Watch scenes from the performances nominated in the category of best supporting actor at the 97th annual Academy Awards, as well as interviews with the nominees below. The 2025 Oscars will be presented on Sunday, March 2.
Neon; Searchlight Pictures; A24; Briarcliff Entertainment
Yura Borisov, “Anora”
“Anora,” the Palme d’Or winner at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, is a sly and at times uproarious comic-drama of Anora, a Brooklyn sex worker, who enters into a Cinderella romance and marriage with the flighty son of Russian oligarchs. But Russian oligarchs are not to be taken lightly, nor the strongmen that are tasked with righting a perceived wrong.
However, writer-director Sean Baker is not interested in familiar, stereotypical mob muscle. When two guys who are used to wielding fists or baseball bats to make a point are confronted with the determined Anora (best actress nominee Mikey Madison) who refuses to be a damsel in distress, one in particular – Igor (played by best supporting actor nominee Yura Borisov) – finds himself torn by his allegiance to his bosses, and by his fascination with Anora’s moxie.
Throughout most of the film, Borisov’s performance is not dependent upon dialogue; he’s an observer, an instrument of others, and a guardian. In this scene, Igor and Anora seem to recognize that – for all that has happened between them – there is nonetheless a connection that transcends their circumstances. Non-spoiler alert: I will not give away the actions preceding and following this clip, but they are at the heart of the film’s tremendous emotional impact:
In an interview for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Borisov was asked to describe his character’s transition, from being a threat to Anora, to becoming a vulnerable, empathetic confidant, feeling things about her he didn’t expect. [Indeed, Igor shows more compassion to Anora than anyone else in the movie.]
“I don’t know how to answer, ’cause if I could explain it by words, I better to be a writer than an actor,” he said. “That’s why I tried to explain by [actions]. It’s thanks to Sean, his editing, because he used some right moments, and that’s why you could feel what [Igor] feels. … And thanks to Mikey, she just going forward to her goal, I’m just going behind her and trying to help and protect. That’s it.”
Borisov told the Associated Press that the theme of the film was about making connections: “Connection between people, between mentalities and nationalities and cultures. Especially today, because I think that it’s possible, this connection, between everybody of us. Of course, it’s not easy. I know, and everybody knows, but it’s possible. And during this shoot I feel this – that we are different but at the same time we’re absolutely similar. And I feel that humans, in the most important things, are similar and I feel everybody of us like children and souls, you know. For me, it’s about connection between souls, and it’s possible.”
Born in Moscow, Borisov’s credits include “The Bull,” “Kalashnikov,” “Compartment No. 6,” and the Netflix film “Silver Skates.” For his performance in “Anora” he received Golden Globe, BAFTA and two Screen Actors Guild nominations. He tied with Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”) for best supporting performance from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
He was in a car with his wife and two daughters when he heard the Oscar nominations being announced. “My [category] was first, and my name was first. And after that, she starts screaming and crying. And after that, I lose everything. … It’s a very emotional moment, I can say, for everybody.”
“Anora,” a Neon release, is now playing in theaters and is available via VOD.
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Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
Kieran Culkin won an Emmy Award for “Succession,” playing the snarky son of a tycoon whose media empire is seemingly up for grabs among his duplicitous offspring. In the movie “A Real Pain,” Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg (who wrote and directed) play cousins on a trip to Poland to see where their late beloved grandmother was raised – and take a Holocaust heritage tour.
Culkin’s character, Benji, is a charming but rudderless man-child. Asked why he connected with the role, Culkin told “Sunday Morning,” “I don’t really know what it was with me, but … I instantly knew who this guy was. I understood the dynamic, and I really wanted to play.”
Speaking of Benji, Culkin has described himself as being “one quick little misstep away from being that person.” That person is someone who – in his cousin’s view – says the wrong thing, acts inappropriately, and raises the discomfort level in social situations.
