Thursday Theoretical Oscar Category

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In my love for everything Oscar, it’s always fun to speculate on who or what might have been included given different circumstances. Though there are twenty-four fields recognized on Oscar night, that still neglects a handful of key players. As a result, I’d like to take a look each week at imagined categories, and who or what might have benefited from their existence.

The category: Best Breakthrough Performance

Why it should exist: Every year, there are a number of actors or actresses who break out, either from “Hey! It’s That Guy!” status or from true obscurity with their debut film role. It’s worth recognizing such an achievement, and it’s a great way to recognize younger actors who might otherwise not have a shot in the process. Highlighting a great start in the business would be a fantastic way of recognizing rising stars.

Why it doesn’t exist: There are too many complications to eligibility, since someone might come close to a nomination one year and then be even closer the following year (Michael Cera comes to mind below), even though they’ve theoretically already broken through. I’ve compiled the imagined nominees to include only actors that weren’t nominated in other categories, but that’s another issue. As was true with Best Multiple Performances, having more than the four core acting categories just isn’t Oscar’s style.

Who might have been nominated the past five years:
2011: Thomas Horn (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), Ezra Miller (We Need To Talk About Kevin), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Harmony Santana (Gun Hill Road), Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
2010: Elle Fanning (Somewhere), Katie Jarvis (Fish Tank), Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Emma Stone (Easy A), Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right)
2009: Abbie Cornish (Bright Star), Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Tom Hardy (Bronson), Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds)
2008: Michael Cera (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist), Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Anton Yelchin (Charlie Bartlett)
2007: Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray), Glen Hansard (Once), Marketa Irglova (Once), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad), Ed Sanders (Sweeney Todd)

Who do you think might have been nominated?