Worst Oscar Winners: Best Supporting Actress

Hey everyone! I'm back with another entry in the Worst Oscar Winners Series! Last month we did Best Actress. I decided I'd just finish up the actresses and do the Worst Supporting Actress winners.

This one was actually really difficult. A lot of the winners in this category over the years have had really great winners; even the winning performances I didn't necessarily like winning, I enjoyed, so deconstructing them in a negative context was tricky.

A lot of the winners in this category are lead performances that have slightly less screen time than the traditional "leads" but are leads nonetheless. Category fraud is very popular in the supporting categories, but it's especially popular in the Supporting Actress category.

So here you have it, the top 10 worst Supporting Actress winners.
#10.) Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist over Joan Cusack and Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl

Geena Davis' Oscar winning performance should have been in Ridley Scott's "Thelma and Louise" (paired with Susan Sarandon), but instead she won for this forgettable performance in an equally forgettable movie. While not a "bad" performance by any means, it's just not all that memorable.

On the other side of the spectrum, there's Joan Cusack and Sigourney Weaver in the iconic Working Girl. Both actresses (my personal favorite was Cusack, but I wouldn't have been mad with Weaver winning either) deliver not only memorable performances, but ones that have stood the test of time. Seriously, the Madonna quote is one of the best movie quotes of all time, and Working Girl is easily one of Mike Nichols' best works.

#9.) Jessica Lange in Tootsie over Glenn Glose in The Wold According to Garp

Jessica Lange is an actress of substantial talent; her popularity has only grown as with her involvement in American Horror Story, which is some of her best and most nuanced work. However, she won 2 of her Oscars for very dull and not exciting performances, one of them being in Sydney Pollack's Tootsie.

Glenn Close, on the other hand, has remained Oscarless her entire career. She should've definitely won Best Actress for her complex and innovative performance in Fatal Attraction, but her heartwarming performance in The World According to Garp is just as deserving. Though Lange got the last laugh in Tootsie and at the awards ceremony, it was Close who should've been the real winner.

#8.) Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener over Amy Adams in Junebug

Does anyone even remember Rachel Weisz winning an Oscar? That in itself should be indicative of the performance, which is equally as forgettable. Another case of "the performance is okay and we like the movie so let's give it an Oscar so it wins something", Weisz's win is a crime when you look at the performance it beat: Amy Adams' star making performance in the little indie "Junebug".

Adams has been nominated 4 more times since she was nominated here (3 more Supporting Actress nominations, and she'll face up against Cate Blanchett in Leading Actress next month), continuing to turn in complex and eclectic portrayals far different from the previous one. Sure, the character is remembered for her sunny and perky demeanor, something Adams would continue with Enchanted (a performance that was snubbed by the Academy by the way), but this performance hints at the darkness that Adams has only recently started to showcase (The Master, The Fighter, American Hustle). She blends both sunny and rainy perfectly; it was the kick Adams needed to start her impressive career. It's much more memorable, and difficult than anything Weisz has ever done in her career, including this mediocre and forgettable snooze of a performance.

#7.) Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls over Adriana Barraza in Babel

I for one, am a fan of Jennifer Hudson's performance in Dreamgirls, in fact, I can see why the Academy awarded it; Hudson's show stopping rendition "And I'm Telling You" is a moment much like Anne Hathaway's "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables; Hudson incorporates so much of her character into the song that it's impossible to ignore the acting complemented by the amazing singing. 

But Jennifer Hudson is a Lead Actress in Dreamgirls

This was Hudson's first acting credit (she was previously a contestant on American Idol), and as the unknown actress, she was campaigned in the Supporting category to make room for a Best Actress bid for singer Beyonce Knowles. Not only is the movie centered on Hudson's character, but Hudson blows Beyonce away (singing and acting, sorry not sorry Beyonce fans!). But the Supporting Actress category is the most frequent offender of category fraud, so this is no surprise. 

As much as I love the performance, within this category I can't say it holds even a candle to the work of Adriana Barranza's heartbreaking and nuanced work in Babel. Not only is Barranza a true supporting actress (she's working within a larger ensemble including Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett), but she's utterly devastating in the role. This was her first major acting credit, and she seized it completely; it's safe to say that she (along with other nominated star Rinko Kikuchi) steals the show away from the veteran actors within the ensemble. I'm not sure if I would've given Hudson the win, let alone a spot in Best Actress. The performance is great, and it put her on the map aside from American Idol, but there were just better performances out there that year. This, was was definitely one of them. 

#6.) Octavia Spencer in The Help over Jessica Chastain in The Help

Best Supporting Actress is a category that's notorious for double dipping; there have been many years (especially recently) that 2 Supporting Actresses from the same movie are nominated (Viola Davis & Amy Adams from Doubt, Vera Farmiga & Anna Kendrick from Up In The Air, Amy Adams & Melissa Leo from The Fighter). 2011 was no stranger to this phenomenon; both Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer were both nominated for their performances in the summer crowd pleaser The Help. 