In this scene, Benji reacts to the absurdity of riding a train in comfort compared to the situation facing Jews on trains in 1940s Poland:
“I feel like I easily could’ve gone down that path,” Culkin said of Benji. “There was something in that that I recognized as myself, but I’m not that guy at all. But I think I’m worried that I easily could’ve become that guy, [had I not] married, kids, or figured out how to, you know, get my s*** together.”
Jesse Eisenberg, the writer-director of “A Real Pain,” told “Sunday Morning” he hadn’t seen Culkin’s work on-screen (he avoided watching “Succession,” he said, because he was afraid of how great it might be). But he had auditioned with him for 2009’s “Adventureland.” “He came into this audition room and started, like, beating me up like in the script and making fun of me… and being so brilliantly funny, and then walked out of the room, and we were like, ‘That was brilliant and aggressive, fascinating and so brazen.’ And so, when I was thinking about who would work well with me in this movie playing a character who comes on that trip that I plan and who kind of beats me up but also charms the group at my expense, I was thinking, Oh yeah, that’s the relationship I had briefly with this brilliant actor … That seemed to me just so perfect.
“And then, Kieran showed up on set and within two seconds it just felt like we had been doing this for years.”
Culkin, an Emmy Award-winner for “Succession,” won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild awards for “A Real Pain.” This is his first Academy Award nomination.
“A Real Pain” is streaming on Hulu and Disney+, and is available via VOD.
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Edward Norton, “A Complete Unknown”
Edward Norton has previously been nominated for three Oscars – for playing a homicide defendant in “Primal Fear,” a neo-Nazi in “American History X,” and a Method actor in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).” For “A Complete Unknown,” a biography of Bob Dylan, Norton portrays legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, who became a mentor of Dylan’s.
In this early scene, Seeger, having been found guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to name names in a political witch hunt, responds to the developments with a patriotic song:
Norton told “CBS Sunday Morning” that playing a music legend like Seeger was both sublime, and terrifying. “I think every actor, some part of ’em wants to be a rock star, you know?” he said. “I think every actor holds the dream in some sense. I mean, I almost started crying at the idea of it, because, well, I was nervous about it. I was nervous about the whole enterprise. Because I thought the idea of a biopic about Dylan – if you just said it that way, I was, like, Oooh, like, I’m not sure. ‘Cause to me, it has a mythical kind of place in me, and I thought, this could be really, really a bad idea.”
Just one of the challenges: Seeger was an accomplished banjo player, so Norton had to become one as well. “Yeah, I made the joke that I googled, you know, ‘Is there an AI that can replace my hands with Steve Martin’s?'” Norton laughed. “Or, you know, that thing where you put your arms behind your back and Steve Martin puts his hands under my armpits and does the playing for me? Which I’m not saying is not what happened, you know? It might have. Who knows?”
In the finished film, his playing looks and sounds authentic, because it is:
He said the film offered him a chance to channel greatness: “If channeling their frequency gets people refocused on what it looked like when people were using the talents they had to further ideas and values that were bigger than themselves, then that is what makes it worth doing. Can we get people to re-engage with and be moved by and inspired by the idea of artists as agents of change?”
Watch an extended interview with Edward Norton:
In addition to his Oscar nod, Norton was nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Nominated for 8 Academy Awards (including best picture and best director), “A Complete Unknown,” released by Searchlight Pictures, is playing in theaters and is available via VOD.
Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”
In “The Brutalist,” architect László Tóth (best actor nominee Adrien Brody) emigrates from post-war Europe to the United States, where he hopes to revive his career. He gets his chance with a job that tantalizes industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (best supporting actor nominee Guy Pearce).
In this scene, Van Buren announces to Tóth that he has decided he wants the architect, an apostle of the Brutalist style of architecture, to design a grand edifice in honor of his mother – a community center in the hinterlands of Pennsylvania. But Van Buren also hints that he doesn’t expect Tóth, or anyone, to deny him his wishes, as Van Buren begins to take ownership over Tóth:
At the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Pearce spoke of the dynamic between his character and that of Brody’s: “The interesting kind of position that Van Buren takes, or tries to take, in life generally is that he is the top dog, that he is the one in control, that he is the one who has the power, that he is the one who decides. And I think a lot of that does come from insecurity, from feeling powerless, from feeling like he’s not in control. And he’s worked his way to seemingly a position in life where he has the dominance. And yet, László comes into his life, who he’s intuitive enough and has enough taste to recognize not only his skill but also his artistry, etc. But the thing he really detects in László is, I believe, sort of an underlying sense of self-confidence, an ability to see the truth of the world, where my character is … whatever truth he’s feeling within himself, he’s masking, hiding, being presentational, etc.
