This year we don’t have the fortune of knowing exactly who will win Best Actress. We have five nominees that include two frontrunners, one possible upset and two actresses who should be honored to receive recognition for their work.
And the nominees are:
- Jessica Chastain- Zero Dark Thirty
- Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
- Emmanuelle Riva- Amour
- Quvenzhané Wallis- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Naomi Watts- The Impossible
Jessica Chastain:
Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain is one of those actresses we can’t help but adore. She had amazing success in 2011 receiving her first Oscar nomination for The Help. This year she headlined Zero Dark Thirty and carried the film as Maya, the woman on the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Chastain won big with the Critics and also took home the Golden Globe. Unfortunately, she missed at SAG and with all the backlash Zero Dark Thirty is receiving, her road to victory might be over. But, Oscar always has a sort of funny way of surprising us. I still consider Chastain a frontrunner, just the runner-up frontrunner.
Jennifer Lawrence:
Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence had the best year of her career. The Hunger Games, which was released earlier in 2012, brought Lawrence to a whole new level of stardom. But her role in Silver Linings Playbook proved she can still hit it big with an Independent film. Do I think Jennifer Lawrence deserves to win an Oscar for her role in Silver Linings Playbook? No, not when she’s up against great performances from her fellow nominees. But, I don’t really get a say in it. The Weinstein’s have been pushing Silver Linings Playbook really hard, so hard that the film received nominations in each acting category. Jennifer Lawrence is a talented actress who is only getting better, but I don’t think this is the role she deserves to win an Oscar for. Lawrence won at the Globes and SAG and is considered the frontrunner to win Best Actress.
Emmanuelle Riva:
The Upset. Since the Oscar nominations were revealed, the actress race went from being all about Chastain, to being all about Lawrence, and somewhere in the middle we began to believe in Riva’s ability to upset the race. Amour, the little film that could earned five nominations, and many believe that those who loved the film enough to nominate it will vote even harder for it to win. The oldest Best Actress nominee received nominations from the Critics and BAFTA, but missed with the Globes and SAG. If Riva couldn’t receive a nomination from SAG, is she really a strong enough contender to cause an upset Oscar night?
Quvenzhané Wallis:
When Beasts of the Southern Wild was released, everybody was pushing for Wallis to receive a nomination. When the Critics were the only group to show their praise for her performance, many began to lose hope. Dreams do come true and at nine years old Wallis is the youngest actress to be nominated in this category. She may not win an Oscar for her role as Hushpuppy, but this Oscar nomination taught everyone how to say her name correctly. Thank god for that.
Naomi Watts:
When Oscar season was just beginning, I was sure that Naomi Watts would not only get nominated, but win for her role in The Impossible. I thought the Academy would eat up her performance about a woman who vacations to Thailand with her family, only to be a victim in the historic and horrific Tsunami that leads her to fight for survival. Watts has received nominations from all the important guilds but has no wins. She may not win this time around, but I’m sure she’ll receive attention later this year for her role in Diana.
If you’re confused about this category, all I can say is join the club. We’ve seen this pattern before; one contender wins big early in the season, then someone else takes over the race and ends up winning the Oscar. We’ve also seen cases where one contender wins everything except the SAG. I believe that Oscar voters can see past the pile of crap surrounding Zero Dark Thirty and vote for Chastain. But I also know that sometimes my head is in the clouds. History says both Chastain and Lawrence have a shot at winning, but right now Lawrence is the favorite to win.
Final Prediction: Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
Snubs: Marion Cotillard- Rust & Bone, Keira Knightley- Anna Karenina, Rachel Weisz- The Deep Blue Sea
Related Stories:
Tags: Amour, Anna Karenina, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Best Actress, Deep Blue Sea, Emmanuelle Riva, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Keira Knightley, Marion Cotillard, naomi watts, Oscar Circuit, Oscars, Quvenzhané Wallis, Rachel Weisz, Rust &Bone, Silver Linings Playbook, The Impossible, Zero Dark Thirty
22 Comments
The damage is done when it comes to Zero Dark Thirty and the ridiculous controversy. Because of that I have Jessica Chastain in third. For awhile I was thinking Riva would win but I remember someone saying Silver Linings Playbook has to win for something. So I’m picking Jennifer Lawrence to win, which is fine by me because she’d be my personal choice as well. I saw the film a second time and loved it even more.
Jeremy DC(Quote) (Reply)
Nobody says Silver LInings Playbook has to win for anything… Just because it scored the main nominations doesn’t mean anything other than it was voted for. I enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook but when it comes to the Oscars I dont agree that Lawrence should win. It wouldn’t ruin my day if she won, because i think she’s talented but I think it should be either Riva or Chastain.
Anna Young(Quote) (Reply)
I am sure that it is going to be Riva at the end. Her performance is undeniably the most proficient of the bunch. I consider Chastain’s performance the least impressive and not very deserving of a nomination (Rachel Weisz – The Deep Blue Sea).
Daniel B.(Quote) (Reply)
I’m going to have to disagree with you on Chastain. I thought the way she carried that film was brilliant… and the subtle change in her character throoughout the film was very well done. But it seems we have a lot of Riva love going on here, but we’ve seen it before, sometimes the best doesn’t always win.
