Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2023: Paul Mescal & Jamie Bell in All of Us Strangers

Paul Mescal did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a BAFTA, for portraying Harry in All of Us Strangers.

Paul Mescal seemingly plays within the "real" or non-fantastical portion of the film, and is simply just another man in the apartment complex that our lonely long orphaned Adam (Andrew Scott) is living in. And I actually think Mescal gives two performances here, which will require some explaining to do. The primary performance is as the potential romantic interest for Adam, as seemingly the only other person who lives in Adam's large apartment complex. A man, who after an initial meeting, I will get to that, comes in and appears to be just the right man for Adam. Mescal is outgoing and upfront in every bit of his manner, he's charming in just the forthrightness of the man who seems ready to share his life and experience with Adam. Mescal's chemistry with Scott is potent, though very specifically Mescal performs it as almost a constant kind of encouragement in their scenes together, he is always smiling, always eager and ready to seemingly make Adam as comfortable as possible as they explore the relationship together. And I'll admit watching the film the first time, I thought to myself "this guy seems almost too perfect" for Adam for him to find him seemingly conveniently in this way. As even the more difficult aspects that are brought up by Mescal's Harry's almost are kind of a way to grow the bond between them. The moment where Harry speaks of his own family, which is far less tragic than Adam's, is still far from perfect, even if he is theoretically accepted as he notes them knowing of his homosexuality. Mescal though does convey a poignant bit of sadness there in the man just expressing his tragedy though seemingly as a lower key than what Adam has been through. What it does do is seemingly create this sense of connection they can have between them as men's whose lives are imperfect. Almost too perfectly as a way for Adam to potentially move on with his life, away from his parents and now with a new companion. An ideal that seemed almost too ideal, and that's because it is. As what Mescal is playing here is basically a dream man, not that it is over the top, a convincing dream.

And that brings me to the idea of two performances, and while as the dream man Mescal is great in creating that poignant chemistry with Scott, and having such natural connection in their scenes together, he is outstanding in the moments of the real Harry. Watching the film again is where you see that Mescal's manner actually is extremely different in his first scene as he comes knocking on Adam's door. Mescal eyes are of a man who is just lost, and the way he accentuates certain phrases, like the building wanting people to not commit suicide, there is a painful intention cloaked within his dark joking of the notion. Mescal's manner isn't just of a potential man seeing a romantic partner, rather there is a far greater intensity in his performance of someone looking for almost a lifeline of any kind with this subdued, yet wholly harrowing quality. Mescal's subdued yet extremely effective drunk acting, that is this act of desperation where obviously the alcohol is a mere respite for him from his mental torture. His come-on to Adam the scene being filled with far more than want, but rather the most vulnerable need, as he says "there's vampire at my door" with such a shade of complete horror, not horror of a film with a vampire, but the horror of a man at his lowest point, sinking into his sorrows looking for the only light that he can see in Adam. Which spoilers this is the real Harry as we see in the ending of the film where Adam finds that Harry had died shortly after having met him the first time. Mescal is amazing as we return to the Harry from the first scene, as he says with such painful vulnerability as he says "he was so scared". Mescal's work is so raw and absolutely real, despite the technical fantasy element, as he reflects that "no one found him from his life" and the searing emotional heartache from it is so powerful. Mescal proving once again, he's one of the absolute best working today in depicting this kind of raw emotion, but not for a moment does he present the dead man as overwrought or melodramatic, it feels absolutely and rather brutally real. Mescal giving two great performances, one as the best possibility if Adam would only reach out, but also the brutal truth of another man lost in his loneliness. 

Jamie Bell did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Adam's father in All of Us Strangers.

