Supporting Actressness ala StinkyLulu: The Question of "The Coaster"

ala StinkyLulu

Yesterday was the deadline for Academy Award voters to submit their nomination ballots and, perhaps because of that fact, I find myself thinking about what appears to be the single remaining mystery about this year's contest for Best Supporting Actress: who will be the category's "fifth" nominee?

Yes, a nomination/win for Mo'Nique seems inevitable, as do nominations for Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. And with momentum for the women of Nine seemingly stalled (along with everything else about that film), it seems nearly certain that Julianne Moore'll be wrassling with the women of Inglorious Basterds for that special invitation to this year's ceremony. But I can't shake the feeling that this year's Supporting Actress category feels especially ripe for what I call a "coaster" nominee (my term for when a surprise Supporting Actress nomination comes as part of the general sweep of nominations for a particular film).

I have spent upwards of four years thinking seriously of such Supporting Actressness over at StinkyLulu. And after many a Smackdown and Blogathon, I have come to realize that many (if not most) years arrive with a "coaster" nomination for a performance that would almost certainly not have otherwise made the cut had it not been part of one of that year's nomination sweepers. Often such coasters are a delight (like Joan Cusack in Working Girl, Abigail Breslin's Little Miss Sunshine, or last year's Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) but, perhaps more cynically, coasters also serve to boost a juggernaut's total nomination haul. (Love ya, Queen Latifah, but you know what I'm saying.) I mean, Gloria Stuart's 1997 nomination made for a great Oscarphile story but does anyone really think it would have materialized had Titanic not been the nomination-hog that it was?

Which brings me to a potential 2009 "coaster" nomination that seems entirely plausible:
Just think: With her existing Oscar cred, and given the major campaign for her Supporting Actressness already underway, Sigourney seems perfectly poised to be "the one" to break Avatar into one of the acting categories. She also appears ideally situated to break the glass nomination ceiling for the kind of techno-hybrid acting (part traditional acting, part voicework, part motion capture) that's increasingly part of any seriously working actor's repertoire. And imagine the publicity -- both for the film and for the broadcast. It's a perfect storm of possibility and the phenomenon of the Supporting Actress "coaster" seems only to better the odds.

Yet, to be absolutely clear, I am NOT expecting Sigourney Weaver to be a "coaster" nominee for Avatar. But, all things considered, I would not be at all surprised to hear her name called in two Tuesdays, either. And I'm near certain at least one "coaster" nominee will be part of the final roster of nominees.

But what do YOU think, TFE readers?

Who do YOU think will be
this year's "coaster" nominee in
the Supporting Actress category?