Awards Watch: The Supporting Players

At first glance, it may appear that there are slim pickings for the supporting categories this year, but a closer look shows that there was an abundance of fine work on display in small yet challenging roles in 2007. And you know what they say about small roles ... that whole "small actors" thing, a term one certainly couldn't use for this year's contenders for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Ladies first: Cate Blanchett is pretty much a lock for her gender-bending performance in I'm Not There (which, despite the rumors, will go supporting, not lead), with strong competition from Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton), Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Margot at the Wedding). Atonement should net at least one slot, with three actresses (all playing the same character at different ages) as possibilities: Saorise Ronan, Romola Garai and Oscar favorite Vanessa Redgrave. Rounding out the contenders are Catherine Keener (Into the Wild), Jennifer Garner (Juno), Emmanuelle Seigner (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Kelly Macdonald (No Country for Old Men) and even Kate Winslet in the little seen Romance & Cigarettes. With some long shots from the comedy wings -- Leslie Mann (Knocked Up), Emily Mortimer (Lars and the Real Girl) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Hairspray) -- as possible dark horses, such previous winners as Meryl Streep (Lions for Lambs), Olympia Dukakis (Away from Her), Marisa Tomei (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) and Julia Roberts (Charlie Wilson's War) may have to watch the show from home. But what ever you do, don't count out the sentiment a first-time nomination for acting legend Ruby Dee (American Gangster) could muster.

Sentiment also figures into the men's race, with the also never-nominated Hal Holbrook gaining buzz for Into the Wild. But he'll have to ward off some bad guys in the process, with such villainous portrayers as Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma) and Alan Rickman (Sweeney Todd) nipping at his heels. Speaking of musicals, John Travolta could become the first man ever nominated for playing a female character, in Hairspray. The rest of this year's contenders are spread out among previous winners (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War; Tommy Lee Jones, also for No Country; Russell Crowe, who may go supporting for American Gangster) and nominees (Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton; Max von Sydow, The Diving Bell; Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney, Before the Devil; Armin Mueller-Stahl, Eastern Promises; Robert Downey Jr., Zodiac), veterans (Philip Bosco, The Savages; Andy Griffith, Waitress) and relative newcomers (Paul Dano, There Will Be Blood; Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James; Steve Zahn, Rescue Dawn).

With the Golden Globe nominations and the plethora of critic awards on the horizon, we may see either a narrowing of the possibilities or strong support for one actor and actress as in years past. If the latter is true, my bets would be on Bardem and Blanchett to sweep.

Links via LATimes.com, AwardsDaily.com and Variety.com.