 

Jamie Bell plays entirely within the known fantasy, dream, imagination, whatever it may be as Adam seems to be able to visit his old childhood home as an adult, despite his parents having died when he was only 12 years old. Bell's performance is one that falls actually under the technically extremely mannered, yet done in a way that you'd never describe it as such because of just how natural those mannerisms are. Bell very much fashions himself as a workaday English father from the 80's. There's a slight gruff to his vocals, though nothing too over the top or obvious, just something that denotes his particular time and class with ease. All the more impressive is his physical work in the role, which is so very particular, yet so very effortless. There's a kind of low energy that Bell brings that is kind of brilliant, because it isn't that his performance is low energy, rather he has the manner of a man who's always a little tired after a day's work. Bell's choices are always kind of the easier movement and exceptionally so in making this "low effort" filled with so much character. He just seems entirely like this old school dad of the period, who isn't making any kind of fuss one way or another, he just is who he is. That statement even being true when interacting with his adult son, who is older than him. There is a specific style of both Bell as Adam's dad and Foy as Adam's mom, because they aren't unaware of the fantastical existence that they are in, rather it is part of their performances in a particularly captivating way. As the way Bell basically says "oh it's you" so nonchalantly, that makes the experience all that much more fascinating because Bell presents Adam's dad as being aware of his state of existence, and welcoming with this kind of expectation that something like this would happen. His performance being essential in crafting the experience as not a pure fantasy, weirdly enough because of the awareness of the fantasy. This changes the dynamic for every scene between Adam and his parents into something more captivating as we see the parents exploring their relationship with their son as it was, reflecting on it with time and seeing Adam as he is as a man older than they were when they died. 

After the first scene where the parents largely just greet Adam back now as an adult, though back into his childhood home, Adam has a scene with each parent individually. The first with his mom, who struggles with dealing with the revelation of his homosexuality, and the second with his dad, which honestly is one of my favorite scenes of 2023. Bell's performance in the scene is outstanding by doing so much work in so little time, and creating so tangibly who Adam's dad and more so what his relationship with him was. Bell opens the scene very much as the dad, who is so reserved, so quiet in his manner as the dad just doing what he has to do. Bell's way of trying to ease the tense moment between mom and son, as this mediator in his way of making no particular conflict or side, just so calmly trying to bridge the gap in his way. Bell shows the man that was just going about life in his casual way, but also his place even in this surreal state of trying to still connect the relationship between them. Bell is so natural though in the way he opens up just a bit in his particularly blunt, that feels so just correct out of this character from this time, as he notes he always knew his son was gay, albeit quite overly directly as he says he was always "tutti fruti" since he "couldn't throw a ball for shit". I love though that it isn't this hateful delivery it is the way of the man, with even warmth as the son and father share a laugh about Adam fulfilling the cliche a bit. When hearing about the bully he suffered that caused Adam to cry in his room, which his dad was aware of, but did nothing about. Bell shows that insulation of the dad not sure how to deal with the emotion and just dismissing the terrible nature of kids at school without addressing what was really going on, and even admitting his avoidance because he might've been one of those kids when he was in school. Bell reveals the repression, the stress of it, the way he's learned to be closed off from it, but the real emotion is in his performance just beneath this shield, just enough, particularly as Adam notes all the pain he had as a child. Making the bits of joy then he indicates as Adam notes some good memories, so poignant, though Bell still shows it reserved again as the man had been taught to his whole life to not show his emotions. Bell's gradual just breaking down of that repression, though still in it partially, as the real regret of the man pulls through with his absolutely heartbreaking delivery of "I'm sorry I never came in your room when you were crying" is absolutely brilliant. It is so special because Bell shows that this is a struggle for the man to let this out of him, yet the emotion is absolutely real, and feels even mor so earned because he shows the way the man has to almost force it out past his learned behavior. Making this release of it so cathartic and honestly just such a devastating moment. 

