‘Awards Magnet’ mailbag: A Zoe Saldaña and Ariana Grande vote-split? Is ‘A Complete Unknown’ the new ‘Maestro’?
Could there be a musical vote-split in the Best Supporting Actress Oscar race? Is A Complete Unknown this year’s Maestro? Gold Derby editors and experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng are here to answer your burning questions of the week on Awards Magnet.
Zoe Saldaña has sat in the No. 1 spot in the Best Supporting Actress odds this whole season for Emilia Pérez, but Ariana Grande has been giving chase ever since Wicked opened last month and is now on Saldaña’s heels in second place. Two musical performances in the top two is a musical lover’s dream, but could that somehow lead to a vote-split? And thus pave the way for a non-musical contender to triumph? One listener thinks The Substance‘s Margaret Qualley would be the beneficiary.
SEE Awards Magnet mailbag: Kieran Culkin’s run and the Best Actress bloodbath
A Complete Unknown is not a musical, but it is a film about a famous musician starring an Oscar-nominated actor that became available to the public at Christmastime — just like “Maestro.” Is that where the movies’ similarities end? One listener believes that’s where they begin, positing that both films tick various boxes of Oscar bait but might ultimately get shut out on Oscar night. “Maestro” became an internet punching bag when it hit Netflix this time last year, but it still scored seven nominations, with its best shot at a victory in makeup and hairstyling, which it lost to Poor Things. A Complete Unknown is less likely to be that divisive, but that doesn’t mean the Timothée Chalamet film can’t go home empty-handed either.
Plus: questions about Wicked hate, the Oscar shortlists, and more.
Email your questions to slugfests@goldderby.com.