Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2009: Results

5. Christian McKay in Me and Orson Welles - McKay recreates Orson Welles effectively unfortunately the film fails to give him the opportunity to truly delve into the man.

Best Scene: Welles's outburst on stage.

4. Nicholas Tse in Bodyguards and Assassins - A fairly simple and small role, but Tse makes his character very endearing and in turn makes his final scene very moving.

Best Scene: Si tries to slow the assassin down.

3. Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank- Fassbender combines the right amount of sleaze and charm to his character, although this is not his best performance from 2009.

Best Scene: Connor takes advantage of Mia.

2. Peter Capaldi in In The Loop - Capaldi gives a extremely entertaining and properly intense performance as the foul mouthed fixer Malcolm Tucker. Every scene he is in is a treat, and when the film asks a little more of him Capaldi is more than up to the task.

Best Scene: Malcolm's introduction. 

1. Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Watchmen- Good Predictions Koook and Kevin. The film adaptation of Watchmen did not get everything right but one thing it did which was genius was casting Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian. The Comedian is a complex character and Morgan does not simplify any aspect of him. He gives a powerful performance that is unflinching in the realization of a brute, but also manages to believably allow the man some charm with a semblance of a soul somewhere in him.

Best Scene: The Watchmen's meeting.

Overall Ranking:

1. Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
2. Fred Melamed in A Serious Man
3. Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Watchmen
4. Paul Schneider in Bright Star
5. Jackie Earle Haley in Watchmen
6. Guillermo Francella in The Secret in Their Eyes
7. Peter Capaldi in In The Loop
8. August Diehl in Inglorious Basterds
9. Tom Hollander in In The Loop
10. Robert Duvall in The Road
11. James Gandolfini in Where the Wild Things Are
12. Michael Fassbender in Inglorious Basterds
13. Pablo Rago in The Secret in Their Eyes
14. Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank
15. Adel Bencherif in A Prophet
16. Denis Menochet in Inglourious Basterds
17. Fan Wei in The City of Life and Death
18. Won Bin in Mother
19. Timothy Spall in The Damned United
20. Shahab Hosseini in About Elly
21. Sam Neill in Skin
22. Daniel Bruhl in Inglourious Basterds
23. Javier Godino in The Secret in Their Eyes
24. David Rasche in In The Loop
25. Klaus Maria Brandauer in Tetro
26. Adam Arkin in A Serious Man
27. Paul Higgins in In The Loop
28. Nicholas Tse in Bodyguards and Assassins
29. Niels Arestrup in A Prophet
30. Stanley Tucci in Julie & Julia
31. Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
32. Zhang Fengyi in Red Cliff Part II
33. Woody Harrelson in Zombieland
34. Nakaizumi Hideo in City of Life and Death
35. Christian McKay in Me and Orson Welles
36. Hilmi Sözer in Jerichow
37. Boman Irani in 3 Idiots
38. Tom Waits in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
39. Billy Crudup in Public Enemies 
40. Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
41. Jin Goo in Mother
42. Michael Gambon in The Half-Blood Prince
43. Steve Buscemi in The Messenger
44. Anupam Kher in Wake Up Side
45. Takeshi Kaneshiro in Red Cliff Part II
46. Colin Farrell in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
47. Hichem Yacoubi in A Prophet
48. John Malkovich in The Great Buck Howard 
49. Brendan Gleeson in Secret of Kells
50. Omi Vaidya in 3 Idiots
51. James Caan in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
52. Richard Sammel in Inglorious Basterds
53. Michael K. Williams in The Road
54. Chris Cooper in Where the Wild Things Are
55. Peter Sarsgaard in An Education
56. Verne Troyer in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
57. Wang Xueqi in Bodyguards and Assassins
58. Paul Dano in Where the Wild Things Are
59. Mark Strong in Sherlock Holmes
60. Jim Broadbent in The Half-Blood Prince 
61. Wallace Wolodarksy in Fantastic Mr. Fox
    
62. Keith David in The Princess and the Frog
63. Omar Doom in Inglourious Basterds
64. James Gandolfini in In The Loop 
65. Fyvush Finkel in A Serious Man
66. Hrant Alianak in Pontypool
67. Kevin Spacey in Moon
    
