Can Zola Bring Colman Domingo Supporting Actor Love From the Academy?
This holiday weekend gives audiences the 2020 Sundance Film Festival hit Zola from A24 and co-writer and director Janicza Bravo. As X, the mysterious and terrifying roommate of Stefani (Riley Keough), who takes her, the free-spirited Zola (Taylour Paige) and the emotionally unstable Derrek (Nicholas Braun) on a road trip to Florida to dance at a strip club, Domingo slithers through the role with focus and menacing ease. As history has shown, the fun and frightening villains are always a good ticket to Oscar recognition. Whether its the psychological torment exhibited by Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975) or the sadistic killing spree shown by Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) in No Country for Old Men (2007), a person that people love to hate can have positive effects on the awards circuit. Sliding through all facets of art, including television (Fear the Walking Dead) and theatre (nominated for a Tony award in 2010 for The Scottsboro Boys), the AMPAS and DGA member could be quickly approaching his overdue recognition moment in Hollywood, one that could land him in the supporting actor conversation. More from Variety  In film, hes worked with some of the best in the business  Ava DuVernay (Selma), Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk) and last year with George C. Wolfe (Ma Raineys Black Bottom). Working with fellow Afro-Latina Janicza Bravo on dark comedy Zola, based on the 148-tweet thread by Aziah Zola King from 2015, is another example of how the talented artist inhabits any role provided and elevates every beat surrounding him. The good news for Domingo is that there arent any standout supporting actor contenders up to this point in the year. Based on the look of the rest of the summer, there may be only one or two dark horses to add to the shortlist thus far. Story continues  Domingos main obstacle will be if Zola can maintain its buzz for the next several months. Sole supporting actor nominees for movies are not unheard of. Still, in the last decade, when they occur, the actor recognized already had a previous nomination or Oscar win in their careers  Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World (2017), Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project (2017), Michael Shannon in Nocturnal Animals (2016), Sylvester Stallone in Creed (2015), Robert Duvall in The Judge (2014), Christopher Plummer in Beginners (2011) and Jeremy Renner in The Town (2010). In other words, Zola will likely need to pull in an additional nom for Domingos chances to increase. Zola - Credit: Sundance Institute  Sundance Institute  We saw Taylour Paiges ability to command the screen in last years Ma Raineys Black Bottom opposite Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis. Her naturalistic approach to Aziah, the part-time waitress and stripper, gets plenty of chuckles and affords her moments of dramatic exploration. However, with a few newcomers from the first half of 2021 already angling for a possible breakthrough spot in the best actress category (i.e., Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby and Melissa Barrera in In the Heights), with a couple more to come down the pike, shell need a concentrated and robust campaign from A24 to stand a chance. There could be an avenue for the film to find love from the writers branch. A corner of the Academy that has been a bit more open to unconventional stories as seen with past nominees such as Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020) and Logan (2017), this could be a category to find traction for Bravo, along with co-writer Jeremy O. Harris. As the Oscars go back to a guaranteed 10 nominees for best picture, one should be reminded that the two years they had the voting method in 2009 and 2010, only one non-picture nominee was able to muster a mention  the British satire In the Loop, which made it over the surprise best picture nominee The Blind Side. One of the films shortcomings is its inconsistent narrative tones and inklings of a mean-spirited depiction of sex workers. It doesnt quite sustain its energetic first 40 minutes before reaching palpable humps and seemingly out-of-nowhere serious beats. Its worth noting there are a couple of former Oscar-nominated artisans embedded within Zola, including composer Mica Levi (Jackie) and editor Joi McMillon (Moonlight), but those spots may prove too competitive. Currently sitting at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and 75 on Metacritic, the film is in a decent spot so that a discussion is warranted. This weekends box office returns are also promising as it pulled in $2.4 million from 1,468 theaters based on initial reports. In this post-COVID world, and as the Cannes Film Festival begins to have liftoff with Leos Caraxs Annette, the term unconventional could be a running theme for movies this summer. Best of Variety  Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.