Best Supporting Podcast

First things first, we love Laura Dern. We just don't love her in "Marriage Story." But as expected, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as the loosey goosey lawyer Nora, and we're here to figure out why. Is it the way she takes off her shoes? When she orders a kale salad? Maybe it's that monologue in the gray dress about fathers in the third act? It's probably the menuka. (Or maybe it's...

This week we were a couple of Best Supporting Yinzers--Colin visited Nick in Pittsburgh for a post-birthdays Oscars weekend! We remember fondly the crepey pancakes, Target runs and YouTube marathoning before diving into our takes on the Oscars, including the presenters we loved, the speeches we cringed through, and the wins we were most excited by. (Also, we've finally come around on Laura Dern, s...

We are giving our respect and allegiance to Beatrice Straight’s brief but breathtaking BSA performance in 1976’s “Network,” as Louise Schumacher, elevating the betrayed wife to Shakespearean levels. Perhaps it’s her experience as one of the original One Scene Queens, Lady Macduff, who we also queen out about this week. Plus: Piper Laurie’s magnetic Margaret White in “Carrie,” the powerhouse that i...

We are blush and bashful over this week's episode! We are celebrating the women of "Steel Magnolias" and all of their best moments, from Truvy's chain to M'Lynn's meltdown. We discuss why Julia Roberts was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar (and won the Golden Globe), why Sally Field wasn't nominated for an Oscar, the star power of Dolly Parton, who we'd cast in a remake, some love for...

Mo’Nique’s raw, unsettling portrayal of Mary Jones in “Precious” is hall of fame BSA work. She deserved to win every award possible that year, and just about did. This week, we break down her climactic breakdown, celebrate the supporting actress work from Mariah Carey and Paula Patton, discuss Precious being a powerful role versus a powerful performance, enjoy the joy of Joanne, are decidedly up i...

Octavia Spencer serves humor, pathos, strength--and yes, pie--as the indelible Minny in 2011's "The Help," and deservedly swept the awards that season. But we are Viola Davis fans in this house, and spend as much if not more time celebrating her nuanced, heartbreaking portrayal of Aibileen Clark. We also queen out on Melissa McCarthy's recognition for "Bridesmaids," groan about "Carnage," find rea...

Seeing as that we are mid-caftan deep into awards season right now, we're taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming to discuss the (female) nominees and winners at the Golden Globes, our take on Ricky Gervais's monologue, strong feelings for and against The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, unanimous love for Michelle Williams, the problem with Showtime shows, Cliff's Notes viewings of Killing...

Cloris Leachman's capacity for despair--and her ability to throw a coffee pot across the room--to say nothing of that bathrobe!--earns her the Academy Award for her portrayal of Ruth Popper in 1971's "The Last Picture Show," but it means Barbara Harris didn't take home a much-deserved Oscar for her genius work in the otherwise wackadoo "Who is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Th...

Jennifer Hudson sings her way to an Oscar (and acts her way to, hopefully, an acting class)as Effie White in 2006's "Dreamgirls." In a rare example of Best Supporting Singer, Hudson wins it fair and square for nailing "And I Am Telling You," but at the end of the day, we're Blanchett Gays at Best Supporting Podcast, so we spend plenty of time celebrating Cate's nominated performance in "Notes on a...

While Jessica Lange is GREAT as Julie in "Tootsie," is she the Best Supporting Actress of 1982? Or is life imitating art when it comes to co-star Teri Garr's solid but unrewarded work as Sandy? And maybe it all should have gone to Kim Stanley anyway, who knows. We also discuss our mixed emotions on Marriage Story, a hit parade of a musical from the UK and this year's potential shoe-in for the Best...

While Penelope Cruz fairly won the Oscar in 2008 for her turn as the volatile Maria Elena in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," the true BSA of the year for us is Viola Davis in "Doubt." We spend much of the episode queening out on her brief but powerful portrayal of Mrs. Miller, as well as Amy Adams's fragile, complex Sister James. Also: is Marisa Tomei in "The Fighter" the dark horse of that year? And...

Our favorite season? Awards. This week, we're changing things up with a celebration of our favorite best supporting actresses (and a couple best supporting actors)on Schitt's Creek! Follow us! Email: thebsapod@gmail.com Twitter: @bsapod Colin Drucker Twitter: @colindrucker Instagram: @colindrucker_ Nick Kochanov Twitter: @nickkochanov Instagram: @nickkochanov

Velma Kelly may or may not actually be a supporting character in “Chicago,” but Catherine Zeta-Jones hits all of the BSA notes in her award-winning performance in the 2003 Best Picture winner. But it was a big year for women in film--in particular, Meryl Streep, nominated across both categories for her work in “Adaptation.” and “The Hours,” which we spend at least a few hours queening out on. We a...

Are you Team Ted or Team Joanna? (For the record, we're team Margaret.) This week, we discuss the first role to win Meryl Streep an Oscar, as a complicated ex-wife and temporary ex-mother seeking to reclaim her son from her ex-husband (Dustin Hoffman). We dive deep into our own personal Streep histories and her finest moments in this movie, as well as the behind the scenes Method acting mishigas H...

Dianne Wiest takes the tried and true tropes of Woody Allen's neurosis-rich writing and directing and elevates them in ways only she can as Holly in "Hannah and Her Sisters." This week, we spend about as much time praising the Wiest (in this, The Birdcage, Rabbit Hole...) as we do discussing Mia Farrow as the eponymous Hannah, plus Barbara Hershey's fierce performance in "Black Swan," Diane Keaton...

Melissa Leo wields a cigarette and a wicked Boston accent as boxing momager Alice Ward in 2010's "The Fighter," but her performance is more than just props and working class drag. This week, we queen out on her best moments, from that thing she does with her chin to the way she says the word "sweetheart." We discuss co-star Amy Adams nearly as much, as well as some tangents on Hocus Pocus, Legally...

Ruth Gordon's performance as Minnie Castavet in "Rosemary's Baby" is as garish and oddly placed as the character itself, but that's part of why it's so great. Gordon is on her own frequency, managing to be both benign and evil, familiar and alien. And no one eats cake like her. Not to be left out, we also celebrate Mia Farrow's brilliant central performance, give some love to Ruth's fellow nominee...

It's hard to talk about "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" without queening out on Elizabeth Taylor's monstrous performance as Martha--so we get into that right away. But this week, we are celebrating all of the mousy, brandy-sloshed nuances of Honey, played by the incomparable Sandy Dennis. She perfects the art of performing drunkenness, says a monologue's worth in a single gesture, and of course,...

Despite stiff competition in the category (including a devastating late career turn from Judy Garland), Rita Moreno's performance as Anita in 1961's "West Side Story" is truly quintessential and unmatched. This week we queen out on Rita, Anita, even a little Chita, plus a good bit of time on Judy as well as our own personal BSA's of the Week! Follow us! Email: thebsapod@gmail.com Twitter: @bsapod...

Welcome to the first episode of Best Supporting Podcast, our celebration and dissection of all our favorite Best Supporting Actress performances! We kick off this epic queen out of a podcast by discussing what makes a best supporting performance jump out to us, our personal relationship with awards shows (and awkward red carpet interactions) and performances we consider to be quintessential exampl...