AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 14th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. I’m drawing only from films that were either released or playing at a film festival in the 2020 calendar year. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Arliss Howard (Mank), Bill Burr (The King of Staten Island), Bill Murray (On the Rocks), Charles Dance (Mank), Jens Albinus (My Little Sister), Kim Rossi Stuart (The Best Years)

Runners-up:
Aldis Hodge (One Night in Miami)
Eddie Redmayne (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)
Frank Langella (The Trial of the Chicago 7)

The winner:
Alan Kim (Minari) was the heart of his movie, affectionately conveying his youthful experience through curiosity, rebellion, and heartwarming interactions with his family members.

Other nominees:
Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Orion Lee (First Cow)
Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami)
Colman Domingo (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 13th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 233 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Mark Ruffalo (Avengers: Endgame), Paul Rudd (Avengers: Endgame)

Runners-up:
Samuel L. Jackson (The Banker)
Sam Rockwell (Richard Jewell)
Steven Ogg (The Short History of the Long Road)
Billy Crystal (Standing Up, Falling Down)
Bokeem Woodbine (Queen and Slim)

The winner:
Jonathan Majors (The Last Black Man in San Francisco) approached his character with such precision and magnetic wonder, conveying his unique vision of the world in mesmerizing fashion.

Other nominees:
Aldis Hodge (Clemency)
Joe Pesci (The Irishman)
James Badge Dale (Mickey and the Bear)
Noah Jupe (Honey Boy)

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 12th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 200 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Barry Keoghan (American Animals), Fabrizio Zacharee Guido (Family), Jason Ritter (The Tale), Robert Forster (What They Had)

Runners-up:
Brian Tyree Henry (Widows)
Christopher Plummer (Boundaries)
Mahershala Ali (Green Book)
Steven Yeun (Burning)
Na-kel Smith (Mid90s)

The winner:
Alessandra Nivola (Disobedience) evoked a lifetime experience of living within orthodox religion to deliver a heartfelt and extremely human performance about dealing with unexpected and unavoidable events.

Other nominees:
Nicholas Hoult (The Favourite) matched the three women at the heart of his film with his genuine glee for treachery and pettiness. Rafael Casal (Blindspotting) was incredibly vulnerable in a role that outwardly projected strength, sharing his true self even when he believed himself to be a contradiction. Daniel Kaluuya (Widows) proved that he can play bad very well, terrifying those around him with his quiet penchant for cruel violence. Simon Russell Beale (The Death of Stalin) was the master operator, so delightfully in control of everything around him until his plans evolved well beyond him.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 11th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 149 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Alan Cumming (Battle of the Sexes), Alessandro Nivola (One Percent More Humid), Anton Yelchin (Rememory), Anton Yelchin (Thoroughbreds), Aviv Alush (The Women's Balcony), Ben Daniels (The Exception), Ben Mendelsohn (Darkest Hour), Bill Pullman (Battle of the Sexes), Bob Odenkirk (The Post), Bryan Cranston (Last Flag Flying), Charles Dance (Despite the Falling Snow), Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World), Christopher Rivera (The Florida Project), Cillian Murphy (Dunkirk), Clancy Brown (Stronger), Clark Duke (The Last Movie Star), Craig Robinson (Table 19), Daniel Bruhl (The Zookeeper's Wife), Dave Franco (The Disaster Artist), David Sullivan (Deidra and Laney Rob a Train), Dustin Hoffman (The Meyerowitz Stories), Dwayne Johnson (The Fate of the Furious), Elijah Wood (I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore), Ellar Coltrane (The Last Movie Star), Emil Belton (Land of Mine), Ewan McGregor (Beauty and the Beast), Francis Guinan (Abundant Acreage Available), François Arnaud (Permission), Fred Armisen (Band Aid), Garrett Hedlund (Mudbound), Greg Kinnear (Brigsby Bear), Ian McKellen (Beauty and the Beast), Jack Huston (The Yellow Birds), Jamie Foxx (Baby Driver), Jason Sudeikis (Colossal), Jon Bernthal (Baby Driver), Jon Hamm (Baby Driver), Justin Timberlake (Wonder Wheel), Kenneth Branagh (Dunkirk), Kevin Spacey (Rebel in the Rye), Louis Hoffman (Land of Mine), Lucas Hedges (Lady Bird), Mark Hamill (Brigsby Bear), Mark Rylance (Dunkirk), Matthew Shear (The Boy Downstairs), Max Gail (Abundant Acreage Available), Michael Stahl-David (LBJ), Nick Offerman (The Hero), Noah Jupe (Wonder), O'Shea Jackson Jr. (Ingrid Goes West), Oskar Belton (Land of Mine), Patrick Stewart (Logan), Paul Sorvino (Abe and Phil's Last Poker Game), Paul Sparks (Thoroughbreds), Richard Jenkins (LBJ), Sam Claflin (Their Finest), Sebastian Stan (I, Tonya), Stephen Dillane (Darkest Hour), Stephen Merchant (Table 19), Steve Coulter (Abundant Acreage Available), Terry Kinney (Abundant Acreage Available), Tim Blake Nelson (Deidra and Laney Rob a Train), Tim Robbins (Marjorie Prime), Tom Hardy (Dunkirk), Tony Revolori (Table 19), Tracy Letts (Lady Bird), Tyrese Gibson (The Fate of the Furious), Wyatt Russell (Table 19), Zachary Quinto (Aardvark)

