mikey Madison stepped out, also in New York, in a great pair of trousers and cool shades. Heading into BAFTA weekend, she looks a little less relaxed. She’s expected in London on Sunday for those awards, where she is a double nominee, for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the EE Rising Star Award. I think she has a pretty good shot at the Rising Star Award, and I posit it is that expectation on her making all the difference. She’s probably going to have to give a speech on Sunday. Just because they’re actors doesn’t mean they like extemporaneous speaking.