Film experts say de Leon won’t just get the nod; she might even take home the trophy.
Critics and audiences are calling on The Academy to recognize Dolly de Leon for her performance in Triangle of Sadness. The Filipino actress was the breakout star of the film that won Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
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Independent film production and distribution company NEON has just released the official trailer of Triangle of Sadness. This is to promote the film ahead of its October 7 theatrical release.
De Leon only appeared briefly toward the end of the trailer. Here, she delivered her line, “This is really bad. This is really, really bad.”
Although that snippet only used up 7 seconds, it was enough to reignite awards season excitement for de Leon.
If de Leon receives an Oscar nod, it would mark the Philippines’ first Academy Award nomination in the acting category. Standing behind her is NEON, which acquired the past three year’s Palme d’Or-winning films.
Aside from Triangle of Sadness, these are Titane and Parasite. The latter won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.
Asian domination
Previously, critics who positively reviewed Triangle of Sadness had singled out de Leon’s performance among the cast.
Variety’s Clayton Davis even said de Leon has a good chance of walking away with Oscars recognition come awards season.
“Her committed turn not only makes her the defining supporting performance of the year thus far. But also, if enough Academy members make a note to focus on quality (and not simply name recognition as they can often do), she could be the frontrunner walking into awards season,” Davis wrote.
Davis noted that only two Asian actresses have ever won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. These are Miyoshi Umeki for Sayonara and Yuh Jung-youn for Minari.
“Wouldn’t it be amazing to see de Leon, in addition to Michelle Yeoh, a leading actress contender for A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, make history for the AAPI community, who are too often ignored?” Davis concluded.
Additionally, Rebecca Ford and Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote Triangle of Sadness will likely make appearances on critics’ lists. They attributed this to the film’s screenplay and to “Dolly de Leon’s cracking performance.”
“She enters in the third act and commandingly asserts the movie as hers—which is maybe the kind of thing that supporting categories were made for,” Ford and Lawson wrote.
Fearless forecasts
So far, de Leon has already made several Oscar predictions lists in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Variety listed her as one of its five predicted nominees, along with Michelle Williams, Jessie Buckley, Vanessa Kirby, and Angela Bassett. GoldDerby and AwardsWatch have also listed her as a contender.
Meanwhile, Jacqueline Coley of Rotten Tomatoes singled out de Leon among strong performances in Triangle of Sadness. “[C]haracter actress Dolly De Leon is the name we want everyone to take note of as she has skyrocketed to the top of our early predictions for Supporting Actress,” Coley wrote.
Last but certainly not least, Tony-nominated playwright Jeremy O. Harris was among de Leon’s supporters on social media.
“Oh yeah in case you weren’t aware. This woman is winning Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars this year. I can’t see it going any other way,” Harris wrote.
Banner Photo by NEON via YouTube screenshot.