Runners-up:
Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project)
Ruben Niborski (Menashe)
Jason Mitchell (Mudbound)
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name)

The winner:
Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) was essentially the only true bad guy in a movie filled with sweet-natured people, and he managed to deliver a commanding, terrific performance without veering towards the cartoonish and over-the-top.

Other nominees:
Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) was the element that worked best about his dark but comedic film, imbuing his sheriff with an amusing comic outlook on life. Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water) was a lovely neighbor for his film’s protagonist, valuing her happiness as his own and even investing his energy into her success no matter the consequences for him. Ray Romano (The Big Sick) turned arguably his film’s least interesting character into an entertaining and worthwhile part of it, delivering an honest and genuine turn. Bill Nighy (Their Finest) hammed up every single one of his scenes to just the right degree, earning his character’s stripes as an actor.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 10th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 117 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Aaron Paul (Eye in the Sky), Alan Rickman (Eye in the Sky), Alan Tudyk (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Amir Tessler (A Tale of Love and Darkness), Armani Jackson (Little Boxes), Barkhad Abdi (Eye in the Sky), Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Ben Wishaw (The Lobster), Billy Crudup (20th Century Women), Daniel Grao (Julieta), Dario Grandinetti (Julieta), Ethan Hawke (Maggie's Plan), George MacKay (Captain Fantastic), Gil Birmingham (Hell or High Water), Gilad Kahana (A Tale of Love and Darkness), Hitham Omari (Sand Storm), Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins), James Purefoy (High-Rise), James Ransone (In a Valley of Violence), Jason Butler Harner (The Family Fang), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Jeremy Irons (High-Rise), Jerome Holder (Dough), John C. Reilly (The Lobster), John Travolta (In a Valley of Violence), John Turturro (Mia Madre), Laurent Lafitte (Elle), Lucas Jade Zumann (20th Century Women), Luke Evans (High-Rise), Matthias Schoenaerts (A Bigger Splash), Michael Chernus (Complete Unknown), Mykelti Williamson (Fences), Nanni Moretti (Mia Madre), Oliver Platt (The Ticket), Ozzy Meyers (Adult Life Skills), Ralph Fiennes (A Bigger Splash), Richard Jenkins (The Hollars), Russell Hornsby (Fences), Sharlto Copley (The Hollars), Shia LaBeouf (American Honey), Stephen Henderson (Fences), Tomer Kapon (A Week and a Day), Werner Daehn (Game of Aces)

Runners-up:
Timothy Spall (Denial)
Sam Neill (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)
Brett Goldstein (Adult Life Skills)
Christopher Walken (The Family Fang)
Taylor John Smith (Wolves)

The winner:
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea) broke through with a very real, refreshing, and entertaining performance as a teenager going through a morning period with an unusual role model and allowing his experience to be shaped by his culture.

