Best Actress: Ranking Every Oscar Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
We start a new week of Academy Award rankings, and we’re getting down to the wire. We now have to approach two of the most challenging categories to rank: both top acting groups. Starting off with Best Actress, I cannot begin to tell you how talented these nominees are. I can honestly imagine the top three performances of my ranking winning in other years, but here there will only be one woman crowned Best Actress. It’s tough. I try not to have any ties, but consider the top two here (most likely the same top two you have on your ranking as well) neck-and-neck; I will explain my rationale in each entry. I still feel like there was maybe a smidgen of room for improvement (one of the year’s biggest snubs is related to this category), but otherwise this was a tough rank to complete. Here are your nominees.
Biggest Snub: Danielle Deadwyler-Till
I know there is very little room to work with in the Best Actress category (I’m also upset that Viola Davis didn’t get nominated for The Woman King, but, given the caliber of talent we already have here, I’m a little more understanding that a film and performance that went under the radar didn’t get picked up here). What I still find inexcusable, mind you, is one of the year’s biggest oversights: Danielle Deadwyler not being nominated for Till. Delivering what is easily one of the best performances of last year, Deadwyler is exemplary in this film, particularly the single shot during the trial where a mother has to relay to the court the details of her son’s murder: it’s the kind of acting that will stay with you for a long, long time. We still have a strong group of nominees, but missing Deadwyler amongst them just feels so very wrong.
5. Michelle Williams-The Fabelmans
I want to preface this entry by stating that Michelle Williams is one of my all time favourite performers. No exaggeration. I have been praying that she would win an Oscar at least once in her career, and I do feel like she has been slighted at least a couple of times. Having said that, Williams is actually really good (as usual) in The Fabelmans, but I am placing her last because of how much the other four films absolutely depend on their leading actresses to do well. The Fabelmans has a lot going on, and Williams is only a piece of the bigger picture (maybe the biggest piece, but I feel like it’s the kind of role that a number of strong stars could fill). I still implore you to see The Fabelmans for Michelle Williams if you haven’t seen the film yet. She’s wonderful like always.
4. Ana de Armas-Blonde
I really don’t think highly of this exploitational film at all (I actually grimaced when I saw I gave it a 3/5: I’d go even lower now), and even then I feel like Ana de Armas has a few moments where she slips out of her Marilyn Monroe routine (particularly her accent popping in and out occasionally). Nonetheless, when she is on, she is absolutely on. Blonde is remotely watchable only because of how much work De Armas puts into making it even coherent, and she accepts all of the toughness that the film throws at her. This is a vulnerable performance in a film that maybe didn’t deserve it: the performance may not be perfect, but it is some of the strongest commitment you’ll find in a film from 2022. Despite my reluctance towards Blonde, De Armas fits in nicely here as one of the later nominees to make it in.
3. Andrea Riseborough-To Leslie
We all know the Andrea Risenborough story by now, so I’ll just cut to the chase: this is one hell of a performance. Perhaps one of the most unrecognizable roles of 2022, Risenborough completely transforms as the addiction-stricken Lee who goes through one of the worst stretches of her entire life. If you’ve ever had a rough time in your life (and I know you have, because we all get these), you’ll know exactly how Lee feels when she breaks down and aches, becomes defensive because uphill battles are all she knows, and has to lie to herself in order to love herself again. This is as real as these kinds of performances go. I’m so glad that Risenborough is here, and that her nomination wasn’t taken away because the To Leslie team couldn’t afford the expensive tradition of Oscars campaigning (what a stupid caveat that would have been, and it would have only proven the naysayers that claim that the Academy is no longer about art right).
2. Michelle Yeoh-Everything Everywhere All at Once
Splitting the top two performances here was somewhat of a nightmare. My rationale was to place my heart’s pick second, and my mind’s selection first. My heart goes to Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once: a multifaceted series of performances from an icon that the academies have slept on for too long. Yeoh is funny, harrowing, identifiable, godly, vulnerable, and a badass all within the same feature. She hits every cue on the head when needed. Let’s be real: how many people could have felt natural in this role but Michelle Yeoh? I’d honestly argue no one else; I know Jackie Chan was the original choice for this part, and, as great as he is, Yeoh feels untouchable here. My heart wants this acting legend to get crowned for her terrific work in this film, and for her entire filmography: she truly is one of the greats of our time.
Cameron Geiser’s review of Everything Everywhere All at Once
1. Cate Blanchett-Tár
My mind goes with Cate Blanchett as the titular, tyrannical composer in Tár, and I’ll tell you why. I feel like anyone could have tried this role and they may have done a good job. However, Blanchett elevates this character to one of the finest of our time. Blanchett feels like she has been playing this character her entire life, and there isn’t any disguise that she uses to her advantage: she transforms without any makeup or costume based help whatsoever. I actually felt somewhat fearful of her, as if she was intimidating me whilst not even addressing me at all. She perfectly captures every single piece of criteria that Tár required of her: be convincing as a musical genius, showcase how you use power to manipulate others, and capture a sadist losing their legacy bit-by-bit without over or under selling this downward spiral. Blanchett delivers one of the best performances of her already-illustrious career in Tár, and if Michelle Yeoh wasn’t also in the running this year, I think making predictions for this year’s Best Actress would be quite a different story.
Who I want to win: Oh God. Don’t do this to me. Either Cate Blanchett, Michelle Yeoh, or Andrea Riseborough (although I’m still dying for Michelle Williams to win an Oscar, but, sadly, it is yet again not her year, I’m afraid).
Who I think will win: This is even more difficult to fill out. I feel like one of three things can happen:
1) Cate Blanchett will be the sole winner for Tár, and usually Best Picture nominees get at least one win elsewhere, given how many Academy members will be focusing their efforts on the categories they can vote in.
2) Michelle Yeoh will be a part of the Everything Everywhere All at Once takeover and will win here. If both her and Ke Huy Quan win but Everything Everywhere All at Once doesn’t win for anything else, it won’t win Best Picture. If both or either win (because Quan is a lock, let’s be honest) and the film wins other big awards, it’s going for Best Picture (mark my words).
3) The split of all splits will happen, and the same tidal wave that got Andrea Riseborough into the final five will send her straight to the top, zipping past Yeoh and Blanchett for an award no one was expecting even a couple of weeks ago. This is actually, entirely possible.
As to not be a wuss and play it safe, I will currently say my figurative money is on Michelle Yeoh, because I feel like the Everything Everywhere All at Once train will not let down. My opinion will likely change in the coming weeks, but maybe not.
Tune in tomorrow for our next Academy Award category! We’re reviewing every single nominee on every weekday.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.