Take heart, Brie Larson, Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer and Adele Exarchopoulos.
Gary Oldman, Javier Bardem, Quvenzhane Wallis and Emmanuelle Riva know just how you feel.
Larson, Jordan, Spencer and Exarchopoulos are among the actors who’ve now woken up to (or slept through) bad news on two consecutive mornings. On Wednesday, they were bypassed by Screen Actors Guild Award voters; on Thursday, they were left off the roster of Golden Globe acting nominees.
Also read: Golden Globe Nominations: The Complete List
And while they turned in some of the most acclaimed and effective acting performances of the year – Larson in “Short Term 12,” Exarchopoulos in “Blue Is the Warmest Color” and Jordan and Spencer in “Fruitvale Station” – they are on the outside looking in as Oscar voters prepare to start voting in a couple of weeks.
Also shut out: Jonah Hill for his three hours of misbehavior in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and Tom Hanks for playing Walt Disney in “Saving Mr. Banks.”
But Bardem was in the same situation three years ago when his magnificent performance in “Biutiful” was overlooked by SAG and the Globes, and he came back to land an Oscar nomination.
So did Oldman for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Wallis for “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and Riva for “Amour.”
(To be fair to Wallis, “Beasts” was ineligible for the SAG Award because of union issues.)
Over the last five years, eight actors have landed Oscar nominations after being shut out by both SAG and the Globes. In addition to Oldman, Bardem, Wallis and Riva, the list includes Jacki Weaver for “Silver Linings Playbook,” Max von Sydow for “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” Michael Shannon for “Revolutionary Road” and Maggie Gyllenhaal for “Crazy Heart.”
Also read: 22 of Golden Globes’ Biggest Snubs and Surprises: Where Are Anna Gunn and ‘The Butler’?
So while it’s a longshot, can we get some love for these half a dozen deserving actors who need a break from the Academy?
Brie Larson, “Short Term 12”
She may be best known for playing the daughter on TV series like “United States of Tara” and “Raising Dad”), but Larson gave one of the year’s loveliest and most touching performances as a counselor for troubled kids whose dark past has made her afraid of intimacy.
Michael B. Jordan, “Fruitvale Station”
Ryan Coogler’s film doesn’t try to make a hero of Oscar Grant, killed by transit offers on New Year’s Day in 2008. Instead, it makes a fully-rounded human being out of him, thanks in large measure to a rich, commanding but understated performance by Jordan.
Adele Exarchopoulos, “Blue is the Warmest Color”
In one of the year’s rawest and most searing performances, French teenager Exarchopoulos is “magnificently unguarded,” in the words of TheWrap critic Ella Taylor. It’s not the lengthy sex scenes you’ll remember as much as the searing pain of the breakup sequences. (Well, maybe it’s both.)
Octavia Spencer, “Fruitvale Station”
Michael B. Jordan is the center of “Fruitvale Station,” but Spencer is its heart. And for a movie that tackles an inflammatory, politically-charged story, heart is key.
Jonah Hill, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
With the last-minute unveiling of Martin Scorsese’s “Wolf of Wall Street,” voters may still be processing the bigscreen depravity and unbridled excess of Hill’s character. But you’ve got to give the guy credit: If you thought his performance in the raucous comedy “This Is the End” was wild, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Tom Hanks, “Saving Mr. Banks”
Emma Thompson’s performance as “Mary Poppins” author P.L. Travers has been nominated twice, but “Saving Mr. Banks” is a duet between her Travers and Tom Hanks’ Walt Disney, and he certainly holds up his end. With best-actor nods from both SAG and the Globes for “Captain Phillips,” the two-time Oscar winner hardly needs more awards attention, but he pulls off a nifty trick in making an icon real – and his big speech near the end is cornier but nearly as effective as his signature moments at the end of “Captain Phillips.”
CORRECTION: The initial version of this story stated that Riva and Exarchopoulos were ineligible for Golden Globe nominations in the acting categories because they were in foreign-language films. In fact, while HFPA rules disqualify foreign-language films from the animated-feature category, they do not disqualify acting performances.)