Viola Davis Moves to Supporting Actress for Fences

The folks behind Fences sensed that the Best Actress race was getting tight, a smart look ahead for their Oscar campaign team. The role that Viola Davis is playing won her a Best Actress prize at the Tonys, but won the Featured Actress prize in previous productions. So it is perfectly on the line between lead and supporting. Well it is official that she will be campaigned as a supporting actress in the upcoming Oscar race, Denzel remaining in the relatively weak Best Actor race. This is great for several reasons. I think that it helps folks like Annette Bening in the Best Actress race, and maybe even an Amy Adams or a Jessica Chastain have a shot at finally winning an Oscar. It also launches Davis to the top of the list on the supporting side. It looks like a relatively weak race, as Michelle Williams was leading for a small (albeit great) role. This role, like Alicia Vikander's last year, that is almost lead will look monumental compared to some of the other contenders. I have adjusted the predictions in the sidebar for Actress and Supporting Actress, moving Meryl Streep in, and Octavia Spencer out (for now, I think if she's great, she can easily bump out some of the others).