Experts slugfest: Saoirse Ronan, ‘Challengers’ trio, and more Oscar category confirmations

To go lead or not to go lead? That is the question. Luckily, we got a lot of answers this week. Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng are here to discuss the Oscar category campaigns of several high-profile contenders.

Saoirse Ronan already has a clear lead performance in “The Outrun,” but she won’t compete against herself for votes in the category. As Gold Derby reported, the four-time Oscar nominee will go supporting for Steve McQueen‘s upcoming World War II drama “Blitz,” in which she plays a mother who’s separated from her 9-year-old son, George (Elliott Heffernan). We discuss why this isn’t a case of category fraud and her likelihood of becoming the 13th performer to score double Oscar nominations in one year.

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Other confirmed category placements were pretty much expected. Karla Sofía Gascón is going lead for “Emilia Pérez” with Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz in supporting. John David Washington will be the sole lead representative for “The Piano Lesson” as Danielle Deadwyler will run in supporting. The “Challengers” trio will be split with Zendaya in lead and Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist in supporting. Similarly, “His Three Daughters” will send just one daughter, Natasha Lyonne, to lead, while the other two, Carrie Coon and Elizabeth Olsen, will go supporting. Is this the best — not necessarily right — call?

Elsewhere, we discuss the release dates for A24’s “Queer” and “The Brutalist” and make a big announcement.

Email your questions to slugfests@goldderby.com.

Timestamps:
Intro and a big announcement (0:00)
Saoirse Ronan in supporting for “Blitz” (2:36)
“Emilia Pérez” placements (12:38)
“His Three Daughters” placements (15:22)
“The Piano Lesson” placements (25:38)
“Challengers” placements (26:44)
Kieran Culkin in supporting for “A Real Pain” (32:26)
“Queer” and “The Brutalist” get release dates (42:07)

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