Anna Young(Quote) (Reply)
I think Lawrence has it wrapped up. I can only assume that a quadruple-nominated film with Picture, Director, and Screenplay on its side as well has to pull in something. It’s not going to be Bradley Cooper and certainly not Jacki Weaver, so that leaves Lawrence and DeNiro. Of the two, Lawrence definitely seems the most likely…
Though, honestly, I’d love to see any of them win. I think Chastain deserves it, I’m a huge JLaw fanboy, Wallis and Riva, in addition to being award-worthy performances, would be fun Oscar history and cool winners alongside the rest (imagine Emmanuelle Riva or little ‘Zhane Wallis presenting Best Actor next year!), and Naomi Watts has been passed over a bunch. This is one category where I’m pretty satisfied with any outcome.
UBourgeois(Quote) (Reply)
I agree across the board.
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
I wouldn’t mind any of them winning… I think it’s a great group of women nominated but I just like anybody else i would love to see my favorite win.
Anna Young(Quote) (Reply)
In my oppinion, E. Riva created the best performance of the year, but if we’re talking about Oscar then it means we’re dealing with show-bizz and here Jennifer looks as a front-runner. Totally agree, her role as Tiffany is not a performance for what she deserves to win…
E. Wallis could be happy just be nominated.
N. Watts definitely will be a strong contender for her role as “Diane” later this year. If Weinsteins are buying “Diana”, then she becomes an early contender.
Genadijus(Quote) (Reply)
Glad we’re in agreement.
Anna Young(Quote) (Reply)
I still haven’t seen THE IMPOSSIBLE or AMOUR, but out of this lineup…I’d say Chastain should win. She got screwed last year because they nominated her for the wrong film, and she does well in ZD30, so I think she should get it. Lawrence is good, but I don’t think she should win. Wallis…she’s good, but the only reason she got on was because this was a terrible year for actresses. I’m glad for her, but she doesn’t give an award-worthy performance.
I agree that Weisz got snubbed (she’d be my pick), but I hated Anna Karenina and don’t think Knightley was that good in it.
JamDenTel(Quote) (Reply)
I think they chose the right film last year for Chastain to get nominated if we’re talking about popularity. The Help was by far the most liked within the Academy. Either way she deserved a nomination for each film she was in last year. I think she’s a fantastic actress and I would love to see her fight through the crap surrounding Zero Dark Thirty and win.
Anna Young(Quote) (Reply)
True enough, but her role in The Help would never beat Octavia Spencer’s. The Tree of Life…that’s a different matter. But it matters not.
I also think the ZD30 backlash is pretty ridiculous. Not that there aren’t valid points to be made, but Jessica Chastain shouldn’t be penalized because of them.
JamDenTel(Quote) (Reply)
I guess I’m missing something when it comes to Chastain and The Tree of Life. I’m not a Malick hater but in most of his films his characters seem to wander around aimlessly and Jessica Chastain was no exception.
Jeremy DC(Quote) (Reply)
I think what could very well happen is a similar situation of what happened in 2002. Back then, people were split in picking Daniel Day-Lewis for “Gangs of New York” or Jack Nicholson in “About Schmidt” that they eventually split the vote leading the passionate support for Adrien Brody to push him through. With divided camps for Chastain and Lawrence clawing at the base, that could leave room for Riva to pull through. I hope she does. I’m certainly on Team Riva.
Josh P.(Quote) (Reply)
Hey, there’s always a possibility that can happen. Like I said, the Academy has a funny way of surprising us sometimes. We think we know what’s going to be the outcome and then Boom, we’re shocked.
Anna Young(Quote) (Reply)
I adore Jennifer Lawrence and i will love it if she wins, she make a fantastic year, and in Winter’s Bone she prove that is a great actress, but i also love Jessica Chastain, so i love the fact that the winner of this year it is between this two actresses. Naomi Watt do a terrific perfomance in The Impossible and i haven’t see Beasts and Amour, but whoever wins that night i will be happy, at this point i wouldn’t get mad if emanuelle win o quvenzhani wins because the five nominees are great. I go for Jennifer this year just because i adore her. And i hope to see Naomi next year for Diana winning her first academy award
paula gajardo(Quote) (Reply)
I´m on the Riva team too!!!
Mikael(Quote) (Reply)
Well, in your case, I hope she wins.
Anna Young(Quote) (Reply)
Sometimes the Academy gets it completely right…and usually with foreign actresses – think Sophia Loren in Two Women, Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose, and even Simone Signoret in Room at the Top (ok so it was an English movie). So for those reasons, I pick Riva to be the upset of the night. Hers is the best performance of the year.
Sean Riley(Quote) (Reply)
Sometimes the Academy gets it just right, but they are also known to get it wrong too. We can only hope that our favorite wins that night.
Anna Young(Quote) (Reply)
With Chastain seemingly out of the race, I really hope Riva pulls the upset. My preference really is for Chastain as I have been so impressed by her body of work in last 2 years but if you just look purely at each performance it should be Riva that walks away with the Oscar but as Anna has said not the best wins (Bullock over Mulligan/Streep ewwness!!) Riva gave the best perforamce of the year and I really believe if it was an english speaking film perhaps this race would already be over. Let’s hope AMPAS gets it right this time. Fingers Crossed!!!!
kailor(Quote) (Reply)
I met some folks who work in the industry. Apparently, they know voters who are now changing their ballots in favor of Riva.
Worth remembering that BAFTA has a sterling record in predicting the main acting categories, especially the BEST ACTRESS.
BAFTA has correctly predicated in the last anticipated six of the last seven best actress Oscar winners, including the two semi-upsets that SAG and many other awards groups missed, Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) over Julie Christie (Away from Her) and Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) over Viola Davis (The Help).
Chris(Quote) (Reply)