Observing the list of the 2022 Oscar nominees, audiences can easily recognize the similarities between pairs of actors with contrasting fates across many works.
The 94th Academy Awards took place, with the film CODA winning the highest honor for Best Picture. In the major categories for Best Actor and Best Actress, Will Smith and Jessica Chastain shared many similarities. A similar occurrence happened with Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur in the supporting actor categories.
The Power of the Dog and Dune were the most nominated films at the 2022 Oscars, with 12 and 10 nominations, respectively. However, the Academy’s recognition of these films was largely unworthy of their quality and value. While neither film left empty-handed, both missed out on several important awards.
Oscar Represents Minority Communities
Coincidentally, in this year’s Oscars, both winners in the Best Supporting Actor category, Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur, received their first career nominations. Ariana DeBose won the golden statue for her role in West Side Story, while Troy Kotsur was recognized for CODA.
Actress Ariana DeBose.
Actor Troy Kotsur.
These victories are significant not only for the actors but also for the minority communities they represent. Ariana DeBose is the first Latinx artist from the LGBTQ+ community to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. As for Troy Kotsur, CODA made him the first deaf male actor to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Victory Through Biographical Films
The 2022 Oscars also marked the first win for both Best Actor and Best Actress recipients. Will Smith won the Best Actor award after three nominations and a 20-year wait. In the Best Actress category, Jessica Chastain also received the award after three nominations, but only had to wait 10 years.
Actors Will Smith and Jessica Chastain.
Interestingly, both won Oscars for portraying real historical figures. Chastain transformed into the TV host, evangelist, singer, and author Tammy Faye in The Eye of Tammy Faye. Meanwhile, Will Smith played Richard Williams, the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard.
First Generation Z Artist to Win an Oscar
The 2022 Oscars marked the first time Billie Eilish and her brother received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. This achievement came from their song No Time to Die, the theme song for the film of the same name about the suave spy character 007.
Siblings Billie Eilish.
Coincidentally, before accepting the award, the singer and her brother performed the song live on the Oscar stage. With this win, Billie Eilish became the first artist born in the 2000s to win an Oscar at an awards ceremony. The golden statue for the Eilish siblings was the only achievement that No Time to Die garnered at the 2022 awards.
Dune’s Quiet Triumph
At this year’s Oscars, Dune won six awards, including those for sound, visual effects, production design, original score, editing, and cinematography. Prior to that, Denis Villeneuve’s film received 10 nominations.
Dune’s victories pertained to technical aspects of filmmaking, post-production, and its score. Therefore, despite winning the most Oscars at the 94th ceremony, the Academy’s recognition of Dune may not resonate with the general public, who primarily focus on the awards for actors and Best Picture. The fact that Dune missed out on the Adapted Screenplay award is also quite unfortunate.
Actors Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya.
The Disappointment of The Power of the Dog
As the film with the most nominations at the 2022 Oscars with 12 categories, The Power of the Dog only secured one win in the Best Director category for filmmaker Jane Campion. This result was disappointing for a work that had such high expectations like The Power of the Dog.
The film missed out on several major awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor. Among these, the absence of an award in the Best Picture category for The Power of the Dog is the most regrettable. Despite its superior artistic quality, the film’s cold, distant, and psychologically polarizing nature did not resonate with the Oscar judging panel.
Filmmaker Jane Campion.
The Absolute Victory of CODA
Once a lesser-known name among the 10 films nominated for Best Picture at the 2022 Oscars, CODA made a remarkable comeback in the final weeks leading up to the awards ceremony. On March 19 and 20, CODA won two awards from the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Notably, these rapid victories occurred just after the Academy began voting for the winning film at the 94th Oscars.
The cast of CODA.
Before March 17, major pre-Oscar awards such as the Critics Choice Awards and BAFTA had named Jane Campion’s film. However, after March 20, the critics’ favor shifted towards CODA. As a result, the film won three awards in the categories of Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. This means the film won all the nominations it received, bringing its winning rate to 100%.
