Category Fraud Runs Amok Through Oscar Season

It seems that with each passing Oscar season, incidents of category fraud grow more common, and the conversation around it growing louder.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the  term, "category fraud" is when an actor or actress is campaigned for awards in the wrong category. It's usually done to avoid "internal competition", which is campaigning two performances from the same movie, or simply a case of the studio going with the less competitive category.


In recent years, we've had numerous cases where nominees have been placed in the incorrect categories. There was Julia Roberts in 2013, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for what was clearly a lead role in "August Osage County", the same award Jennifer Hudson won for her role in "Dreamgirls despite being the lead. "Inglorious Bastards" was an ensemble production, but Christoph Waltz was clearly a main character (and possessed far more screen time than several of his co-stars. Despite this, he won nearly every award for Best Supporting Actor there is.

It happens in the leading categories as well, though far less often. Anthony Hopkins was memorable as Hannibal Lector in "Silence of the Lambs", but despite appearing in less than half of the movie, he steamrolled his way to win a Best Actor in a Leading Role.

This year is no different; there are already several cases of studios campaigning their actors in less competitive categories despite not truly belonging there. Perhaps the biggest, most egregious case is that of Rooney Mara in "Carol". Distributor Harvey Weinstein is no stranger to category fraud or playing the Oscar game. In fact, he was behind the campaigns of the previously mentioned Roberts and Waltz. After "Carol" premiered at Cannes this past Spring, where Mara won the festival's Best Actress award, it was announced he had planned to campaign Mara in supporting and her co-star Cate Blanchett as a lead. In truth, "Carol" is a film that's as much about Mara's character as it is about Blanchett's. Mara's character, Therese, even narrates the film; we experience it through her point of vision.

Going toe to toe with Mara for that trophy will be Alicia Vikander from "The Danish Girl" in another leading performance that's being disguised as a supporting one. Reviews out of Venice and Toronto have cited the previously unknown Vikander as the film's MVP, and biggest surprise. Earlier in the year, it seemed as this would be co-star Eddie Redmayne's next Oscar grab; He played Lili Elbe, the first recipient of gender reassignment surgery. But the film is reportedly much more about Vikander's character, Elbe's supportive wife Gerda.

Despite Mara being a previous nominee and Vikander experiencing a breakout year with the release of several critically acclaimed films, neither are household names. This is a huge reason as to why the respective studios feel campaigning them in the supporting category would be beneficial. That way, they aren't standing in the way of Blanchett and Redmayne; Ideally, all four would be nominated.

There's also the case of 8-year-old Jacob Tremblay in "Room". The film was originally thought of as Brie Larson's star making vehicle, but after winning The People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, its awards possibilities widened, and that included Tremblay's. Despite being a co-lead, and the narrator of the film, it's widely predicted he will be nominated in the supporting actor category, due to his young age. Younger actors have a harder time being recognized as leads against starrier names. Hailee Steinfeld's Maddie Ross from "True Grit" was no doubt the lead, but she was dumped in the supporting actress category.

This strategy doesn't always work, however. Back in 2008, Kate Winslet was up for her performances in "The Reader" and "Revolutionary Road". Weinstein (who backed "The Reader") famously campaigned Winslet in Supporting as to not interfere with her lead campaign for "Revolutionary Road". After winning the Golden Globe for both supporting and lead actress for these performances, the Academy ignored the campaign and nominated her in the leading category for "The Reader". This also happened with Keisha Castle Hughes, who despite being campaigned in supporting actress because of her young age was ultimately nominated in lead.

It'll be interesting to see how the guilds and the critics groups shape the race when they start announcing their awards. As deserving as Mara and Vikander are, it would be ashamed for their leading roles to steal attention away from true, deserving supporting roles, such as Kristen Stewart in "Clouds of Sils Maria" or even Rose Byrne from "Spy". Ultimately, I think the Academy will nominate at leas one of these in the supporting categories. I could easily see them going with Vikander in lead and keeping Mara in supporting, given the film's LGBT-themes (they did it with Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain" after all). But whatever the case may be, it's a huge indicator of who truly runs the Oscar race.