2. Juliette Lewis - August: Osage County
Julliette Lewis' star has cooled a bit from the early days of her career when she received her lone Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress acting across a psychotic Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear, as well as street cred for appearing in cult classics such as Natural Born Killers and From Dusk Till Dawn. She may have a chance at reinvigorating her career this year though with a choice role in the ensemble adaptation of the Tracy Letts play, August: Osage County. I already gave a synopsis of the film in discussing Margo Martindale's chances at a Best Supporting Actress nomination, so I will take a pass in describing the film's plot yet again, but I will mention Ms. Lewis' specific role in the film. Lewis plays Karen Weston, the youngest daughter in the Weston family. Karen reunites with her family at her clan's compound with her fiance, Steve (Dermot Mulroney), in toe. Apparently deliriously in love with her man, over the course of the film, the true nature of Karen's beloved is clearly revealed to both her and the audience. As I stated previously, I have not seen the play, so it is hard for me to judge with a cast loaded with so many big names, which roles will be significant enough to be genuine Oscar contenders, and which are merely just flashy pretenders. Here's what we can say though. The roles filled by Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and Margo Martindale were all nominated for awards in their original stage incarnations. There is good reason to believe then that these roles may meet with a fortuitous fate in their rendezvous with Oscar. The question for the rest of the cast then is if these performances find favor with Oscar, is there room for the rest of the cast to bask in the rays of Oscar glory? For Ms. Lewis, this will likely depend on two factors: a). Will the film be popular enough and, b). Will Julia Roberts be pushed as a co-lead or a supporting actress? If August: Osage County is a smashing hit with awards bodies and the field for potential supporting actress nominees is weak, many will surely look deep in the film's cast for potential nominees. However, if Mr. Weinstein decides it is to the film's strategic interest to categorize Julia Roberts role in the film as a "supporting actress", then Juliette Lewis' chances will be all but smashed.