Who's supporting whom?

By Kevin Lally

At last night's Broadcast Critics Association Awards ceremony, Kate Winslet was honored as Best Supporting Actress for her role as a former SS prison guard in The Reader, beating out Viola Davis in Doubt, Taraji P. Henson in Benjamin Button, Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler, Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Vera Farmiga in Nothing But the Truth--all superb performances. Winslet, too, is compelling in The Reader, but who exactly is she supporting? Does this mean newcomer David Kross should be the name above the title?

When the awardsscrambling began weeks ago, I was startled to see Winslet being positioned as a supporting player in a film that centers on her character, and Philip Seymour Hoffman touted as Best Supporting Actor in Doubt, a film where he's clearly the co-lead. The actors' reps have their logical reasons for this: Winsletgives another strong year-end performance in Revolutionary Road, and this year's Best Actor's race is extraordinarily competitive with dynamic turns by Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Frank Langella and sentimental favorite Clint Eastwood.

The phenomenon is nothing new: Timothy Hutton, Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for Ordinary People in 1980, was the LEAD in that Robert Redford drama, and was it really fair to give George Burns the Supporting Actor trophy in 1976 (no matter how popular the gesture) when he was one of the two titular Sunshine Boys?

In the Oscar race in particular, only four performing awardsaredecided each year and they're always linked to the power or pizazz of a particular role, not the actor's range or longevity. So it's understandable thatperformers and their handlers are so keen to stretch the definition ofa supporting part. But in a profession that extolsthe ideal of ensemble effort,can Winslet or Hoffman--two of our most esteemed contemporary actors--really justify their crashing of the Supporting Player celebration?

Whether of not Winslet succeeds in landingAcademy Awardnominations in the lead and supporting categories this year, I'll be rooting for Viola Davis for her single scene in Doubt come Oscar night.