NEW YORK - Frances McDormand, Michelle Pfeiffer, Viola Davis, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, Elizabeth Moss: despite the coronavirus that has held back the productions and the release of many films in theaters, the race for the best actress at the 2021 Oscars is presented equally crowded with a place of honor reserved for Sophia Loren.
The 86-year-old diva of the golden age of Hollywood is among the favorites for the nominations for the part of Madame Rosa in the film "Life in front of her" by her son Edoardo Ponti.
Without exception, starting with "Variety", the bibles of the show include Loren in pole position among the potential candidates.
If the return to the set in a decade for the 98 / o film in a career of seventy years were to lead to an Oscar, it would be the second for the Italian actress who first won in 1962 for "La Ciociara" and got a nomination in 1965 for "Matrimonio all'Italiana".
In 2021, 56 years will have passed since her last nomination: if she were to enter the coveted final sprint, Loren would beat Henry Fonda's record for the longest gap between first and last nomination: 41 years since "Furore" and the Oscar in the 1982 for "Sul Lago Dorato".
Originally scheduled for February 21st, the next "Night of the Stars" is now scheduled for April 25th with nominations announced on March 15th.
The race for one of the most coveted applications of 2021 this year is particularly competitive also in light of the new rules of the Academy in the name of inclusion.
McDormand, two-time Academy Award winner for "Fargo" and "Three Billboards", was applauded as definitely a candidate for Chloé Zhao's "Nomadland", Golden Lion at the last Venice Film Festival, while Pfeiffer had her share of cheers when "French Exit" closed the New York Film Festival in October.
Another favorite in New York was British Vanessa Kirby for Kornél Mundruczó's "Pieces of a Woman": in the film produced by Martin Scorsese and presented in Venice, Princess Margaret of "The Crown" won the Coppa Volpi for the best female interpretation.
Davis, Best Supporting Actress in 2016 with "Fences", and Streep (three Oscars and 18 other nominations) could aspire to be nominated for musical adaptations on Netflix, the first in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" which sees her alongside Chadwick Boseman in his latest performance, the other for Ryan Murphy's "The Prom".
Not to forget Amy Adams, a darling of the Academy more for nominations than for actual statuettes, for "Hillbilly Elegy" And then Kate Winslet of "Ammonite";
Carey Mulligan in "Promising Young Woman";
Elisabeth Moss, for either "The Invisible Man" or "Shirley";
and Rachel Brosnahan of "Mrs Meisel", who stars and produced "I'm Your Woman".