Spencer, a character actress for many years, had finally gotten a role that required her to do more than stand in the background as a no name character. As the feisty Minnie Jackson, Spencer is the comic relief of her film. As entertaining as Spencer is, her Minnie never really feels more than that. Sure, Minnie is "sassy" and "entertaining", but compared to the complex and delicate work of Jessica Chastain, Spencer's work doesn't come close to rivaling it. Though no fault of her own, the film doesn't really leave  Spencer to do much else other than get a few laughs out of the audience; it's a role that she could've done with her hands tied behind her back. Chastain's character of Celia is easily a showier role; a blonde bombshell who is a bit of a bimbo with a heart of gold and a tragic character arc. While she absolutely nails the broader, more humorous strokes in Celia's characterization, she makes her feel like a fully fleshed out character (not to mention her big scene is nothing short of heartbreaking). 

I enjoy Spencer as an actress, and her win opened up huge doors for her as an actress, doors that deserved to be opened long ago; she is always good in everything she's in. However, one can't ignore that her win had little to do with the performance itself, and more to do with the narrative; a hard working yet ignored actor finally given a role to do something with, and doing a commendable job.

#5.) Jennifer Connely in A Beautiful Mind over Marissa Tomei in In The Bedroom

Marissa Tomei gets a lot of undeserved flack for her Best Supporting Actress win for My Cousin Vinny. For one thing, Tomei's performance was 100% comedic, up against dramatic titans including Vanessa Redgrave and Miranda Richardson. There's this stigma that for some reason, comedic performances aren't as difficult as dramatic ones, which simply isn't true. In most cases, it's much harder to have great and precise comedic timing; it's harder to make people laugh than you think. Her performance in My Cousin Vinny was nothing short of comedic genius. People also don't give her enough credit for her versatility; watch My Cousin Vinny and then watch her amazing 360 of a performance in In The Bedroom (even her work in The Wrestler is completely different from her other work); Tomei is quite the accomplished actress. She won an Oscar for a deserving performance, and then took a completely different road, picking interesting and complex roles that put her outside of her comfort zone. It is for this reason, she should have won the Oscar in 2001...

...But that was the year Jennifer Connelly won for her commendable performance for A Beautiful Mind. Again, a commendable and perfectly fine performance.... but not the type of performance that is deserving of an Oscar win. The popularity of the film itself, it being a leading role pretending/campaigned to be a supporting performance and the fact that Connelly should have been nominated (and arguably should have won) this same award for her work in Darren Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream instead probably helped boost her to a win. Not to mention, Oscar loves the supportive wife role, a whole lot.

#4.) Marcia Gay Harden in Pollock over Kate Hudson in Almost Famous

Now, I know what you're thinking... Kate Hudson, Oscar winner???? If you've ever seen Cameron Crowe's criminally underrated Almost Famous, you'll know what I'm saying. Kate Hudson's sunny and subtle performance is the definition of a supporting role, which would have made more sense for her to win over the obviously leading actress Marcia Gay Harden from Pollock. 

At the time, Harden was an unknown actress; her Oscar win put her on the map. But because she wasn't a household name, that meant she had to be placed in the Supporting Actress category, despite the fact that her film centers around the maddening relationship between her character and Ed Harris' character. Hudson, however, owns her film by creating a memorable and enchanting character within the constraints of her limited screen time. Though she has a considerable amount of screen time (and more to do) compared to other Supporting Actress nominee/co-star Frances McDormand, Hudson is clearly a supporting actress. When she's offscreen, we're left thinking about her (much as the men she enamors in the film are); she's so naturally beautiful, inside and out. Her Penny Lane is so captivating; Hudson's nuance adds much to a character that could have simply been one note. There's a reason why this performance made her a star.

It's a shame that she lost the Oscar in an unforeseen upset, possibly due to the fact she was competing with co-star McDormand for the award; they must've cancelled each other out paving the way for Harden. Though her career since then has been something of a joke, we'll always remember her as "the incomparable Penny Lane."

#3.) Cate Blanchett in The Aviator over Natalie Portman in Closer

Cate Blanchett is one of our finest actresses. There's no way around it. Having been previously nominated for her performance as Elizabeth I in the film Elizabeth prior to this (which some believe she should have won over Gwenyth Paltrow's work in Shakespeare in Love), there were those that thought it was time to award her. They couldn't have picked a more overrated performance, however. 

In Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (arguably a showcase for Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese's amazing technical precision), Blanchett plays acting legend Katherine Hepburn, who briefly was involved with millionaire Howard Hughes (DiCaprio). Of course Blanchett is great, but the movie is DiCaprio's; there's nothing more for Blanchett to do other than to play dress up and imitate an Academy favorite. Of course, they ate it up with a silver spoon. 

