2020 Oscar Predictions: Best Supporting Actor
It's nearly time to meet the Oscars class of 2020. This year's Academy Awards caps off an abbreviated awards season -- the show will air on Feb. 9, weeks earlier than usual -- and ET has been here the entire time, sussing out Oscar fortunes. On Jan. 13, the Academy will announce their nominations, but before then, take one final look at our predictions for who is in the running for Best Supporting Actor.
This year's Best Supporting Actor race is shaping up to be a who's who of Academy favorites. Even the wunderkind of the group, Timothée Chalamet, already has an Oscar nomination to his name. With two spots seemingly reserved for legends and The Irishman co-stars Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, who else will make the cut? Neither Willem Dafoe nor Sam Rockwell can seem to miss with the Academy is recent years, while America's most beloved actor, Tom Hanks, is up for his first nomination in over a decade.
THE PREDICTIONS
Our Final Predictions:
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Song Kang Ho, Parasite
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The Potential Spoilers:
Timothée Chalamet, Little Women
Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse
Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Sam Rockwell, Richard Jewell
Also check out: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress
THE SCORECARD
Timothée Chalamet, Little Women
The Role: Laurie, a neighbor and friend to the March sisters and admirer of Jo -- though we all know who he ends up with.
Oscar History: One nomination, for Best Actor in Call Me By Your Name (2018).
Awards season scorecard:
Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse
The Role: Thomas Wake, the keeper of the titular lighthouse who slowly goes mad once isolated with Robert Pattinson's journeyman assistant.
Oscar History: Four nominations, for Best Supporting Actor in Platoon (1987), Shadow of the Vampire (2001) and The Florida Project (2018) and Best Actor in At Eternity's Gate (2019).
Awards season scorecard:
Critics Choice Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy
The Role: Walter McMillian, the wrongfully-convicted death row inmate whom Michael B. Jordan's attorney character is fighting to free.
Oscar History: One win, for Best Actor in Ray (2005), with an additional nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Collateral (2005).
Awards season scorecard:
SAG Awards - Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Nominee)
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
The Role: Fred Rogers, America's most beloved children's television host and subject of an Esquire profile about heroes.
Oscar History: Two wins, for Best Actor in Philadelphia (1994) and in Forrest Gump (1995), with three additional nominations, for Best Actor in Big (1989), Saving Private Ryan (1999) and Cast Away (2001).
Awards season scorecard:
BAFTA Awards - Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Critics Choice Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Golden Globes -- Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
SAG Awards - Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Nominee)
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
The Role: Pope Benedict XVI, the outgoing, old school pope who must contend with the arrival of "Cool Pope" Francis to the Vatican.
Oscar History: One win, for Best Actor in The Silence of the Lambs (1992), with three additional nominations for Best Actor in The Remains of the Day (1994) and Nixon (1996) and Best Supporting Actor in Amistad (1998).
Awards season scorecard:
BAFTA Awards - Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Critics Choice Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Golden Globes -- Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Song Kang Ho, Parasite
The Role: Kim Ki-taek, the mostly-unemployed patriarch of the Kim family who schemes his way into a peachy new gig as chauffeur to a wealthy businessman.
Oscar History: This would be Kang Ho's first nomination.
Awards season scorecard:
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Winner)
National Society of Film Critics - Best Supporting Actor (Runner-up)
Al Pacino, The Irishman
The Role: Jimmy Hoffa, the crooked Teamster leader whose disappearance in 1975 remains unsolved to this day.
Oscar History: One win, for Best Actor in Scent of a Woman (1993), with seven additional nominations, for Best Supporting Actor in The Godfather (1973), Best Actor in Serpico (1974), The Godfather: Part II (1975), Dog Day Afternoon (1976), ...and justice for all. (1980), Best Supporting Actor in Dick Tracy (1991) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1993).
Awards season scorecard:
BAFTA Awards - Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Critics Choice Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Golden Globes -- Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Hollywood Film Awards - Hollywood Supporting Actor Award (Winner)
SAG Awards - Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Nominee)
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
The Role: Russell Bufalino, head of the notorious Bufalino mob family and mentor to Robert De Niro's character within the world of organized crime.
Oscar History: One win, for Best Supporting Actor in Goodfellas (1991), with an additional nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Raging Bull (1981).
Awards season scorecard:
BAFTA Awards - Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Critics Choice Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Golden Globes -- Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Runner-up)
National Society of Film Critics - Best Supporting Actor (Runner-up)
New York Film Critics Circle - Best Supporting Actor (Winner)
SAG Awards - Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Nominee)
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The Role: Cliff Booth, the longtime stunt double to Leonardo DiCaprio's character who unwittingly runs afoul of the Manson Family.
Oscar History: Three nominations, for Best Supporting Actor in Twelve Monkeys (1996), and Best Actor in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2009) and Moneyball (2012).
Awards season scorecard:
BAFTA Awards - Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Critics Choice Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Nominee)
Golden Globes -- Best Supporting Actor (Winner)
National Board of Review - Best Supporting Actor (Winner)
National Society of Film Critics - Best Supporting Actor (Winner)
SAG Awards - Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Nominee)
[This story was originally published on December 10, 2019.]
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