For as long as the Academy has handed out little gold men, it has also wrestled with this deceptively simple question.This season the debate resurfaces in dramatic fashion. When Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” premiered in September, Sean Penn was widely viewed as the frontrunner for supporting actor, delivering a ferocious turn as a man steeped in cruelty and moral decay. But as the precursors have rolled in, co-star Benicio Del Toro — playing a character the audience loves and roots for — has swept nearly every major critics group.
The shift raises a familiar and intriguing possibility: Do Oscar voters quietly resist honoring performances that embody outand-out, unflinching villainy?
History suggests they might.
Consider Ralph Fiennes in “Schindler’s List,” whose chilling portrayal of Amon Göth remains one of cinema’s most indelible depictions of evil. Despite universal acclaim and Steven Spielberg’s…
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