Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2022: Mark Rylance in Bones and All

Mark Rylance did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite receiving an Independent Spirit Award nomination, for portraying Sully in Bones and All. 

Mark Rylance appears in this film as the first stranger that our protagonist Maren (Taylor Russell), runs into after being abandoned by her father due to her cannibalistic tendencies. He comes out of the darkness sporting a bizarre ponytail haircut, and clothes that look like he hit "randomize" on a "create your own Steven King villain" maker. This is a bizarre performance by most measures, and Rylance as a performer, when going into the extremes often takes a "take or leave it" approach. Everything is weird here, and to describe it as anything other than that would merely be inaccurate. Rylance fashions everything as such in his performance from really the moment he walks up to Maren. He has this certain strange saunter towards her, his eyes that are this odd combination of peering yet vacant and only strange when he begins to speak. Rylance taking upon a southernish accent that isn't quite right in the general sense, however, speaks towards the oddness of this character. Rylance's bigger choice though is to speak with a kind of gentle manner, befitting some grandfather reading a fable more so than cannibal discussing the aspects of cannibalism towards Maren. Rylance merges the qualities to be certainly off-putting however in a particular come hither type of way. Rylance presents everything about Sully to be disarming in some sense, in that he speaks towards cannibalism as just something to be done and remarks towards her with bright eyes and a sunny disposition over the prospect of a meal in the house that he's entered into. Of course, this is all while oozing out the sleaze of everything around him, particularly what is that he wants Maren to do with him, to begin with, eat a victim. Rylance plays Sully as working Maren best that he is able to in his bizarre way. The moment after their feeding, Rylance's performance alternates the emphasis a bit from trying to create intrigue to an eerie satisfaction both from having eaten, but also in his kind of stares towards Maren filled with lecherous leering. His moment of singing in the shower afterward is Sully happy as a clam over what he thinks he's achieved, contrasted though by Maren immediately running from him, to which we see Sully catch her as she leaves where Rylance seems to show Sully without any action, just a cold uncomfortable stare of distress. 

Rylance does not appear again for the majority of the film, until late as he appears in his kidnapper's van to again talk to Maren, while she is temporarily away from her newly formed co-dependent relationship with Lee (Timothee Chalamet). Again Rylance enters the scene weirdly, even just the way he contorts his upper lips in this half sneer, though again with a bright smile as again trying to endear Maren to his presence. Sully speaking his name again and again, with again Rylance emphasizing this kind of attempt of being charming, I guess. The scene though progresses with Sully asking her about her "new friend" with this kind of shy voice, and retiring manner as he looks away. Rylance plays like someone being rejected by a girl, however not as an adult, or even in high school, but like in grade school. Her turning him down again, Rylance's reaction is essentially the other side to the gentle turn down from Maren, as his show of "gentleness" immediately goes away to a barrage of hate and self-pity. Rylance presents the anger of Sully being this particularly self-absorbed and showing any other attempt to the contrary was just an illusion. Now I'll admit for much of this review I've been describing what I feel Rylance was doing in this role, however, I don't feel I've particularly said much in terms of opinion on the attempted analysis. Bluntly this isn't a practical performance by any means, there's no choice here that is obvious (which while more original isn't in itself a good thing), and Rylance's whole work is on that limb. The question for this is done I like any of it, actually, yes I did like all of it, though I can certainly understand not liking it. Found oddly fascinating to look at all his strange choices in a ball of strange choices as the strange character that is Sully. Honestly, when the character codifies into a more obvious point I think is Rylance at his least interesting, that is when Sully comes in to physically intimidate Maren, threatening her with a knife and literally drooling all over her revealing the full deranged state of Sully. I think all of this is "fine" but in terms of being scary, frankly Michael Stuhlbarg was more terrifying in his role as the hillbilly cannibal. I don't dislike it, there is intensity, and what not in this variation, however isn't my favorite aspect of the performance. And really I wouldn't even necessarily say Rylance's intention here was to develop one fear more of their unease, which he does do. Overall what I liked most from Rylance's performance was just the oddity of it, as someone more befitting some strange fairytale than any kind of reality, some sort imp of sorts. I mean if you told me Rylance was secretly playing Rumpelstiltskin the whole time, I'd believe it. At its core this is a slice of ham, kind of a weird tasting ham too, but a weird taste that I ended up enjoying.