That would be enough for this to be a great performance by Bell, that scene is THAT good, but what he does after this scene is also incredible. Because what we see in Bell's work is the father, still in his ways, but trying to be the father he might've come to be if he had the perspective at the time. Welcoming his son with an honest embrace, even remarking on the "handsomeness" of his boyfriend as a dad just trying to be supportive with the right bit of natural awkwardness by Bell, that is endearing in its awkwardness. Though as being the dad who also still has the ability to impart some life lessons on Adam. As Adam keeps coming back to them, where Bell's great in his manner changing to the dad trying to be strong and bringing this manner in his performance as the man trying to show his care while also making the tough decisions a dad sometimes has to. The tough decision being to let Adam move on from them and allow them to be gone forever. Bell's deliveries have this seasoned honesty to them that speak towards a warm wisdom which is that both must let each other go at this point. Their final scene is absolutely beautiful as Bell brings this even manner of the dad now trying to be strong, with this tight lip whenever Adam says he wants to stay, Bell showing the man now keeping his emotions in for the good of his son, by trying to ease the passage for all. His delivery of "I do love you son" is just filled with such potent love in his eyes, and Bell earns the man just speaking so directly in the moment without any reservation. And I even love the moment that recognizes the fantasy nature of it all as he asks "was it quick?" referring to their deaths with an uncertain anxiety, he is holding in for his son, but still asking almost as quickly as possible to get it out of the way. But there's even a bit more as though the focus of the film is the parent/son relationship, the one quick bit of vulnerability Bell expresses so wonderfully as he notes his past uncertainties regarding the love of his wife, just summarizes the relationship so quickly and so powerfully, as he reacts with such quiet happiness as she assuages any concerns he might've had. Bell's performance I feel has been taken for granted by some, but to me he's absolutely pitch perfect and equally responsible for some of the most impactful moment in this emotional film. Bell's work is able to do so much, in crafting a specific man of the period with such a clear sense of his place in the family, this fascinating reality to the fantasy as a man commenting so naturally on the unnatural, while also never failing to find the profound poignancy of a dad finally getting to set things right. 

Best Actor 2022: Results

5. Brendan Fraser in The Whale - Fraser is working within the confines of a bad film, however, within those confines, I was largely impressed by the genuine emotion he was able to pull out of the material, finding some empathy in his own work even while the film seemed to have none.

Best Scene: Health check-up.

4. Austin Butler in Elvis - Butler is working within a better film than Fraser, though still flawed in the limitations it puts upon Butler's work. Butler though is consistently impressive in portraying the onstage personas of Elvis through the year that goes beyond simple impersonation and becomes embodiment. Along with also granting humanity to the icon, even if these aspects are slightly limited by the script. 

Best Scene: Seeing Priscilla for the last time. 

3. Paul Mescal in Aftersun - Mescal's nomination made this the best-case scenario for this category, and I am overjoyed he managed to get the nomination over the other better-known actors vying for that fifth spot. Mescal gives an understated but extremely potent portrayal of a man trying to fulfill his role as a dad while going through so much personal turmoil.

Best Scene: Just before "Under Pressure"

2. Bill Nighy in Living - Nighy's performance doesn't quite reach the all-timer status of Takashi Shimura's original performance but the fact that it comes close is quite an achievement on its own. Nighy gives a deeply moving portrayal of a man going from idly wasting away, to finding meaning near his last moments. 

Best Scene: "The Rowan Tree" the second time.

1. Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin Good predictions Tim, Calvin, Lucas & Aidan. I will first say even while this isn't the greatest lineup of all time, it is a great lineup, and particularly exciting lineup since the academy shirked potentially tired choices for five previously unrecognized actors. No performance was more deserving of this recognition in this five than Colin Farrell's for his pitch-perfect performance that manages to give a completely heartbreaking performance, a completely hilarious performance, and a completely dynamic portrayal of a "nice man's" whole world becoming shattered through one fundamental shift.

Best Scene: Niceness Argument. 

Next: 2022 alternate supporting.

Best Actor 2022: Paul Mescal in Aftersun

Paul Mescal received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Calum Paterson in Aftersun. 

