Between the postponed, canceled releases and those reserved for streaming platforms, it is difficult to navigate the films selected for the Oscars this year.
If moviegoers will recognize a few names among the selected,
Le Figaro
presents the ten actresses - five for the main roles and five for the supporting roles in contention on Sunday evening.
To read also: Oscars: Soderbergh promises an evening resembling "nothing that has been done before"
Viola Davis, record holder in search of a second statuette
Sacred at the Oscars in 2017 for her supporting role in
Fences
, Viola Davis is in the running to win her first statuette as "
best actress
" this year. Playing the
Blues Ma Rainey
to the side of deceased Chadwick Bosman - named in the "category
best actor
" - it has already been rewarded for his performance by the Screen Actors Guild in early April. The 55-year-old actress, originally from South Carolina, is the first African-American to receive at least one Tony Awards, Emmy Awards and Oscar, with a history in theater and television. With this new nomination for the most prestigious film awards, her fourth, she is also the African-American most requested by the Academy.
To read also: Viola Davis:
"I betrayed mine in
The color of feelings"
Andra Day, from microphone to camera
Singer before becoming an actress, Andra Day has already won the Golden Globes 2021 for her role in
Billie Holiday, a state affair
.
The chance of a lifetime for the 36-year-old American, who spared no efforts to embody the jazz legend, and his lifelong idol, on the screen.
The film
looks
back on the relentlessness of the FBI, desperate to stop the interpreter of
Stangefruit
, by playing in particular on his addiction to drugs, in the 1940s. Committed diva, Andra Day had sung her hit
Rise Up
during the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
Read also: Andra Day, the diva we weren't expecting
Vanessa Kirby, a first master stroke
This is called a successful first attempt.
For her first headlining role, the
portrayal
of Princess Margareth in
The Crown
and Alana Mitsopolis in
Mission: Impossible: Fallout
melted film and criticism with her role as a bereaved mother in
Pieces of a Woman.
.
Available since January 7 on Netflix, the film by Kornél Mundruczó, has been a resounding success, carried by a Vanessa Kirby at the top of her art.
Passed by the theater, the 33-year-old Englishwoman celebrates her first Oscar nomination after winning the best actress award in Venice for the same role.
To read also: Vanessa Kirby, sovereign and overwhelming in
Pieces of A Woman
Frances McDormand, never two without three
Double winner in this category (in 1997 for
Fargo
and in 2018 for
Three Billboards: The Panels of Vengeance
), Frances McDormand is on the way to gleaning her third Oscar with
Nomadland
. In this film by Chloé Zhao - in the running for the statuette of "
best director
" -, she plays a sexagenarian ruined after the economic crisis of 2008, traveling the roads of the American West in a van. The feature film is one of the favorites of the ceremony with five nominations. Already awarded a BAFTA Awards in 2021 for her performance on edge, the oldest of this list is one of the most serious contenders for the title.
To read also: Frances McDormand, pioneer of modern times more touching than ever in "Nomadland"
Carey Mulligan, second chance
Neither unknown to the general public, nor multi-awarded figure of the Oscars, Carey Mulligan has already been selected once in this category in 2010. Never mentioned on the stage of the Dolby Theater, the 33-year-old actress is now in the running for
Promising Young Woman
.
In this
post-MeToo feminist
revenge movie
, she plays Cassie, a young woman who works in a café by day and hunter of sexual predators by night.
Director Emerald Fennell won the BAFTA for best screenplay for this original story, between thriller and dark humor.
Read also: Carey Mulligan, waitress by day and predator by night in "Promissing Young Woman"
Supporting roles that shine
Maria Bakalova
, a young 24-year-old Bulgarian actress, is in the running for in the category "
best actress in a supporting role
" for
Borat, new filmed mission
.
She plays Tutar, the daughter of the famous Kazakh reporter, intended to be "
offered
" to
someone
close to Donald Trump.
Note that his sidekick in the film, Sacha Baron Cohen, is cited for the Oscar for best supporting actor for another feature film (
The Chicago Seven
).
Glenn Close
also competes for the title, after his remarkable performance in
An American Ode
, a portrait of deep America signed Ron Howard.
Despite a rich career, the 74-year-old actress has never won the famous statuette, she holds the record of nominations: eight, without a victory.
Less politicized than most of the films selected for this 93rd ceremony,
The Father is
doing well with 6 nominations.
French director Florian Zeller's film, starring Anthony Hopkins, sees
Olivia Colman
shine as the daughter of a tortured octogenarian.
The Briton could recover her second Oscar, after being crowned "
best actress
" in 2019 for
La Favorite
.
Never named before,
Amanda Seyfried
has received critical acclaim for her excellent performance as 1930s Hollywood starlet Marion Davies and billionaire William Randolph Hearst's mistress in
Mank
. David Fincher's film, which looks back on the genesis of
Citizen Kane
through the prism of its screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, is cited in nine other categories.
Finally,
Yuh-Jung Youn
is the last to be able to claim this year for the coronation of the best female performance in a supporting role. At 73, she is the first South Korean to be selected for this Oscar award. Her international career has just taken on a new dimension with
Minari
, a film telling the story of an American-Korean family joined in Arkansas by a colorful grandmother.