Watch out for Rosamund Pike (‘Saltburn’) in wide-open Supporting Actress Oscar race

Everyone thought that Best Supporting Actress was locked up and secured, with Lily Gladstone from “Killers of the Flower Moon” the overwhelming favorite. Then came the bombshell: Gladstone had been switched from supporting to lead. This threw Oscarologists into a state of hysteria as many claimed it was a foolish move — she was a shoe-in to win Best Supporting Actress, why change? — while others argued that her screen time in Martin Scorsese‘s epic justified the move.

The one thing we can all agree on, however, is that it has blown the Best Supporting Actress race wide open, which could leave room for a surprise nomination or two. Enter Rosamund Pike. Pike stars in Emerald Fennell‘s latest flick, “Saltburn,” which follows Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, an Oxford student who becomes obsessed with his rich classmate, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Oliver goes and stays with Felix’s family at their manor house, Saltburn. It’s here where Pike pierces the picture with one of the best comedy performances of the year. Pike plays Felix’s mother, Elsbeth, who is pretentious, flighty, fickle, incredibly vain, rather dim, and very, very funny. Pike is clearly having a great time playing the wealthy matriarch of the family and she delivers each biting line with joy. Pike has always been a great actress, but she has never been funnier here, and her performance is a wonder to behold in what critics agree is a fresh, vibrant, memorable performance.

Kristy Puchko (Mashable) observed: “Rosamund Pike, who deserved an Oscar for ‘Gone Girl,’ gives her funniest performance yet as mother Elspeth, who chatters away with her concern about others — in between some of the most cutting barbs ever committed to film. (Her withering delivery of ‘She’ll do anything for attention’ may be the best punchline of the year.) With a wide smile and breezy tone, Pike welcomes audiences into Saltburn, then swiftly stings with a series of increasingly outrageous confessions, to which Oliver — and us — are eager audiences. She is electrifying in her blithe cruelty, delivering the kind of lines that drag queens would call ‘reads’ but with the British brightness that makes their sharp edge all the more jolting.”

Maureen Lee Lenker (EW) noted: “Rosamund Pike is ‘Saltburn’’s secret weapon — her razor-sharp wit transforms chilly family matriarch Elspeth into a terrifyingly delicious satire of the idle rich. She cuts through her scenes with the precision of an ice pick, once again proving her tremendous skill and deceptively clever approach to her work.”

Gregory Ellwood (The Playlist) added: “In a surprise to no one, Pike delivers a comedic masterclass while somehow bringing genuine depth to a character that is anything but grounded.”

Currently, Pike is outside of our predicted nominees for Best Supporting Actress, according to our Oscars odds chart for this category: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”), Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”), Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”), Taraji P. Henson (“The Color Purple”), and Julianne Moore (“May December”). However, Pike is certainly by no means out of this race. Pike is just outside those names and is on the bubble alongside a bunch of actresses including Jodie Foster (“Nyad”), Penelope Cruz (“Ferrari”), America Ferrera (“Barbie”), and Viola Davis (“Air”).

What is most notable here is how fun and colorful this performance is. Colorful performances such as this one tend to do well in this category, with recent examples including Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis (Curtis won) in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Maria Bakalova in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” and Laura Dern (who won) in “Marriage Story.” Plus, to put it rather bluntly, characters who are mothers are often found in the lists of Best Supporting Actress nominees, including Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”), Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), and Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”).

We also know that the academy likes Fennell very much. Her debut feature as a director, “Promising Young Woman,” garnered five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director for Fennell, and Best Actress for Carey Mulligan. It also won Best Original Screenplay for Fennell. If voters like “Saltburn” just as much, Pike could get taken along for the ride in the same way past nominees in this category have such as Ellis (“King Richard”), Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”), and Marina de Tavira (“Roma”).

The biggest factor supporting Pike’s potential Oscar nomination, however, is just how unpredictable this category is. Our predicted five nominees by no means feel firm, not like our predicted nominees for the other three acting categories. This one feels like we could have at least one or two surprise nominations, like we’ve had in this category in previous years. Kathy Bates picked up a somewhat surprise bid in 2020 for “Richard Jewell,” de Tavira landed a surprise nomination in 2019 for “Roma,” and Lesley Manville earned a similar bid in 2018 for “Phantom Thread.” It’s almost a given that we will get a surprise bid or two in this category this year, considering how open this race feels, and why not Pike? The British actress only has one Oscar nomination to her name — that came in 2015 for Best Actress for “Gone Girl.” It’s time Pike’s talents — and hilarious performance — were valued again.

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