Quick summary
- Sam Rockwell is second on Gold Derby’s Best Supporting Actor leaderboard for Wild Horse Nine, according to the outlet.
- Paul Giamatti, who has never won an Oscar, leads that category for The Debut.
- Rockwell won this award for Martin McDonagh‘s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
- A second win for a McDonagh film would make him the fifth actor to win two Oscars for films by the same director.
Most of the awards talk around Wild Horse Nine has gone to John Malkovich, but the film’s other lead may have a quieter path to the podium. Gold Derby reported on 12 November that Sam Rockwell ranks second in its Best Supporting Actor predictions, and that a win would repeat a feat only four actors have managed.
Where Sam Rockwell stands in the Oscar race
Since the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, Gold Derby says, the Oscar buzz has centred on Malkovich, whom it names as the odds-on favourite to win his first Best Actor award. Rockwell plays his onscreen partner, and the outlet puts him behind only Giamatti, who is still without an Oscar and is tipped for The Debut.
These are predictions from one awards site, not nominations. The Academy has not announced anything yet, so the standings can shift as the season goes on.
The McDonagh connection
Rockwell has been here before. He won Best Supporting Actor for another McDonagh film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and earned a nomination the following year for Vice, according to Gold Derby. Wild Horse Nine would be a second McDonagh title in his Oscar story.
For readers catching up on the film itself, our Wild Horse Nine cast and story guide covers the plot and the full line-up, and the Martin McDonagh tag page collects everything else we have published on the director.
Why a second win would be rare
Gold Derby lists the four actors who have won twice for the same director’s films. Walter Brennan did it first, with Come and Get It and later The Westerner, which was directed by William Wyler. Wyler had taken over Come and Get It from Howard Hawks after producer Samuel Goldwyn disliked the rough cut.
Jack Nicholson won a supporting Oscar for Terms of Endearment and a Best Actor Oscar for As Good as It Gets, both directed by James L. Brooks. Dianne Wiest took matching supporting actress trophies for Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets Over Broadway, both Woody Allen films. The most recent was Christoph Waltz, who won for Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, both by Quentin Tarantino. Gold Derby notes he has only ever been nominated for Tarantino’s films.
Rockwell would be the fifth name on that list. The odds against it are plain from the other side of the ledger. Robert De Niro has four nominations for Martin Scorsese films but one win, for Raging Bull. Joe Pesci was nominated three times for Scorsese and won once, for GoodFellas. Emma Stone won for Poor Things but lost two years later for Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, according to the same report.
What happens next
Nothing is decided until the Academy announces its nominees. For now, the story is the strength of the supporting category: Rockwell is second, Giamatti is first, and Gold Derby’s rankings are the only measure on the table. Wild Horse Nine remains in the conversation largely because of its two leads.
Frequently asked questions
Has Sam Rockwell been nominated for Wild Horse Nine?
No. Gold Derby’s ranking is a prediction only. The Academy has not announced nominees.
Who leads the Best Supporting Actor race?
Gold Derby places Paul Giamatti first, for The Debut, with Rockwell second.
Has Sam Rockwell won an Oscar before?
Yes. He won Best Supporting Actor for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, directed by Martin McDonagh, and was nominated the next year for Vice.
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