Other nominees:
Dev Patel (Lion) convincingly and emotionally demonstrated what it feels like to be relatively happy and well-off yet be reminded every day of a missing piece of your life. Ben Foster (Hell or High Water) had complete control over a character whose impulse in any given situation was to allow himself to be swayed by anger, aggression, excitement, and unpredictably. Andre Holland (Moonlight) and Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) contributed tremendously to a story about one incredible protagonist, adding depth to the two most influential men in their lives.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 122 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Ben Mendelsohn (Slow West), Benedict Cumberbatch (Black Mass), Bradley Cooper (Joy), Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Martian), Edgar Ramirez (Joy), Emile Hirsch (Ten Thousand Saints), Giorgi Nakashidze (Tangerines), Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Jeff Daniels (Steve Jobs), Jeff Daniels (The Martian), Josh Charles (Freeheld), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Michael Fassbender (Slow West), Michael Stuhlbarg (Steve Jobs), Mikheil Meskhi (Tangerines), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Rory Cochrane (Black Mass), Seth Rogen (Steve Jobs), Steve Carell (Freeheld), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Thomas Middleditch (The Bronze), Tom Noonan (Anomalisa), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Domnhall Gleeson (The Revenant), Max Irons (Woman in Gold), Chris Pine (Z for Zachariah)

Runners-up:
Robert De Niro (Joy)
Jason Mantzoukas (Sleeping with Other People)
Harvey Keitel (Youth)
Gabriel Garko (Misunderstood)
Joel Edgerton (Black Mass)

The winner:
Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight) stood out in a stacked cast because of the pure delight and energy he brought to his rampant racism and outlook on his situation, matching five Oscar nominees and a handful of other respected actors to prove that he is worthy of incredible film roles.

Other nominees:
RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), as the middle part of his film’s title, was droll and unenthusiastic, so perfectly muted in contrast to the absurdity of his film parodies and the excitement of his costar. Sasson Gabai (Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem) and Menashe Noy (Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem) did most of the talking for a sparring couple, investing their characters’ emotions into a trial that wasn’t initially about them and truly laying their emotions bare in a way lawyers rarely do. Jason Schwartzman (The Overnight) was just the actor to play a peculiar young father with some strange interest that isn’t immediately apparent, an odd but hilarious role for the always committed actor.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 8th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 156 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Aaron Paul (Hellion), Andrew Scott (Pride), Ben Mendelsohn (Starred Up), Bill Nighy (Pride), Chris O'Dowd (Calvary), Colm Meaney (Alan Partridge), Deke Garner (Hellion), Dominic West (Pride), Dylan Llewellyn (Frequencies), Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Fabio Audi (The Way He Looks), Gordon Pinsent (The Grand Seduction), Henrik Rafaelsen (Blind), Jaeden Lieberher (St. Vincent), James Corden (Begin Again), Jeff Goldblum (Le Week-End), Joe Swanberg (Happy Christmas), Johnny Flynn (Song One), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Young Ones), Laurence Fishburne (Rudderless), Mackenzie Crook (One Chance), Marc Hosemann (A Coffee in Berlin), Marius Kolbenstvedt (Blind), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), Paddy Considine (Pride), Richard E. Grant (Dom Hemingway), Sam Shepard (Cold in July), Scoot McNairy (Frank), Zach Galifianakis (Birdman)

Runners-up:
Josh Brolin (Inherent Vice)
Sam Rockwell (Laggies)
Nicholas Hoult (Young Ones)
Demian Bichir (Dom Hemingway)
Anton Yelchin (Rudderless)

The winner:
Edward Norton (Birdman) was electric, maniacal, focused, and brilliant, as an actor well aware of his audience and not keen to merely accept his role for what it is, intensifying an already fantastic and layered film with his nuanced performance.

