Megan McLachlan examines whether Anne Hathaway should go lead or supporting for The Odyssey at the 2027 Oscars.
Christopher Nolan has never directed a woman to a Best Actress Oscar nomination, but Anne Hathaway could change that.
With The Odyssey being a huge box-office player, naturally everyone wants to know where it will land come Oscar season, and as Variety reported, Anne Hathaway’s awards campaign team hasn’t decided whether she’ll go lead or supporting.
Granted, it’s pretty early in the season, but I thought it would be interesting to look at who Anne might be up against in either category and where she’d have the best path to gold.
The Case Anne Hathaway in Supporting
Currently, Gold Derby has her performance as Penelope, Odysseus’s long-suffering wife, positioned at the top in supporting (should she go supporting), up against other hopefuls like Penelope Cruz for La Bola Negra, Mariana Di Girolamo for Wild Horse Nine, Sandra Huller for Digger, and Parker Posey for Wild Horse Nine.
However, there are a lot of possible dual nominees, and this being the first year where actors can receive multiple nominations in a single category, could that impact who wins?
For example, Penelope Cruz could be nominated for La Bola Negra AND The Invite, for which she’s also receiving great reviews. In addition to the upcoming Digger, Sandra Huller also has a strong supporting turn in Project Hail Mary. Even Anne, herself, has two possible submissions, including The Devil Wears Prada 2 and the upcoming Verity, directed by Michael Showalter (who directed Jessica Chastain to an Oscar). We also don’t know about other possible contenders like Amy Adams for Klara and the Sun, Alicia Vikander for The Wizard of the Kremlin, and Claire Foy for Ink.
Could the oversaturation of dual performances hurt Anne? Especially if there’s a contingent that’s pro-Devil versus Odyssey.
Or a pro-Samantha Morton contingent. Hathaway’s co-star is a scene stealer in The Odyssey, and even though it’s a smaller performance, she leaves an impression. It’s been more than two decades since her last Oscar nomination for In America (she is also wonderful without saying a single word in Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown from 2000, for which she also scored a supporting nomination). And she missed out on a nomination for She Said.
The Case for Anne Hathaway in Lead
First, Anne Hathaway has an Oscar—but not as a lead actress. Which is sort of shocking if you think about it. (I think she should have been nominated for Collossal, one of my favorite performances from her). And she’s only become more beloved since winning her statuette (before, of course, receiving after-Oscar backlash for her theater-kid energy—smfh).
I could see Penelope as a “lead” in the same way Reese Witherspoon won for playing June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. It’s a “traditional” supporting performance that straddles categories. As much as The Odyssey is about one man grappling with the horrors of war, it’s also very much a love story, and Anne anchors that aspect.
If she were pushed in lead, I think she could certainly edge out contenders like Emily Blunt for Disclosure Day, a great performance in an otherwise uneven film and even Meryl Streep in Devil 2.
However, she’d face what looks to be some anticipated competition in Julianne Moore for The Debut, who Gold Derby has in the pole position, and Renate Reinsve, who’s on a roll between last year’s first-time nomination, this year’s Backrooms, and the upcoming Fjord.
Do I think Anne could make it into this category before Inde Navarrette in Obsession? Yes, because as much as I think the Academy is embracing horror more, I’m not sure how much they’ll embrace that film or performance.
BUT don’t forget Michelle Williams in A Place in Hell. Girlfriend still doesn’t have an Oscar, and now she’s working with writer/director Chloe Domont, whose previous film Fair Play was as intense as it was a conversation starter. This one looks like All About Eve but for lawyers.
But Where Can She Win?
Supporting looks like to be the less populated category, so I think she’d be best suited to win there. She probably won’t be nominated for Devil 2 or Verity (which looks more on the camp side), so that would mean if it did come down to two Penelope Cruz nominations, two Sandra Huller nominations, and Anne, she’d probably win.
However, if The Odyssey wants to get nominations across many categories (and secure Morton that supporting spot), which I suspect they do, I think they’d be smart to position her as lead, where I still think she could get in. Is it category fraud? Maybe. But if people love The Odyssey enough, voters won’t care.
The Odyssey is now playing in theaters.