Aftersun is a collection of memories of a woman Sophie as she recounts a holiday with her father when she was a young girl (Frankie Corio).

Paul Mescal defied most odds in his nomination, receiving few precursors, being an extremely young nominee for the category (only 26), being fifth among first-time nominees, and being mostly unknown to US audiences. His performance further defied the odds because lowkey doesn't even quite put it right in terms of his work against any of the other nominated performances or against the types of performances that are typically Oscar-nominated in general. Aftersun takes that one step beyond however because this isn't even a low-key performance that we become close to in the way say Steven Yeun was in Minari, the film purposefully often frames Mescal in a very particular, unusual way, akin, though thankfully not to this extreme, to the way Tom Courtenay was presented in 45 Years. The character of Calum is often viewed through alternative perspectives of the little girl looking at her dad in various sorts of slightly obscured images akin to imperfect memory. Mescal's work in turn offers a very different sort of Oscar-nominated turn where he is so often far off the frame in his own film, and also presents him with quite a challenge as a performer, as he must be present while being so often obscured. 

Paul Mescal might seem in itself strange casting as the dad of a girl who is over ten, however, while the character is slightly older than Mescal, part of the alluded idea is a man who was probably far too young to be a father needing to take up such a role. Mescal's performance early on seems almost perfunctory, which isn't a criticism by the way, but rather the initial presentation of Calum as the dad as he joins his daughter on their vacation. The initial moment of seeing their tour guide stumble a bit through her presentation, which Calum impersonates in a lighthearted bit which Mescal delivers well as very functionally as his dad trying to urge his daughter along towards the theoretical perspective of their time together. The time goes off slightly wrong initially as their hotel is poorly staffed and the two end up with the wrong room. Mescal again is strictly naturalistic and I think in a way that does require a bit more that needs to be said. In a very vapid exploration of the film you may just see even the moment of Calum lounging around the room after he puts his daughter to bed, however, the key is what he explores even with so little at his disposal in terms of what he is to convey. His manner and his physical performance, his picking at his cast, and even his manner of smoking, there is a sense of more than a bit of frustration. Frustration that Mescal doesn't always directly portray, particularly early on, but to say that Calum is perfectly comfortable is bluntly false. 

Mescal's performance is most often between the lines. There is the basic line of the dad trying to be the dad, which Mescal delivers in a very subtle way in terms of not quite being what he says he is. We do just see him and Sophie in different circumstances, some playful such as literally playing around the pool, playing billard, or slightly educational as he struggles to get her to take a self-defense practice seriously. The chemistry between himself and Corio here is key in that there is warmth, but it is also imperfect. Mescal's manner is rather remarkable because he manages to be just not quite right in his performance. He shows a man very much putting on the role of the father, and while it isn't false, it isn't quite true either. There is just the slightest shade in the most basic scenes that Calum isn't fully comfortable being the dad, even as he's trying to be the dad. Mescal doesn't play him as a failure in this, but he also doesn't present him as a success. He rather grants an almost subconscious degree of weakness within the man's fathering. There is nothing that causes one to say "he's a bad dad" or "there's something wrong", however, there is something missing to it all that Mescal so naturally delivers in his performance in the most minute way possible. 

Mescal's moments between the lines let out just a little more to what there is in terms of what is going on with Calum below the immediate surface of trying to be a dad. In the earliest scenes these are flashes, yet rather brilliantly performed because they are potent in a moment even if that isn't the focus. That is again we see Calum very much trying to do his best with Sophie, however in for example a moment of waiting to go snorkeling, there is a moment of tremendous anxiety that flashes across Calum's face. There is something more terrible going on, and we see him essentially trying to hide from Sophie as the two are together. Another moment a bit later on reveals a bit more as Sophie asks Calum what he wished he could've been when he grew up. Although all Calum says is to put the camera away, Mescal's delivery is hiding so much personal anguish in those words. His face fitted with just the slight annoyance of a dad no longer playing around. Mescal has so much more though just deeper than that, Mescal implying what is within the man who is trying to hide it, yet clearly, a man who in no way is experiencing what he would've wanted at this point in his life. There's so much pain within him just beyond that surface that Mescal is able to convey without conveying it almost, but hinting at just enough that is there. 