Compare that to Natalie Portman's complex work in the film Closer, and you'll see why Blanchett's win here stinks something fierce. Previously ignored for great (child) performances in Leon and Beautiful Girls, Portman (hot off her Star Wars fame) delivered an iconic performance in Mike Nichols' Closer, the film adaptation of the play of the same name. As Alice, Portman is guarded yet naked (figuratively and literally, but more on that later), strong yet weak, independent but needy; the point is, Portman's work is complex and masterful in a way that Blanchett's mimicry (through no fault of her own, I blame the script with not giving her much to do, but again, the film was focused on Hughes not Hepburn) can't stack up against. 

Portman takes her role as Alice, and uses it to shatter preconceived notions of her abilities as an actress; gone is Queen Amidala from Star Wars Episode One; Portman is capable of an actress more than people thought, given a good director and a meaty role. Yes, she's naked in the film, but that's more or less a metaphor for her character's own inner nudity; she's emotional raw in a way we've never seen her before, not even in her star making performance as Matilda in Leon. Arguably even better than the role she won an Oscar for, Portman was robbed here, winning only a Golden Globe for the performance (she should have swept SAG, BAFTA and Oscar). Alas, the awards bait of playing a famous person and being a great actress was too much for the Oscars to pass up. 

#2.) Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain over Holly Hunter in Thirteen 

If you're this far into the article, then you're no stranger to knowing actors often win Oscars simply because they've been nominated before and voters feel it's "their time to win". You also should know by now that for some reason, having an Oscar already makes you somehow less deserving to win again, even if the performance is that good. 

Renee Zellweger was 2 Oscar nominations in by the time she was up for Cold Mountain. Previously nominated in Best Actress (for Bridget Jones' Diary & Chicago; it also helps [for some reason] if you've been up for Leading Actress and are now competing in Supporting Actress), so by the time nomination 3 rolled around for the baity Cold Mountain, the opportunity was too much to pass up. However, this win left many scratching their heads; just WHAT was so good about this performance? (I'm still wondering this to this very day). Cold Mountain is definitely an ensemble production; no one character or performance stands out at all, and the overall product is very melodramatic. It's an entertaining, but very messy film (think Gangs of New York entertaining; sprawling but confused). Zellweger's overall "deserving" narrative was literally the only gas being used to fuel the tank on this campaign. It also didn't hurt that she deglamorized herself for this role, considerably (that accent..... my god). 

Holly Hunter, however, delivers one of her greatest performances as a conflicted mother in Catherine Hardwicke's scrappy "Thirteen", one of the best movies of its year. As Melanie, Hunter perfectly conveys the desire to not only protect her daughter, but give her the freedoms that young teenagers crave. As her daughter (played excellently by Evan Rachel Wood) descends further and further into teenage hell, using drugs and failing school, Hunter's performance grows that more intense. It's real, naked and de-glamorized (in subtle a way Zellweger's obnoxious and loud performance could never be), adding a layer of sincerity to an already sincere and honest movie. Without Hunter, her film would suffer immensely. Without Zellweger, Cold Mountain might just get better and a little more tolerable.  

#1.) Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential over Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights

Kim Basinger's Oscar win makes even less sense to me than Renee Zellweger's. It's easy to see why voters voted for Zellweger: 

1. Overdue
2. Comic relief 
3. Loud, noisy character
4. In an Oscar bait film

What I don't understand, is how Kim Basinger's performance in L.A. Confidential was a runaway train during the year she won. For one thing, she does close to nothing in the film. Her performance is perfectly fine, but out of the ensemble cast (including Kevin Spacey, Danny Devito, Guy Pierce and Russell Crowe), she is clearly the one with the least to do besides look pretty and pout over her lover's (Crowe) anger issues. Basinger had never even really been worthy of an Oscar, or really any award prior to this film, nor was she ever in any good movie after this, which doesn't help her win as it stands in history.

Julianne Moore, however, delivered an incredibly heart shattering performance as a porn star unable to keep custody of the child she loved so dearly. Her character slowly descends into an uncontrollable drug addiction she's unable to control. Unlike Basinger, Moore would go on to deliver other award worthy performances (Far From Heaven, The Hours, A Single Man, Game Change), but this was one for the books. Boogie Nights wasn't your typical Academy film, despite the fact it was critically acclaimed; the nominations were the reward for the film. L.A. Confidential, however, was seen as Titanic's biggest competitor for the award. While Titanic ruled the box office and the guilds, L.A. Confidential was the most acclaimed film of the year. Titanic swept the awards, leaving L.A. Confidential the loser. It couldn't go home empty handed, which (I guess) is why Basinger won. It's just so sad it had to be at the expense of Julianne Moore.