Scarlett Johansson
If Scarlett Johansson hadn’t spent several years appearing in Marvel films, she’d probably have an Oscar by now. She was nominated twice in 2019, for JoJo Rabbit and Marriage Story. I would argue that she also deserved nominations for Under The Skin and Lost in Translation as well. Indeed, considering that Jonathan Lynn revealed himself to be a pretentious blowhard when he was accepting his Oscar for The Zone of Interest, it seems even more likely than before that the power of Under the Skin was totally due to Johansson’s performance. This year, she’ll be appearing in Paper Tiger, James Gray’s latest movie about two brothers dealing with the Russian mafia. (Seriously, how many times has Gray made this movie?)
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten finally received her first nomination for The Power of the Dog and she probably would have won if that film hadn’t been such a remote and chilly viewing experience. Dunst is a Hollywood survivor, someone who has gone from appearing in cutesy film like Get Over It to becoming one of the best interpreters of depression out there. Between Melancholia and Power of the Dog, there’s really no excuse for her not to have an Oscar already.
Carey Mulligan
Mulligan should have won an Oscar for An Education. Along with An Education, she’s also been nominated for Promising Young Woman and Maestro. She deserved a nomination for Shame as well. Carey Mulligan is one of the most intelligent actresses of her generation and hopefully, she’ll get the award that she deserves soon.
Anya Taylor-Joy
Taylor-Joy has seemed like an eventual nominee ever since her role in The Witch. This year, she’ll be playing Joni Mitchell in Cameron Crowe’s currently untitled biopic and appearing in Dune: Part Three. It’ll be interesting to see if she follows the Timothee Chalamet route of getting nominated for playing an iconic singer.
Kate Hudson
A lot of people have been dismissive of Kate Hudson’s nomination for Song Sung Blue. Well, I’ve actually seen the film and I hope she wins tonight. She gave a great performance. And if she does lose to Jessie Buckley or Rose Byrne tonight, I hope she’ll get a third nomination soon.
Amy Adams
A few years ago, Amy Adams seemed certain to win an Oscar at some point in the very near future. Since 2005, she has received 6 Oscar nominations and her lack of a nomination for Arrival is often cited as one of Oscar’s more bizarre decisions. And yet, it’s been 8 years since Adams was last nominated, for Adam McKay’s irksome “satire,” Vice. Adams has continued to appear in major films. In fact, many of her recent roles have been the type that seem to have Oscar nomination written all over them. That may be a part of the problem. Adams’s main strength as an actress has always been her natural authenticity. With films like Hillbilly Elegy and Nightbitch, she almost seemed to be trying too hard to catch the attention of the Academy. Her upcoming film, At The Sea, features her as a recovering addict and, again, it seems like the type of role that would get her nomination but the film itself was greeted with derision when it premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Oh well. I remain hope that my fellow redhead will finally get the Oscar that she deserves.
Through the Shattered Lens 