I did not intend on writing this post highlighting a specific acting category. My original plan was to walk through my favorite acting wins at the Oscars and gush about how much I love those performances. But like so many things, this didn’t go according to plan. While perusing the Best Supporting Actor category and it’s history, I was fascinated with what I found. More than any other acting category at the Oscars, this award is either very right or very wrong. I found that most of my favorite wins in acting at the Oscars won their award in this category. Not to mention, some of the most glaring snubs find their home here.

Don’t believe me? Check out some of the wins and losses below. You might just find yourself nodding in agreement or shaking your head in disapproval. Either way it’s hard to disagree that this category is very divisive.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Best Wins in Best Supporting Acting Category

10. Timothy Hutton as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People (1980)

As impressive as this performance is, it is cemented as iconic simply based on the fact that this is Hutton’s first credited film appearance. After a few turns in made-for-TV movies, Hutton hit the big screen as the surviving brother of the Jarrett family in one of the all-time family dramas.

There is something so subtle about Hutton’s performance that makes it so impactful. He walks around the film wearing his grief like an ill-fitting pair of pants. There always looks like there is something a little bit off. This also beautifully and simply illustrates how uncomfortable Conrad feels trying to go back to normal after his brother has died.

This is a performance – and a movie – that makes me emotional for so many reasons, but one of the biggest is just how well Timothy Hutton nails this performance. It is an important opportunity to illustrate the heavy weight of grief and the difficulty to navigate life with that on your shoulders. He is sympathetic where he needs to be and frustrating in all the right ways. With each little decision he makes, Hutton manages to paint a beautiful picture of the imperfect person affected by tragedy. A picture worthy of an Oscar.

9. Christopher Walken as Nick Chevotarevich in The Deer Hunter (1978)

For myself and many in my generation, Christopher Walken is a comedic actor. His appearances on Saturday Night Live and voice, which has inspired more impressions than nearly any other, have cemented him as a soaring figure in comedy. From this perspective, I was skeptical about seeing him in a serious role. Would my perception of him make moments of drama instead seem humorous? Would I be able to take him seriously at all? I was intrigued and excited to see him in The Deer Hunter to get answers to these and many other questions.

What I was left with was an understanding for why Walken’s presence in Hollywood is larger than life. Why an odd looking man with a peculiar voice has captured the attention of Americans for decades. This guy can act his ass off.

Similar to Hutton in the last entry, Walken is tasked with portraying the after effects of a trauma. Also similar to Hutton, it is very important that he gets this performance right. The trauma endured by veterans, especially those involved in America’s most infamous military conquest, is a heavy topic. It’s difficult to watch, but essential to acknowledge. Unlike Hutton, Walken plays it much bigger. The role calls for something big and Walken delivers without blowing it out of proportion. From his boisterous early moments filled with glee to his final scene where he is an empty shell, Walken stays on tune the entire time, never straying from the melody.

8. Sam Rockwell as Officer Jason Dixon in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

When I was young my mom told me that you know someone did a great job acting if you hate the character they are playing. It was the first real barometer I had for whether or not someone gave a successful acting performance. By that measurement, Sam Rockwell might well be the best actor alive for this performance. He is smug and unlikeable and incredible as Officer Dixon.

Film is an amazing medium for countless reasons. I could wax and wane about it all day long, but this performance brings one particular reason to mind. These days your typical TV show adds up to about ten hours of running time. Ten hours of action and storylines and character development. In comparison, your average feature film is maybe two hours long. Thinking about this difference of time in relation to character development is one of those aforementioned reasons why film amaze me an why this performance made this list.

In less than two hours, Sam Rockwell manages to make Office Dixon transform from one of the most disgusting ad distasteful people you have ever witnessed on screen to being…one of the good guys? Sure, the ending of this movie doesn’t leave you with a great feeling in your stomach. That’s true of the entire movie. But in the end you do feel very different about Dixon than you did at the beginning of the movie. He grows, he changes, he develops so naturally over 115 minutes.

It’s the kind of performance that makes you think, “well if that doesn’t deserve an Oscar, I don’t know what does.”

7. Jack Nicholson as Garrett Breedlove in Terms of Endearment (1983)

Disclaimer: I am a big Jack Nicholson fan.

He plays his roles big and dramatic, but manages not to overact. He entertains, scares, and impresses all at once. He is one of the classic Hollywood actors who came to power in the 1970’s and 1980’s and never really went away. It’s very clear to understand why with a performance like this. For his second Oscar win, Jack played an astronaut and romantic interest in a film centering around the relationship between a mother and her daughter. It looks weird typed out like that, but when you watch it, it feels right.

