In the first edition of our 2020s Oscar Rankings, I ranked the Best Supporting Actor Winners of the 2020s. Now, it’s time I turn your attention towards the Best Supporting Actress category. What differentiates this category’s victors so far this decade is that all winners are not newly discovered ingenues. Some of these winners have had past success in other areas of the entertainment industry, while others are longtime mainstays of the film world. The question is: how do these winning actresses stack up against one another? Here are my rankings for the Best Supporting Actress winners of the 2020s so far:
5. Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Many silver screen legends never get the Oscars acknowledgment that they rightfully deserve. For others, their deserved victory arrives at an unexpected time much later for work that would never stack up against their earlier peaks. The “make-up” Oscar is not a new phenomenon, and Jamie Lee Curtis’ Academy Award win for her work in Everything Everywhere All At Once is the most recent example. (Most notably, Leonardo DiCaprio won his only Best Actor Oscar for The Revenant, when many agree he has had significantly better performances over the years.)
Charisma oozes out of every pore on her body, so, although she really doesn’t have much to work with in this film, she is a joy to watch. Thanks to her athletic past in films like True Lies and Halloween films, she credibly wrestles Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan all over the IRS building. At the same time, she emotionally sells a relationship with one of Yeoh’s multiversal characters while playing the piano with hot dog fingers.
Also overshadowing this win is her taking the statue over co-star Stephanie Hsu. Hsu’s performance as the film’s antagonist Jobu Tupaki is understood by many as the superior supporting performance. With the decision to go with Curtis over Hsu, the win is coated in a narrative of campaign politics over actual performance. That’s essentially the award show in a nutshell, but we always like to believe the reverse is true.
4. Laura Dern in Marriage Story (2019)
Similar to the Jamie Lee Curtis victory, Laura Dern’s Oscar had as much to do with her body of work as Marriage Story itself. Her time in the film is minimal, but her bombastic Nora Fanshaw character leaves a lasting impression throughout.
Along with playing to the hometown crowd with her characterization, Dern has THE speech in the film; otherwise known as “the Oscar clip” monologue. Spoken with vivaciousness and acidity in equal measure, Dern exclaims to Scarlett Johansson’s character, “You will always be held to a different, higher standard.” This line exposes the emotional undercurrent of the film, creating a whole other layer to the divorce struggle that has been showing on the surface. Dern brings these themes to life with such strength and passion in her performance, that it masks the fact that she is only in eighteen minutes of the film.
3. Ariana DeBose in West Side Story (2021)
For some Oscar ceremonies, there are narratives that practically guarantee a category winner. In the case of Ariana DeBose, that narrative was deeply rooted in Hollywood history. Sixty years prior, Rita Moreno won an Oscar in this same category for the original film adaptation of West Side Story. The 1961 film was a comet at its respective ceremony, winning ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Suffice to say, the West Side Story iconography and the Anita character in particular, have been a huge part of Oscars history for over half a century.
Combining a strong theater background with the legendary direction of Steven Spielberg, DeBose provides a powerhouse performance that electrifies the film whenever she’s in the frame. Along with the character herself being a force to be reckoned with, DeBose also shows a strong range. Her choreography during the barn burner song, “America,” is captivating; she’s constantly drawing the viewers’ attention to her even when there is so much bursting through the frame. Dramatic moments are also effective, especially in her quieter moments alongside Rachel Zegler in their shared apartment.
The scene that really cements this Oscar win is when the Jets surround Anita and assault her. The combination of horror and sorrow while still maintaining the character’s strength makes this performance a worthy successor to the classic original.
2. Youn Yuh-jung in Minari (2020)
Although the 2021 Academy Awards and the industry at large were heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, an opportunity arose for smaller-scale films like Minari to take center stage. To that end, less conventional performances also had the chance to be recognized at the ceremony, including Youn Yuh-jung. As a legendary actress in South Korean television and cinema, it feels right that she be awarded given her status in the industry. Historical accolades aside, her performance as the rowdy grandmother in Minari makes the movie.
Even for those who are not familiar with Youn’s background, her domineering presence brings an exciting unpredictability to all of her scenes. As Soonja, Youn Yuh-jung brings a multilayered energy to the film that transcends the average tropes of a grandma figure. Not only does she encapsulate the film’s core message in her beautifully meditative scenes with Alan Kim, she also injects the film with much-needed humor in an otherwise somber piece. The performance is a constant juggling act between intensity, vulgarity, hilarity, and sensitivity; an act only achievable by an actress of her caliber.
1. Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers (2023)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph is the supporting breakout role of the 2020s. With that being said, she had been building momentum for over ten years to reach this win. She is a former Tony nominee for her role in Ghost: the Musical and has been working nonstop since 2011. The role of Mary Lamb in The Holdovers feels like a character that no one else could have played. This sentiment is a testament to her incredible work in the film, portraying a head cook who carries the weight of the world on her shoulders.
In collaboration with David Hemingson and Alexander Payne, Randolph crafts a person who feels complex and true in a way that leaves a lasting impression long after the film’s conclusion. After just losing her son to the Vietnam War, she is forced to surround herself with other young men who are living significantly more comfortable lives. This constant tension is expressed beautifully by Randolph, who simultaneously maintains a charisma that she has become known for in her career.
Her breakdown in the kitchen during the Christmas Party sequence is the showiest example of her excellence in this performance, but it is her silent moment with Dominic Sessa near the end of the film that pulls the whole story together. Mary Lamb quietly reaches her hand out and takes Angus Tully’s hand while the two sit together in silence poetically completing both of their stories simultaneously. There is no better combination of character and actress in this category in the 2020s than this.
List Courtesy of Gabe Lillianthal
Feature Image Credit to Focus Features via The Hollywood Reporter, Still from ‘The Holdovers.’