Overlooked performances this awards season, from Chaplin to Seyfried

Every January the awards narrative leading to the Oscars begins to take shape, and critics have singled out a slate of strong but overlooked performances this season. The piece notes that only 20 performances are selected for the Oscars annually and that, given other awards bodies, about 40 are in the broader competition, so many excellent turns fall outside the usual conversation.

Among the highlights are Oona Chaplin’s intensely physical motion-capture turn as Varang in Avatar: Fire and Ash, whose movement and posture help create a distinct villain; Kirsten Dunst’s restrained, quietly expressive work in Roofman as a Toys"R"Us employee and single mother; and Ralph Fiennes’s measured performance as Dr Ian Kelson in 28 Years Later, a character whose iodine-streaked appearance belies a thoughtful, guiding presence.

The rundown also praises Tatiana Maslany in Keeper and Danielle Deadwyler in The Woman in the Yard for focused, psychologically intense horror work; Dylan O’Brien’s grief-drenched lead in Twinless; Keanu Reeves’s daft-but-earnest guardian angel in Good Fortune; Jeffrey Wright’s complex Paul Christopher in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest; and Amanda Seyfried’s trio of roles in The Testament of Ann Lee, Seven Veils and The Housemaid, noting she appears to be moving toward the outskirts of this year’s contenders without recognition from the Sag’s actor awards or the Baftas.

Key Topics

Culture, Amanda Seyfried, Oona Chaplin, Motion Capture, Kirsten Dunst, Ralph Fiennes