68. Sam Shepard in Brothers 
69. David Strathairn in Cold Souls
70. John Paisley in City of Life and Death
71. Mick Lally in The Secret of Kells
72. Michael-Leon Wooley in The Princess and the Frog
73. Allen Lewis Rickman in A Serious Man
74. Rüdiger Vogler in OSS 117: Lost in Rio
75. Jason Schwartzman in Fantastic Mr. Fox
    
76. Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes
77. Alan Rickman in The Half-Blood Prince
78. Val Kilmer in Bad Lieutenant 
79. Donnie Yen in Bodyguards and Assassins
80. Karl Urban in Star Trek
81. Colm Meaney in The Damned United
82. Zach Woods in In The Loop
83. Peyman Mooadi in About Elly
84. Tom Felton in The Half-Blood Prince
85. Shea Whigham in Bad Lieutenant 
86. Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds
87. Saber Abar in About Elly
88. Chris Addison in In The Loop
89. Brad Dourif in Bad Lieutenant 
90. Robbie Coltrane in The Half-Blood Prince
91. B.J. Novak in Inglourious Basterds 
92. Robbie Coltrane in The Brothers Bloom
93. Alfred Molina in An Education
94. Willem Dafoe in Fantastic Mr. Fox
    
95. Mani Haghighi in About Elly
96. Bill Murray in Fantastic Mr. Fox
    
97. Matt Damon in Invictus
98. Maximilian Schell in The Brothers Bloom
99. Til Schweiger in Inglourious Basterds
100. Xzibit in Bad Lieutenant
101. Guy Pearce in The Road
102. David James in District 9 
103. Ernst Jacobi in The White Ribbon
104. Michael Gambon in Fantastic Mr. Fox
     
105. Benoit Poelvoorde in Coco Before Chanel
106. Sven-Bertil Taube in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
107. Jason Bateman in State of Play
108. Eric Anderson in Fantastic Mr. Fox
     
109. Steve Coogan in In The Loop 
     
110. Peter Haber in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
111. Mengke Bateer in Bodyguards and Assassins
112. Scott Bakula in The Informant!
113. Christian Friedel in The White Ribbon
114. Simon Pegg in Star Trek
115. Peter Bartlett in The Princess and the Frog
116. Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
117. Patrick Wilson in Watchmen
118. Ben Affleck in State of Play
119. Jim Cummings in the Princess and the Frog
120. Gedeon Burkhard in Inglourious Basterds
121. Liam Cunningham in Harry Brown
122. Burghart Klaußner in The White Ribbon
123. Eric Bana in Star Trek 
124. David Thewlis in The Half-Blood Prince
125. Oliver Platt in 2012
126. Liev Schreiber in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
127. Ben Mendelsohn in Knowing
128. Danny Huston in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
129. Gregoire Colin in 35 Shots of Rum
130. Ben Cross in Star Trek 
131. Tom Hanks in The Great Buck Howard
132. Ulrich Tukur in The White Ribbon
133. Eric Tsang in Bodyguards and Assassins
134. Michael Rapaport in Big Fan
135. Andrew Garfield in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
136. Christos Stergioglou in Dogtooth
137. Christos Passalis in Dogtooth
138. Richard Kind in A Serious Man
139. Zhang Hanyu in Bodyguards and Assassins 
140. J.K. Simmons in Up in the Air
141. Kevin Corrigan in big Fan
142. Robert Duvall in Crazy Heart
143. Christian Bale in Public Enemies
144. Stephen Lang in Avatar
145. Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
146. Billy Crudup in Watchmen 
147. Michael Imperioli in The Lovely Bones
148. Walton Goggins in That Evening Sun
149. Eddie Marsan in Me and Orson Welles
150. Wang Po-chieh in Bodyguards and Assassins
151. Leon Lai in Bodyguards and Assassins
152. Paul Schneider in Away We Go
153. Gary Oldman in A Christmas Carol
154. Matt Servitto in Big Fan
155. Rupert Grint in The Half-Blood Prince
156. Hu Jun  in Bodyguards and Assassins
157. Mike Myers in Inglourious Basterds
158. Thomas Brodie-Sangster in Nowhere Boy
159. Jim Gaffigan in Away We Go
160. Eli Roth in Inglourious Basterds
161. Johnny Depp in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
162. Jason Bateman in Up in the Air
163. Chris Messina in Julie & Julia
164. Colin Farrell in Crazy Heart
165. Jude Law in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
166. Paul Giamatti in The Last Station
167. Alessandro Nivola in Coco Before Chanel
168. Colin Firth in A Christmas Carol
169. Jonah Hill in Funny People
170. James Tupper in Me and Orson Welles
171. Woody Harrelson in 2012
172. Justin Bartha in The Hangover
173. Ben Chaplin in Me and Orson Welles
174. Ray McKinnon in That Evening Sun
175. Leo Bill in Me and Orson Welles
176. Nicholas Hoult in A Single Man
177. Geoffrey Arend in 500 Days of Summer
178. Robert Wisden in Watchmen
179. Matthew Goode in Watchmen
180. Anton Yelchin in Star Trek
181. Rob Riggle in The Hangover
182. Ken Jeong in The Hangover

