But from time to time, that frontrunner doesn’t win.

This was a proper surprise.

That’s no SAG nod, no Golden Globe nod, no BAFTA nod, no Critics Choice nod.

Chadwick Boseman as Levee Green, leaning against a piano in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Image via Netflix

The Best Supporting Actor Oscar was pretty much in Murphy’s bag for most of the season.

That’s SAG, the Golden Globes, and Critics Choice, to name just a few.

Then,Olivia ColmanfromThe Favouritecame in with just a BAFTA win and pulled one major upset.

Penny Lane smiling at someone while William stands beside her in Almost Famous.

Image via DreamWorks Distribution

Sadly, he did not but his legacy lives on nevertheless.

However, his frontrunner status in 1969 wasn’t super strong.

Of these four films, Garland’s performance is perhaps the strongest and most memorable.

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Going into Oscars night, however,Gladstone had more precursor momentum and much more industry and public buzz.

As such, even Emma Stone herself was visibly surprised when she won the Oscar and not Gladstone.

Either way, both are among the greatest performances of the 2020s thus far.

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However, his competition wasArt CarneyforHarry & Tonto.

It would have been very, very well deserved.

It literally revolutionized Hollywood acting, bringing method acting into the mainstream in the industry.

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KEEP READING:Best Picture Frontrunners That Didn’t Win

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Headshot Of Jason Lee

Jimmy “Thunder” Early singing on stage in Dreamgirls

Image via Paramount Pictures

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Cast Placeholder Image

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Joan Castleman looking pensive while staring into the void in The Wife

Image via Sony Pictures Classics

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Image via Netflix

Ma Raineys Black Bottom Netflix Poster

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King Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine Lion in Winter

Image via AVCO Embassy Pictures

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Norman looking at Esther posing with a hopeful look in A Star Is Born

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

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Jordan Belfort, standing on a boat and holding a glass of wine while the American flag waves behind him in The Wolf of Wall Street

Image via Paramount Pictures

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Lily Gladstone as Molly, looking at her husband Ernest, in Killers of the Flower Moon

Image via Apple TV+

Killers of the Flower Moon

Jack Nicholson looking over his shoulder with a scowl in a car in Chinatown

Image via Paramount Pictures

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Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski covered in grease and removing his overshirt in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

A Streetcar Named Desire Movie Poster Showing Marlon Brando Grabbing Vivien Leigh Wrist

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Movie

Chadwick Boseman