At the age of seventy-seven,
Judd Hirsch is now the second-oldest nominee for one of the four acting awards. Only Christopher Plummer was a year older when he was nominated for
All the Money in the World. Hirsch has one previous nomination, also for Best Supporting Actor, for his work in Bob Redford's Best Picture winner
Ordinary People. Hirsch lost to his co-star Timothy Hutton, who was only twenty at the time and still holds the record for the youngest winner in the category. Hirsch has had a long career, though known much more for his television and stage work than his feature films. Playing River Phoenix's father in Sidney Lumet's
Running On Empty may have been his best post-
Ordinary People role, and portraying Jeff Goldblum's father in
Independence Day certainly the highest profile role he ever had in a movie. He has won Tonys and Emmys and Golden Globes, but the Oscar will continue to elude him. He plays the stand-in for Spielberg's great uncle in
The Fabelmans, and while his couple of scenes are important character wise, encouraging the youngster to pursue his art, he is only very briefly in the flick. No win for you, Delvecchio.
Hirsch's nomination was a bit of a surprise due to the size of the role, but
Brian Tyree Henry's was a surprise due to the size of his film. A24's
Causeway got a very small release before streaming on Apple TV+, and despite starring Jennifer Lawrence and some decent reviews it didn't generate a lot of heat. Before his Oscar nomination Henry was probably best known for the FX series
"Atlanta" with Donald Glover and as one of the many assassins aboard the
Bullet Train with Brad Pitt.
If Beale Street Could Talk was his first breakout movie moment and just a few years later he is an Oscar nominee. He is very good in
Causeway, the quality of the performance and the spotlight of the nom will very likely translate into some good jobs, but it is extremely unlikely he will win. Not this year.
Brendan Gleeson and
Barry Keoghan are both excellent in
The Banshees of Inisherin. Gleeson is certainly well-known and beloved on both sides of the pond, and though he has given Oscar-caliber performances in the past (
Calvary, The Guard, The General) this is his first nomination. This is Keoghan's first nomination as well. And though he has had some great roles before, including Yorgos Lanthimos'
The Killing of a Sacred Deer with Colin Farrell, his work in
Banshees of Inisherin is quite wonderful and revelatory. The scene where he gets the nerve up to ask Siobhán if she could ever fall in love with a boy like him is sweet and funny and devastating, with his last bit of hope he has allowed himself extinguished right before our eyes. Two wonderful and key performances in the same film. Doesn't that mean they will cancel each other out? Not necessarily. Three of the last six times co-stars were in the same category one of them prevailed, including Daniel Kaluuya (
Judas and the Black Messiah) and Sam Rockwell (
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) in this category.
If there is a sentimental favorite it is
Ke Huy Quan. His child star beginnings in two beloved 1980s classics, Short Round in
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Data in
Goonies, have made him an evergreen part of pop culture. He co-starred in one sitcom as a kid after those movies with Elliott Gould & Dee Wallace, but it only ran a year. His last role as a teenager was a small part in
Encino Man, but by then the parts had dried up and he left the business. Nearly forty years after he helped Dr. Jones in his adventure The Daniels thought of him for their multiverse tale and much to his own surprise he wound up not just back in front of cameras but on the awards circuit. That he has been winning and accepting these awards in front of Steven Spielberg, who is also at these ceremonies with
The Fabelmans, has made for some genuine joy. If he were to win the Oscar that scene would surely play out again. But maybe the voters are ready for a new scene to play out?
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