Other nominees:
Don Johnson (Cold in July) burst onto the scene with such a vigor and energy that contrasted the film’s darkness and somehow managed to be one of its most magnetic parts. J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) took pieces of the smaller parts from throughout his career to craft one truly formidable and cruel instructor intent on making his students suffer for failing to achieve perfection. Tye Sheridan (Joe) handed in a fine, mature performance just as strong as his big debut in “Mud” last year, full of just as much hope and wonder but more committed to hard work and the reality of his situation. Jonathan Pryce (Listen Up Philip) brilliantly embodied a writer obsessed with his own intellect, a suitable mentor for the similarly-minded Philip and the source of many fantastic lines.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 7th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 100 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Richard Jenkins (A.C.O.D.), Alex Shaffer (The Lifeguard), Peter Sarsgaard (Lovelace), Daniel Gimenez Cacho (Blancanieves), Yiftach Klein (Fill the Void), Jack Huston (Kill Your Darlings), Richmond Arquette (This is Martin Bonner), Steve Carell (The Way, Way Back), Steve Coogan (What Maisie Knew), Alexander Skarsgard (What Maisie Knew), Antony Starr (Wish You Were Here)

Runners-up:
Jacob Lofland (Mud)
Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Ben Foster (Kill Your Darlings)
Guillaume de Tonquedec (What's in a Name?)

The winner:
Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness) was a mesmerizing villain who mysterious, alluring, and an excellent nemesis for Kirk and Spock.

Other nominees:
Sam Rockwell (The Way, Way Back) dominated his ensemble comedy, pretending to be carefree and managing to be entirely hilarious. Dane DeHaan (Kill Your Darlings) stood out among a talented cast as a darkly appealing young intellectual. Matthew McConaughey (Mud) showed that he can get serious with this astounding turn as a mystery man who truly springs into action when he has purpose. Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) created a layered demon, a slavemaster who convinced himself that white men were ordained to enslave others.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 6th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 95 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Bill Nighy (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Tom Wilkinson (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Joel David Moore (Grassroots), Bill Murray (Moonrise Kingdom), Bruce Willis (Moonrise Kingdom), William H. Macy (The Sessions), Jan Josef Liefers (Simon and the Oaks), Javier Bardem (Skyfall)

Runners-up:
Dwight Henry (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty)
Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises)
Alan Arkin (Argo)
Edward Norton (Moonrise Kingdom)

The winner:
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) dominated an uneven film with a thunderous, hilarious performance that shows that he can do wonders with any material that he is given.

Other nominees:
Samuel West (Hyde Park on Hudson) managed to create a compelling, endearing King George in the shadow of Colin Firth’s Oscar winning turn and opposite Bill Murray’s FDR. Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained) played against type in a deliciously evil role, thoroughly enjoying every moment of it. Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master) got serious for a disturbing turn as a cult leader caught up in the allure of his vision. Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) effortlessly delivered a film-stealing performance in a cast crowded with well-known actors as a sarcastic, outspoken abolitionist.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 5th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 138 Films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
John C. Reilly (Carnage), Christoph Waltz (Carnage), Ryan Gosling (Crazy Stupid Love), Don Cheadle (The Guard), Liam Cunningham (The Guard), Mark Strong (The Guard), Henrik Rafaelsen (Happy Happy), Joachim Rafaelsen (Happy Happy), Kevin Spacey (Horrible Bosses), William Johnk Nielsen (In a Better World), Markus Rygaard (In a Better World), Paul Giamatti (The Ides of March), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March), Kevin Spacey (Margin Call), Rainn Wilson (Peep World), Shahab Hosseini (A Separation), Benedict Cumberbatch (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Colin Firth (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Patton Oswalt (Young Adult)

Runners-up:
John C. Reilly (Cedar Rapids)
Jeremy Irons (Margin Call)
Kiefer Sutherland (Melancholia)
Stellan Skarsgard (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)

The winner:
Christopher Plummer (Beginners) was delightfully spry and charming as a 75-year-old man who realized that he was gay and started trying to live his life in new and exciting ways.

Other nominees:
John Hurt (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) was prickly, paranoid, and entirely superb as head honcho Control. Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn) imbued his Laurence Olivier with bravado, prestige, and a magnificent impatience for his blonde costar. Max Von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) conveyed considerable emotion in his mute performance as a mysterious and kindly stranger. Viggo Mortensen (A Dangerous Method) was calm, deliberate, and formidable as Sigmund Freud.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