As he would go on to play in one of my favorite movies of his, Somethings Gotta Give, Nicholson perfects the never-going-to-get-married, ultimate-bachelor archetype in Breedlove. He is funny and outrageous and ultimately lays down on his belly, allowing himself to be vulnerable. In another actor’s hands it would have likely fallen flat, instead Nicholson elevates this performance to be the cathartic victory at the end of a tear-jerker.

6. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men (2007)

Here we have our first true, blue villain on the list. As you will come to see scrolling through this post, I love a good villainous performance. It is such an easy archetype to make campy which makes it all the more breathtaking when it is the commanding performance in a movie. Think Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York – people rarely use their time discussing that film to touch on Leo’s performance. Why? Because it is massively overshadowed by the best to ever do it.

Think also of this chilling performance from Javier Bardem.

In the blink of an eye this character became an all-time movie villain. Bardem, typically very charming and handsome, is nearly unrecognizable as Chigurh. From his pasty, pale skin to his extremely upsetting haircut, he is physically transformed into someone that is unpleasant to look at. But that’s not why he is on this list or any other. He is here because he manages to create one of the most accurate portrayals of a pscyhopath of all time. It’s a condition that is so fascinating to so many people due to it’s lack of emotion, something that seems so unnatural to your average person. You can read about it and hear about it, but seeing it is unnerving. Through his calm cadence, icy demeanor, and emotionless expressions it takes him all of ten seconds to scare the shit out of you. The rest of the movie he simply perfects the craft.

It’s truly a take-your-breath-away performance that sticks with you for a very long time. Years after seeing it, I don’t feel like I will ever be completely rid of it. Especially that truly awful haircut. Honestly, for someone as handsome as Bardem to look as disarming as he does in this film is Oscar worthy in and of itself.

5. Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas (1990)

I mean, you had to see this one coming right?

Tommy’s character leaves an impression in the way that few others have been able to throughout the history of film. He is infuriating, hilarious, brash, and terrifying all at the same time. He is unpredictable each time you watch the movie, whether it’s the first of fiftieth time. You hate him, resent him, fear him, but also kind of love him. You’re sad when his karma catches up with him even though it feels much deserved. It is one of the most vicious moral rollercoasters a character can take you on during a movie.

A rollercoaster I will happily ride again and again.

4. Robin Williams as Dr. Sean Maquire in Good Will Hunting (1997)

My family has many times debated which transition is harder: going from comedy to drama or from drama to comedy. Our answer is always the same: it’s harder to go from the larger-than-life, everything-is-a-punchline life of a comedic actor to a straight-laced, take-me-seriously life of a dramatic actor. While there have been a lot of people to make this switch over the course of their careers, this transition will always be associated – and rightfully so – with Robin Williams.

As Dr. Sean Maguire, Williams accomplishes one of cinema’s best balancing acts. The performance is littered with comedic moments including the famously ad-libbed story about his wife farting, but he never lets these moments take the reigns. He never lets the charm of his comedic prowess overshadow the nature of his character and the film itself. Instead, these moments of lightness makes his serious moments all the more disarming to both Will and the audience.

When he hugs Will during that iconic scene, it feels like he is hugging you too. It is a kind of compassion and empathy rarely bottled up so effectively in a performance. So rare that it would have been criminal not to give him an Oscar for it.

3. Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008)

Now, now, I know what you are thinking, but this is not another villain. This is the villain. Since his inception, the Joker has conquered nearly every medium as the GOAT villain. In cinema alone, this character has become the blueprint for several incredible acting performances. Even those that weren’t critically lauded were still entertaining and much talked about. There are so many directions to take this character, so many opportunities to make each turn a unique one while still having the same name. But on this list there is only one Joker and it is the GOAT Joker, in this girls opinion anyway.

If I am being completely honest, this movie was my introduction to Heath Ledger. I’m not exactly sure how I had missed him over the years, but somehow he managed to slip by me until his final bow. In the years since, I have seen many more of his films. With each performance I see, my mind brings me right back to this role. His body of work has only made his turn as the Joker more impressive to me. It is unlike anything he has ever done. If you had told me before he did this, that the same guy from 10 Things I Hate About You or Brokeback Mountain was going to play the Joker, I would have guessed that he wouldn’t do the iconic role justice. He probably would fall short. And I would have been so unbelievably wrong.

