With Dolly de Leon getting a win and a couple of nominations as best supporting actress, her Oscars chances just got higher and we couldn’t be happier.
Related: Dolly De Leon Is On Her Way To Getting That Elusive Oscar
Following a rapturous and star-turning success at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, the glittery spotlight of the global cinematic stage is rightfully focused on veteran Filipina theater, television, and film actress, Dolly de Leon.
After captivating local and international audiences with her beguiling performance as the feisty underdog-turned-alpha Abigail in the Palme d’or-winning Triangle of Sadness, Dolly has been booked and busy campaigning, going to screenings after screenings, gracing the pages of no less than The New York Times, LA Times, Vogue, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vanity Fair among other reputable media outlets, and celebrating thundering ovations and critical acclaim.
Indeed, Dolly de Leon is the moment. And with her recent spate of deserved recognitions, from a Los Angeles Film Critics Awards win to making history with a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress, we may as well be witnessing (and manifesting) another potential historic moment of having a first Filipino homegrown talent to get a nod from the much coveted Academy Awards.
GOLDEN DOLLY DE LEON
“I’m not going to lie—[Triangle of Sadness] was the best thing that ever happened to me. It’s such a blessing in my career as an actor,” confesses Dolly de Leon in an interview with Vanity Fair. “It’s such a blessing in my career as an actor.”
Wow! A Filipina! 🇵🇭 Congrats Ms. Dolly de Leon (“Triangle of Sadness”) for the #GoldenGlobes nomination.
— Atom Yango (@atomdatcom) December 12, 2022
courtesy: @CBS pic.twitter.com/HJzDex3WhW
And a shower of blessings Dolly has received so far, achieving a milestone in her colorful and storied, three-decade spanning career. One of these, and probably the most significant one, is having signed a deal with a talent agency. This is a noteworthy achievement for Dolly who has been in the industry for 30 years and secured her first international project without an agent.
For her unforgettable stint in the Triangle of Sadness, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (FAMAS) awardee has been the talk of the town. After Cannes, the film, which is backed by Neon (the distributor responsible for Parasite‘s success), has traveled to the Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, London Film Festival, and the Middleburg Film Festival where Dolly has received the Breakthrough Performance Award.
Dolly de Leon has also been the subject of praise amongst various film critics, filmmakers, and publications. Vanity Fair describes her performance as the “scene-stealer of the year’s most outrageous film” while Entertainment Weekly hails it as “groundbreaking.” Variety and The Hollywood Reporter applaud Dolly’s breakout achievement while The New Yorker includes Dolly’s performance as one of the year’s best. Even the Baby Driver and The Last Night In Soho director Edgar Wright couldn’t help but gush over Dolly’s performance.
And on December 12, 2022, Dolly de Leon continued to make an impact and repped the Filipino flag hard with a win at the 48th Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) Awards. Dolly nabbed the Best Supporting Performer honor alongside Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Ke Huy Quan. This is on top of her best supporting actress nomination from the International Press Academy’s 27th Satellite Awards.
On the same day, Dolly de Leon achieved what was deemed as a historic moment as the first Filipino actor to be nominated at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globe Awards. Among the veritable list of big names that include Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), Jamie Lee-Curtis (EEAO), and Carey Mulligan (She Said), Dolly de Leon sits proudly as one of the best supporting actress nominees. Triangle of Sadness also got a nomination in the Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical category of the 80th Golden Globe Awards.
“Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press,” enthuses Dolly in a video shared with ABS-CBN News. “Thank you for including me in that very short list of very, very talented supporting actresses. It is such an honor to be part of that prestigious list. Thank you, thank you so much.”
OSCAR CHANCES
Getting a win from a film critic association and a Golden Globe nomination undoubtedly gives a huge boost to Dolly de Leon’s (fingers-crossed) Oscars chances. Over the past years, these award-giving bodies have been significant predictors of who will make the cut at the Academy Awards.
To illustrate it, in the last five years, four of the LAFCA best supporting performer winners made the final five of the Oscars’ best supporting actress category, with three of them eventually winning the statuette including Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk), Ariana Debose (West Side Story), and Minari’s Youn Yuh-jung, who was the first South Korean winner and only second Asian to win the recognition. This also applies to Golden Globes, whose most of its best supporting actress nominees almost always make the Oscars cut.
Other prediction websites also forecast a positive outlook for Dolly de Leon. From being a “major threat,” The Hollywood Reporter now predicts Dolly as a “frontrunner” in the race with Bassett, Curtis, Stephanie Hsu (EEAO), and Hong Chau (The Whale). While Variety and GoldDerby lists Dolly as one of the top ten strong contenders in the category.
The Oscars shortlist voting has already begun and will run until December 17 while the official list of nominations will be announced on January 24, 2023 and the ceremony happening on March 12. And until that moment, while you continue to root for our very own Dolly de Leon and stand beside her throughout her Oscars campaign, you can still support her by watching her breakout performance in Triangle of Sadness as it screens in cinemas near you.
Featured image credits to @ryanarbilo711 via Dolly De Leon IG (L)
Continue Reading: 5 Reasons Why Triangle Of Sadness Is An Absolute Must-Watch