Although the film isn't traditionally hitting moments beat per beat, what we see in the two's chemistry is a particularly pointed decay of a relationship. The two again do have enough of the father-daughter connection. Mescal shows the father trying to bring the joy he wants to bring to his daughter, Corio portraying how she is enjoying much of it, however, so much of it has those hints of something less than that. They're not completely connected and each shows this slight effort that is just enough to indicate the imperfection of their relationship even as at the moment they are trying to present to each other a kind of ideal. One of the big breaks is in this when Sophie sings karaoke, after Calum refused to attempt to sing with her, where Sophie does not particularly sing well either. Mescal's delivery of Calum suggesting that she could get singing lessons is with the overtures of the supportive dad, a bit of a smile, and everything else. There isn't quite a conviction in the statement and the sense of the critique can be felt even as it is technically well-intentioned. Sophie instead rejects the notion and calls it on him given it isn't something he could afford for her. A fantastic moment for Corio as showing sort of the sudden fall of the facade the daughter had been putting on. Mescal's reaction again is very very small, but enough in showing the break in his eyes in sort of sensing that anything he might be putting on isn't entirely working as much as he was trying. And from that, we see more of what is in the man, who is defined by frustration and sadness, that Mescal reveals basically as the truth of what's behind all of Calum. A deeply depressed man is likely considering suicide. That isn't bluntly said, however, Mescal powerfully embodies just this state in such a brilliantly performed fashion. As Mescal never exactly breaks beyond a certain barrier, he shows a man almost hiding all this in him most of the time, except for those relatively brief moments that have such an impact because they feel like such natural revelations. 

They feel like natural revelations though because Mescal's work manages to embody all of that within him, even as he is trying very hard to keep it all in. The moment we see Calum just weeping nearly controllably by himself, it doesn't feel like some sudden break, rather Mescal's painful depiction of that sorrow is just who the man is. Even when we see Calum returning to being the father, apologizing to Sophie for the earlier tension with a brighter more "dad" voice, and trying to talk to her as a dad again. Mescal's comforting words, as much as the attempt is more than decent, it isn't totally fake, but it also isn't entirely convincing either. Mescal is able to present a man suffering in broad daylight. It is always a lie when he's trying to engage with his daughter as the fun or caring dad, it isn't a lie, however, that being all there is to it, is a lie.  Take my choice in the screen capture, which is one of the few traditional close-ups that Mescal gets in the film, and it isn't one that he wastes. In just a single frame you can see the smile of a man that the smile is in genuine love with his daughter, but also in that smile, there are his eyes that are filled with a great deal of anguish that penetrates his living state at nearly all times. Nearly I write because the sort of emotional climax scene is a mix of the adult Sophie's remembrance and the past Sophie of watching Calum dance to "Under Pressure". Notable for Mescal because it is one scene where you can feel as though he is purely the dad for a few minutes in his goofy dad dance and just fully embracing the moment with his daughter and as this moment of joy, that eventually scars the adult Sophie because it is likely a final moment of joy between them that she can clearly remember. Paul Mescal delivers a heartbreaking portrait of really two faces of the man trying to be his best self for his daughter while suffering deeply inside from all his insecurities and personal desperation. It is a performance that largely exists in the margins, yet it is never lost in the margins, and I will this time credit the acting branch for once, for recognizing this modest yet oh so potent work. 

Best Actor 2022

And the Nominees Are:

Austin Butler in Elvis

Brendan Fraser in The Whale

Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin

Bill Nighy in Living

Paul Mescal in Aftersun