The Joker is the ultimate villain because he is the perfect foil to Batman as the upstanding moral hero. In this version, Nolan’s Joker is pure chaotic evil and Ledger translates this loud and clear onto the screen. His performance is laced with a manic energy and a constant freefall that leaves you no choice but to expect the unexpected every time he enters a scene. You hold your breath when he appears and don’t let it slip until the scene cuts away. With the charm of a cult-leader and blatant disregard for social norms, you fight the urge to look away from him, but can’t help yourself.

This is one of my favorite movie’s ever and so much of the reason why is because of this performance. I love Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale is my favorite actor, and Gary Oldman never fails to take my breath away – but each of these men are replaceable in this film. With anyone else in their place it is still amazing, because with anyone else in their place we still have Heath Ledger as the Joker.

For this swan song of all swan songs, I think we would have rioted if it went to anyone else.

2. Kevin Spacey as Roger “Verbal” Kint in The Usual Suspects (1995)

The world’s perception of Kevin Spacey, the man, has changed drastically over the past few years. His public opinion has, deservingly so, taken a sharp negative turn. Some of this opinion has leaked over into the perception of his acting performances as well. The debate about whether you should separate an artist from their work when the artist is revealed to be rather vile is a nuanced one. It’s one we will not get into right now. Instead, we will focus on a performance that raised the bar for me in terms of what great acting looks like.

1995 was Kevin Spacey’s break out year. He starred in two of the year’s most notable films, bookending each with a villainous turn. But it was The Usual Suspects that made him a star. One of the classic who-dun-its in modern cinema and a highlight in the “unreliable” narrator genre, finds Spacey as a pedestrian bystander throughout the majority of the movie. As Verbal, he is nothing more than an observer narrating the caper. Just along for the ride.

Or so you think. After he utters the final words of the film via voiceover, the impact of his performances multiples. In one single movie he manages to play two roles, fooling both the audience and the characters at the same time.

It’s the kind of performance that only gets better with time. One that you look back on after viewing with relief to see that it garnered a little golden man. No matter how creepy the guy who won the award is.

1. Christoph Waltz as SS Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Coming in at number one is my all-time favorite villain.

At a very basic level, this performance is groundbreaking because Waltz manages to deliver an all-time performance in a sea of recognizable and scene-stealing faces directed by one of the modern greats. It’s a kind of feat that is unparalleled on this list.

He is impressive from those first moments on the screen in the French countryside. The scene that opens Tarantino’s alternative history World War II epic, is long and verbose. It is carried out like a scene in a play. During this introduction to the film, Waltz is tasked with setting the tone. He plays his SS Colonel with a false charm that quickly melts into an intense calm. With his help, the tension builds and never quite ceases until those final moments. Throughout the rest of the 153 minute run-time he weaves throughout the story, popping in and out with ease, slipping between languages as he goes. It is maddening and exciting each time he is on screen as he carries with him that suspenseful energy from those opening moments and never lets it go.

While he is known now for his two lights-out performances in Tarantino flicks – huge fan of him in Django too -he was relatively new on the American scene when Basterds came out. Thank goodness for this. In the hands of a well-known, highly regarded actor, this role would have been soured. It wouldn’t have carried the authenticity that Walt’s unknown persona brought to the table. Because of this, my first impression of Waltz wasn’t even Waltz. It was Landa.

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Biggest Snubs in the Best Supporting Actor Category

5. Tom Hardy as John Fitzgerald in The Revenant (2015)

Who Won: Mark Rylance as Rudolf Abel in Bridge of Spies

Tom Hardy plays a practically silent, physical presence of a man very well. Some of my favorite performances of his feature him barely speaking – think Mad Max: Fury Road, Dunkirk, and The Dark Knight Rises. Yet in the movie that got Leo his first Oscar, we get to hear a lot from Hardy. And I loved what I was hearing.

Now this is something I will get into at a later date, but The Revenant is not my favorite Leo performance and it’s definitely not the one he should have gotten his Oscar for – in this one girl’s opinion. The Revenant, to me, was all about Tom Hardy. He gives a supervillain-like turn in a film about frontiersmen. He plays a character that you love hating and yet find yourself sad for when he ultimately perishes. It’s true that a villain like Fitzgerald will never win, but it was sure fun to watch him try.