“And so, I think the yearning for a man like this, to be a man like this, to perhaps possess a man like this is quite the mirror and quite the turmoil for Van Buren,” Pearce said.
Pearce described the dualism of his character in “The Brutalist” to the Associated Press: “I’m really aware of how precarious we are as human beings … Good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. Moment to moment, we’re trying to just get through the day. We’re trying to be good. And we can do good things for ourselves and other people, but pretty easily we can be tipped off course.”
“There’s a performative element to Van Buren,” he said. “He exhausts himself because he’s trying to dominate, to be the one in charge, be Mr. Charming. I don’t think he can ever enter a room without being self-conscious. That’s an exhausting way to be, I reckon.”
Born in England, Pearce moved to Australia and at age 20 starred in the popular soap opera “Neighbours.” He shot to international fame starring in “L.A. Confidential” and Christopher Nolan’s “Memento.” And while he appeared in the best picture winners “The King’s Speech” and “The Hurt Locker,” and the “Alien” franchise, much of his resume has been in smaller films, such as “Animal Kingdom,” “The Rover,” and “Factory Girl” (playing Andy Warhol). He won an Emmy for the HBO mini-series “Mildred Pierce.”
This is Pearce’s first Academy Award nomination. His “Brutalist” performance also received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.
“The Brutalist,” released by A24, is playing in select theaters in 70mm, and is available via VOD.
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Jeremy Strong, “The Apprentice”
“Attack, attack, attack. Deny, deny, deny. Never admit defeat.” That is the lesson imparted on a young Donald Trump by his mentor, the notorious lawyer/fixer Roy Cohn, in “The Apprentice.” Cohn (who’d served as Joe McCarthy’s chief counsel during the 1950s McCarthy hearings) was a New York powerbroker who represented such figures as Cardinal Spellman, George Steinbrenner, and the Genovese crime family.
Set in 1970s and ’80s New York City, the film (written by journalist Gabriel Sherman and directed by Ali Abbasi) traces the origins of the real estate tycoon and future reality TV star/U.S. president through his relationship with Cohn, who, it could be said, helped make Trump what he is today.
In this scene, Cohn (best supporting actor nominee Jeremy Strong) shares with Trump (best actor nominee Sebastian Stan) a cynical lesson about how to get ahead without letting such a thing as the rule of law get in the way:
After it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, “The Apprentice” was attacked by the Trump campaign, which threatened to sue. They didn’t, but potential distributors were cowed, until Briarcliff Entertainment released the film shortly before the election.
In October, Strong told “CBS Mornings,” “I think we knew that we’re playing with fire making a film like this, coming out in the context that it’s coming out in. But the role of cinema and art in general is to hold a mirror up to nature and to show us ourselves. So, I don’t think we were afraid of doing it. It feels necessary. I also think, I personally think, it’s like essential viewing for everyone.
“I think the intention of the film is to hold a mirror up to this person’s life, this relationship, and to show us, in a way, how Donald Trump was made, how he became the person that we know today, what his ideological and philosophical framework is and where it came from,” Strong said. “And I think we in this country tend to have a kind of historical amnesia, and there’s that famous thing that I’ll probably botch but that Churchill said in 1948, that those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
“So, I think that this movie is both an opportunity to learn about the past, but learn from the past in this really historically unprecedented election.”
This is the first Academy Award nomination for Strong, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of Kendall Roy in the HBO series “Succession.” He received Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA nominations for his “Apprentice” performance as well.
“The Apprentice,” nominated for two Oscars, is available via VOD.
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