This is the fourth category of the 4th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 177 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Alison Barry (Ondine), Helena Bonham Carter (Alice in Wonderland), Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech), Kathleen Chalfant (The Last New Yorker), Minnie Driver (Barney’s Version), Elle Fanning (Somewhere), America Ferrera (The Dry Land), Julie Ferrier (Heartbreaker), Julie Ferrier (Micmacs), Tamsin Greig (Tamara Drewe), Amber Heard (The Joneses), Iben Hjelje (The Eclipse), Scarlett Johanssen (Iron Man 2), Ranin Karim (Ajami), Alice de Lencquesaing (The Father of My Children), Leighton Meester (Country Strong), Marguerite Moreau (Douchebag), Emily Mortimer (Harry Brown), Kerry Peacock (Down Terrace), Amanda Peet (Please Give), Miranda Richardson (Made in Dagenham), Emma Roberts (It’s Kind of a Funny Story), Sarah Steele (Please Give), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Marisa Tomei (Cyrus), Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right)

Runners-up:
CAREY MULLIGAN (The Greatest)
SHIRLEY HENDERSON (Life During Wartime)
ANN GUILBERT (Please Give)
RUTH SHEEN (Another Year)
EMANUELLE DEVOS (Wild Grass)

The winner:
Melissa Leo (The Fighter) was nearly unrecognizable as a mother obsessed with helping her son – and the legacy of her family – succeed.

Other nominees:
Rosamund Pike (Made in Dagenham) shined in a small role as an wonderfully positive and forward-thinking unlikely ally for the ladies of Dagenham. Jodie Whittaker (White Wedding) infused tremendous energy and excitement into a young woman on holiday who stood out distinctly from all those around her. Amy Adams (The Fighter) played against type and delivered a typically excellent performance. Laura Linney (The City of Your Final Destination) defined uptight, judgmental, and impatient in her portrayal of a widow living with her husband’s mistress.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 4th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 177 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Roger Allam (Tamara Drewe), Mathieu Amalric (Wild Grass), Niels Arestup (A Prophet), Lucas Black (Get Low), Jim Broadbent (Another Year), Eric Cantona (Looking for Eric), Gary Cole (The Joneses), Andre Dussolier (Micmacs), Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom), Chris Evans (The Losers), Guillermo Francella (The Secret in their Eyes), Zach Galifianakis (It’s Kind of a Funny Story), Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception), Armie Hammer (The Social Network), Tom Hardy (Inception), Garrett Hedlund (Country Strong), Jonah Hill (Cyrus), Dustin Hoffman (Barney’s Version), Bob Hoskins (Made in Dagenham),Tommy Lee Jones (The Company Men), Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island), Dick Latessa (The Last New Yorker), Michael Lonsdale (Of Gods and Men), Nicolas Marie (Micmacs), Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom), Cillian Murphy (Inception), Sean Penn (Fair Game), Oliver Platt (Please Give), Pablo Rago (The Secret in their Eyes), Mickey Rourke (Iron Man 2), Justin Timberlake (The Social Network), Phillippe Torreton (District 13: Ultimatum)

Runners-up:
ANTHONY HOPKINS (The City of Your Final Destination)
EDDIE MARSAN (The Disappearance of Alice Creed)
YVAN ATTAL (Leaving)
MATT DAMON (True Grit)
ANDREW GARFIELD (The Social Network)

The winner:
Christian Bale (The Fighter) disappeared into the troubled character of Dicky Eklund, and his dramatic weight loss was hardly the only notable part of his transformation.

Other nominees:
Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech) breathed marvelous life into a film full of (purposely) stiff personalities, refusing to let their negative spirits bring him down. John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone) was unrecognizable as the terrifying Teardop. Michael Fassbender (Fish Tank) offered a layered portrait of a man with immoral tendencies but a kind heart. Nigel Lindsay (Four Lions) was hilarious as the most purposefully ridiculous of his terrorists-in-training cohorts.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 3rd Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 92 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Jemaine Clement (Gentlemen Broncos), Nathan Fillion (Trucker), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Ed Helms (The Hangover), Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), James McAvoy (The Last Station), Alfred Molina (An Education), Alessandro Nivola (Coco Before Chanel), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek), Peter Sarsgaard (An Education), Paul Schneider (Bright Star), Liev Schreiber (Taking Woodstock), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)

Runners-up:
TIMOTHY HUTTON (Serious Moonlight)
STEPHEN LANG (Avatar)
KODI SMIT-MCPHEE (The Road)
CHRISTIAN MCKAY (Me and Orson Welles)
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER (The Last Station)

The winner:
Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) was terrifying, hilarious, wacky, and intimidating all at the same time as a Nazi officer known as the Jew Hunter. He owned every scene in which he appeared, and earns bonus points for his excellent command of not one but four languages – German, French, English, and Italian.

