The Oscar Narrative: Pre-Festival Predictions - Best Supporting Actor

Pre-Festival Predictions
Timothee Chalamet "Little Women"
Al Pacino "The Irishman"
Joe Pesci "The Irishman"
Brad Pitt "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"
Jeffrey Wright "The Goldfinch"

Other Contenders - Gary Oldman "The Laundromat", Willem Dafoe "The Lighthouse", Jim Carter "Downton Abbey", Jamie Bell "Rocketman", Richard Madden "Rocketman", Brendan Coyle "Downton Abbey", Christian Bale "Ford v. Ferrari", Anthony Hopkins "The Two Popes", Matthew Rhys "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood", Taiki Wahiti "Jojo Rabbit", Leslie Odom Jr. "Harriet", John Lithgow "Untitled Jay Roach Project", Chris Evans "Knives Out", Clarke Peters "Harriet", Tracy Letts "Ford v. Ferrari", Jonathan Majors "The Black Man in San Francisco", Bruce Willis "Motherless Brooklyn", Aldis Hodge "Clemency", Wesley Snipes "Dolemite is My Name", George MacKay "1917", Tommy Lee Jones "Ad Astra", Sam Rockwell "Jojo Rabbit", James Corden "Cats", Idris Elba "Cats", Matt Damon "Ford v. Ferrari", Ben Mendelsohn "The King", Ian McKellen Cats", Corey Stoll "The Report", Jon Hamm "The Report", Michael Kenneth Williams "Motherless Brooklyn", Alec Baldwin "Motherless Brooklyn", Mark Strong "1917", Dean-Charles Chapman "1917", Colin Firth "1917", Benedict Cumberbatch "1917", Andrew Scott "1917"

Commentary -  A deep roster with too many contenders, it will be interesting to see how it all shakes down. Brad Pitt is in the default position right now as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood does well with critics and at the box office. The Irishman trailer put Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in perfect positions to crack this category, which has been known to have multiple co-stars make the cut. Finally, the initial trailers for Little Women and The Goldfinch showcase Timothee Chalamet and Jeffrey Wright, both of whom I think will be big players. Beyond those five, it is a wide open race. Willem Dafoe could make it three in a row if voters like The Lighthouse. Gary Oldman will have a prominent role in The Laundromat, as will Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Rhys. Then there are the larger casts like Motherless Brooklyn, 1917, Cats, Jojo Rabbit, The Report, Ford v Ferrari, and Downton Abbey where one of the guys could rise above the other, or get lost in the crowd. Also look out for Snipes, Bell, Odom, Lithgow, Evans, Majors, Peters, Hodge, Jones, and Mendelsohn.