Next Year: 1961 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2009: Christian McKay in Me and Orson Welles

Christian McKay did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a BAFTA, for portraying Orson Welles in Me and Orson Welles.

Me and Orson Welles tells the of Welles's production of Julius Caesar as seen through the eyes of a wannabe actor with a small part named Richard (Zac Efron). As fluffy famous people stories go I've seen far worse I suppose.

Christian McKay does play Orson Welles and benefits greatly from the fact that he looks quite a bit like the real Orson Welles. McKay goes further than that putting on the Welles voice which might not be dead on I suppose, but it is certainly more than close enough and even more importantly feels natural in his performance. McKay also carries himself the way Welles would in his film performances and in interviews in that there was almost a distinct way in which he would interact with another. There is almost a separation about him in that he interacts like no one else, and McKay plays Welles as if Welles is almost performing in a certain way. It is not even necessarily to entertain anyone else but rather McKay pretty much plays it as Welles way of stroking his own ego at all times.

McKay definitely does bring to life the elements of that charm Welles showed particularly well as Harry Lime in The Third Man. McKay never gets to the great level Welles did in the performance but he does not fail to find some of it though. McKay creates the flamboyance of Welles well and fills the room in just the right way to make it so his presence is always known. McKay brings the slyness in that the charm is almost a deception. Although there is obviously no reason to find him likable McKay makes Welles oddly likable just because he makes him the sort of man you'd want to be around simply to watch. Although the film presents him as a genius it does not present him as a perfect artist as it also depicts him as an egomaniac who is not opposed to the temper tantrum.

One of the film's weakness is although it delves into Welles's less savory quality it gives them very little depth often having people talk about them rather than showing it and for the most part reducing them to a few outbursts. McKay delivers them well by sort of dropping the act yet still keeping it at the same time when Welles loses his reserve. It's bizarre combination of a man losing his composure yet purposefully ACTED at the same time, but McKay does pull it off quite admirable as his outbursts seem like a perfect fit for his Orson Welles's persona that he created from that point. McKay has another quieter outburst later, McKay does that less flamboyantly which fits since there is not a crowd, and although short he uses it well to show a little more about Welles.

The problem with McKay's work has nothing to do with his performance. The problem comes from the fact that the film takes such a narrow view of Welles as either a charming egotistical man or a despicable one. When there might have been a scene for more of him the film chooses to let someone else tell you about it instead of actually allowing McKay to show it. The restrictions on him really do limit McKay's work here considerably and it does end up feeling like the portrait of this Welles is far from complete. McKay still does a very admirable job here and is easily the best thing about the film. Honestly I would really like to see Christian McKay revisit Welles again but in a better film that would delve further into the man than the fairly thin depiction we are given here.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2009

And the Nominees Were Not:

Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank

Michael Fassbender in Inglorious Basterds

August Diehl in Inglorious Basterds

Peter Capaldi in In The Loop

Christian McKay in Me and Orson Welles

Nicholas Tse in Bodyguards and Assassins

Jackie Earle Haley in Watchmen

Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Watchmen

For the Prediction Contest:

Fassbender in Fish Tank

Capaldi

McKay

Tse

Morgan