Other nominees:
Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man) worked with the artistic direction of Tom Ford and understood the subtlety and complexity of the film he made, and conveyed so much maturity even with just his eyes. Matt Damon (Invictus) enhanced what could have been a throwaway part with a complete immersion in the role and impressive physical transformation that really made a difference. Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) was a ghastly narrator for the devastation of his world, and it’s hard to decide whether he’s more fearsome with or without his ink-blotted mask. Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) didn’t try to make his performance theatrical, and therefore his rendition of a soldier at war was incredibly human.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 2nd Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.

Runners-up:
JOHN MALKOVICH, CHANGELING
RALPH FIENNES, IN BRUGES
ROBERT DOWNEY JR, TROPIC THUNDER
TOM NOONAN, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
EDDIE MARSAN, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY

The winner:
Mark Strong (Body of Lies) was an awesome, frightening, incredible force to be reckoned with and managed to make Leonardo DiCaprio’s character shake in his boots quite a few times. Though I don’t award additional performances, I must say that his hilarious turn in “RocknRolla” also merits enormous recognition.

Other nominees:
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) threw himself fully into his last role and created a truly terrifying and fascinating villain. Bill Irwin (Rachel Getting Married) gave an incredibly real performance as the broken father of two unstable daughters. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt) didn’t quite let you hate him as a less experienced actor might have in the role of a potentially abusive priest. Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (Slumdog Millionaire) bested a number of actors twice his age as the youngest Jamal, helping enormously to capture the exotic spirit of the film.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 1st Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are listed in alphabetical order by film title. Winners will be announced in late February.

Runners-up:
IRRFAN KHAN, A MIGHTY HEART
HAL HOLBROOK, INTO THE WILD
PAUL RUDD, KNOCKED UP
YOUSEF SWEID, THE BUBBLE
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR

The nominees:
ROLF LASSGARD, AFTER THE WEDDING
It is hard to summarize Lassgard’s performance without including some major spoilers, so I will keep it short and suggest that anyone reading this watch this film at their earliest convenience. Lassgard first appears on screen while the song “It’s Raining Men” plays on his radio, but that is such a false impression of the generous businessman with a booming voice that only the film can itself reveal.

CASEY AFFLECK, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORDAffleck takes his quiet ferocity from “Gone Baby Gone” and transplants it into the past, where he faces off against Brad Pitt in this remarkable film. Affleck’s Robert Ford is at every moment desperately eager to please Pitt’s Jesse James, but it is clear that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery for Ford. Without ever raising his voice, Affleck carries a pent-up anger and jealousy throughout the film and more than keeps the film going during its somewhat slow-paced third act.

ED HARRIS, GONE BABY GONE
All the buzz for this film went to co-star Amy Ryan, but it is veteran Harris who really stands out. As a somewhat shady cop in the Boston police force, Harris both demands respect and exudes suspicion at the same time. He does not take crap from anybody, which is most clear in his scenes with Casey Affleck. Harris has many terrific moments with such a small role that make his character impossible to forget.

MARCUS CARL FRANKLIN, I’M NOT THERE
It would be easy for the young Franklin, in his first feature film role, to get lost among the great actors playing Bob Dylan in this film (Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, and Cate Blanchett, most notably). But Franklin proves in his very first moment to be the strongest thing about the film, making his interpretation of Dylan mature beyond his years and so eagerly adaptable to the world around him. Franklin definitely has an exciting career ahead of him.

JAVIER BARDEM, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Every time I see this ridiculously nice guy give an acceptance speech, I am reminded of how good his performance was and how he in real life is so remarkably different from his psychotic but calculating killer. Bardem immediately skyrockets to the top of any “best villains” list and his presence holds sway over the entire film, even when he is not on screen. His best moments come when he is engaged in one-on-one conversations with unexpected people who just want to do their job. He just wants to do his job, but that may involve flipping a coin.