While I loved nearly every performance in the Supporting Actor category in 2015 – special shout out to my boy Christian Bale in The Big Short – Hardy’s felt the most deserving of the win that night. All love to Mark Rylance, but it felt a little wrong to see Tom sitting when the winner was announced.

4. Tom Cruise as Frank TJ Mackey in Magnolia (1999)

Who Won: Michael Caine as Dr. Wilbur Larch in The Cider House Rules

Now hear me out, I love Sir Michael Caine, and I rather enjoyed watching The Cider House Rules. It could have to do with my adoration of any film that makes me cry or the fact that I have a soft spot for my one, true Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire. Whatever the reason may be, those feelings were dashed when I watched Magnolia.

I don’t know what inspired Paul Thomas Anderson to write a character like Frank TJ Mackey, but I am glad he did and I’m glad he gave Tom Cruise the opportunity to bring him to life. Cruise has – in the second act of his career – turned into a caricature of an action star. He does his own stunts, he is constantly starring in what feels like the same movie over and over again, and he has a weird personal life. This persona is so all encompassing that it is sometimes easy to forget he used to a fantastic dramatic actor. From A Few Good Men to Jerry Maguire to Top Gun to Rain Man, he was a bon-a-fide movie star, and not for propelling down buildings.

In 1999 he was cast in one of my all-time favorites as a truly disgusting human being. There is nothing about Frank that makes him even remotely likeable throughout the majority of the film. I would be lying if I told you that one of the things that makes me like him less is that fact that it is Tom Cruise playing him. But then in a matter of moments, he becomes one of cinemas most sympathetic characters and a delivers a heartbreaking performance that makes you question everything you believed about Tom Cruise. And if that isn’t Oscar worthy, I don’t know what is.

3. Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972)

Who Won: Joel Grey as Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret

There is not much to this one besides the fact that it’s crazy that Al never won for any of his Godfather performances. It’s more a matter of “why did he win for Scent of a Woman and not this” than it is anything about Joel Grey.

When someone has a career defining and culturally significant performance like this, it is very strange to look back and find out it didn’t win the Oscar.

2. Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus in Gladiator (2000)

Who Won: Benicio Del Toro as Javier Rodriguez in Traffic

If you haven’t watched Gladiator recently, do yourself a favor a revisit it. If you have never seen it, consider this your sign to finally watch. Watch if not for the simple fact that it is one of the most entertaining movies Ridley Scott has ever made. Or for the fact that Joaquin Phoenix plays one of the most slimy, evil villains of all time and knocks it out of the ballpark.

Had he won, this performance would have easily cracked my top five list of winners. This is the Reggie Miller scoring eight points in nine seconds of movie performances – the shock and awe you experience the first time you see it, never really goes away when you rewatch it. Joaquin pulls out all the stops in this role, but it never feels like he is doing too much. To give you another sports metaphor: he is swinging for the fences and knocking the ball out of the park with every swing.

Not to mention, this movie is Joker level in it’s match-up between hero and villain. The spoiled prince who never got his father’s love matched up against the noble commander who got all of this love by simply doing his duty. I’m not here to take anything away from Russell Crowe, because I think this is a great performance, but I think it is only made better by Phoenix’s performance. When you hate a character as much as you hate Commodus, you throw your support behind his enemy with even more vigor. It sort of makes you wonder if you really want Maximus to win or if you just want to see Commodus lose.

If we have learned anything so far in this list, it’s that I love a good villain.

1. Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List (1993)

Who Won: Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive.

This snub truly keeps me up at night. It is, in my mind, the snub of all snubs.

I love Tommy Lee Jones, I love The Fugitive, and I love Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive. He has the best lines in the movie, delivers them flawlessly, and is one of my favorite movie cops of all time. I love nearly everything about his performance, but it is not Oscar worthy.

In nearly any year this would be a disappointing win, but it is even more disappointing when you look at his fellow nominees. Only then do you realize that he is going up against what I think might be one of the best acting performances of all time. Ralph Fiennes blew me out of the water when I watched Schindler’s List for the first time. I went in to that viewing knowing it would be intense and sad and take an emotional toll. But I could never have been properly prepared for the terrifying and deeply human performance that Fiennes gives. It sets the bar for all the villainous performances in this post and more.

To me, this is the craziest acting Oscar snub of all time. I could go on and on about it and oftentimes do much to the dismay of my friends and family who are frankly sick of hearing me talk about this. Regardless of their complaints, I am happy to die on this hill. It is a ludicrous decision that I cannot wrap my head around, but that’s just one girl’s opinion.