There are some actors who seem to be nominated for an Academy Award every time they appear in a movie, like 19-time nominee Meryl Streep. There is also a group of acclaimed actors out there who surprisingly have never won an Oscar, like perennial loser and people's champion, Leonardo DiCaprio. And then there are those great actors who not only have never won an Oscar, but so far have never even been nominated for one. At the forefront of this group is The Hateful Eight star Jennifer Jason Leigh. The 53-year-old has been in the conversation for years, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has yet to take notice. Now with her new film generating awards season buzz, it's possible that in addition to earning her first nomination, Jennifer Jason Leigh could even win an Oscar.
Leigh's role in the film has already earned her a Best Supporting Actress in a Drama nomination at the Golden Globes, which typically serve as a bellwether for how the Oscar nominations will go. And the fact that she is competing in the supporting actress category, despite her character being the main driving force in The Hateful Eight, should further aid her in chances of being nominated for an Oscar, since she'll be competing against women whose characters were decidedly less critical in their respective films.
Another thing that Leigh has going for her is that she is the only female presence in The Hateful Eight for much of the film. Of the movie's titular grouping, Leigh is the only one who isn't a man. And among this collection of dastardly dudes, Leigh's Daisy Domergue not only stands out as the only woman, but also as the most dangerous outlaw among them.
Plus, Leigh looks like she had a difficult shoot in The Hateful Eight. I'm not saying that an actor suffering is enough to earn an Oscar nomination (though a lot of talk for DiCaprio in The Revenant centers around this), but it doesn't hurt. And if an actor can take a physical and emotional beating, like Leigh does here, and still come across as engrossing and believable, which she also does, then that is something very special indeed.
But even if Leigh's performance in The Hateful Eight wasn't Oscar-worthy (which it totally is), there would still be the likelihood that she could earn a nomination as a type of career achievement recognition. This sort of thing does happen from time to time, and given that Leigh has been passed over by the Oscars so many times before (the mind-boggling omission of her role in 1995's Georgia especially stands out), it's entirely possible that the Academy decides it's finally time to acknowledge Leigh's greatness.
Jennifer Jason Leigh should earn an Oscar nomination for her role as the deadly criminal Daisy Domergue in Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, allowing the skilled actress to mark a long-overdue career milestone. And if she does snag an Oscar nom, which I fully expect her to, I won't be at all shocked if she ends up taking home the prize as well. She's earned it.
Images: The Weinstein Company; giphy
