Academy members are free to vote to nominate actors and actresses in whichever category they deem appropriate.
Talent, publicists and distributors can try to steer voters in one direction or another.
Interesting cases :
▪
The Favourite, three actresses — Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz — with similarly-sized parts.
Colman will be the film's sole lead actress competitor, while Stone and Weisz will both go supporting.
▪
Green Book, which stars Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali
Two people from the same film are very rarely both among the final five for best actor.
Ali has opted to go supporting, his character is never seen on screen without Mortensen's.
Mortensen has 16 minutes of additional screen time.
▪ Stephan James of
If Beale Street Could Talk, The central performance is KiKi Layne.
James, who plays her character's boyfriend, could've gone supporting. But he is going lead.
▪
Beautiful Boy's Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet, are arguably co-leads.
Carell has slightly more screen time, and his character arguably drives the movie more.
He is going lead and Chalamet supporting.
▪ Performers this year who are in the running for multiple performances
Emily Blunt, lead actress for
Mary Poppins Returns and supporting actress for
A Quiet Place.
Nicole Kidman, lead for
Destroyer and supporting for
Boy Erased.
Lucas Hedges, lead of both
Boy Erased and
Ben Is Back.
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