How Isabella Rossellini Could Land in the Oscar History Books for ‘Conclave’ 

Konstantin Stanislavski, the father of modern acting, famously said, “There are no small parts, only small actors.” Isabella Rossellini speaks to this quote with determined ferocity.

Rossellini’s captivating seven-minute, 51-second appearance in Edward Berger’s 120-minute religious thriller “Conclave” could be enough to earn the veteran actor the first Oscar nomination of her career.

Portraying Sister Agnes, a nun who quietly maneuvers within the Catholic Church’s power struggles as it faces the monumental task of selecting a new pope, Rossellini’s restrained yet powerful turn is generating awards buzz for supporting actress. While some Oscar pundits may question if her limited screen time will be a hurdle, her role aligns perfectly with the original intent of the supporting categories, established at the 9th Academy Awards in 1936 to recognize impactful, secondary performances.

Read: You can see all Academy Award predictions in all 23 categories on one page on the Variety Awards Circuit: Oscars.

Though Rossellini’s career is filled with memorable roles — her iconic portrayal of Dorothy Vallens in David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” (1986) and her ageless Lisle Von Rhuman in Robert Zemeckis’ “Death Becomes Her” (1992) among them — she’s never heard her name called on a fateful Oscar nomination morning at 5:30 a.m. However, the Academy has a history of rewarding brief yet resonant performances in the supporting races.

Sam Elliott’s eight-minute appearance in Bradley Cooper’s remake of “A Star Is Born” (2018) earned him a trip to the ceremony, while Mark Wahlberg’s nine-minute portrayal of a foul-mouthed Boston cop in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” (2006) became the sole acting nomination from the movie.

As this year’s supporting actress race heats up, Rossellini will likely have the shortest screen time among a competitive field that includes some arguable co-leads, like Ariana Grande in “Wicked,” Saoirse Ronan in “Blitz” and Zoe Saldaña in “Emilia Pérez.” Other contenders — such as Danielle Deadwyler in “The Piano Lesson,” Selena Gomez in “Emilia Pérez” and Felicity Jones in “The Brutalist” — will depend heavily on how strongly their films perform overall in the awards season.

The strength of “Conclave” as a best picture contender is the most crucial factor in Rossellini’s success, especially regarding a potential win. Her chances hinge on “Conclave” becoming an across-the-ballot favorite, with fellow acting nods — especially for Ralph Fiennes in the lead role — and a likely mention for Peter Straughan’s adapted screenplay. The approach of riding a film’s widespread love is similar to that of surprise supporting actress winners in the last 30 years, such as Jamie Lee Curtis in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” who won with 17 minutes of screen time, and Judi Dench, who won for her memorable five minutes and 52 seconds in “Shakespeare in Love” (1998).

According to Matthew Stewart of Screen Time Central, who tracks the screen time of Oscar-nominated and -winning performances, a nod for Rossellini would not even rank among the 10-shortest performances ever nominated. However, should she win, she would become the third-shortest performance to do so in the category’s history, trailing only Dench and Beatrice Straight’s five-minute, two-second win in “Network” (1976).

A victory for Rossellini would also make her part of a historic Oscar-winning duo, as her mother, Ingrid Bergman, won an Oscar for supporting actress with 16 minutes and 57 seconds of screen time in 1974’s “Murder on the Orient Express.” (Her work currently sits as the 18th-shortest performance to be awarded.) This milestone would mark the first mother-daughter acting pair to win Oscars in Academy history — a fitting legacy for an actor whose career has embodied the spirit of cinematic daring and depth.

Can Rossellini go all the way? I’m sure, like the characters do in “Conclave,” they’ll be praying for it.

Below are this week’s Oscar predictions (in alphabetical order) in all 23 categories. Official category pages won’t be updated until Thursday, Nov. 14.

---

Oscars Tracking
(Nov. 14, 2024)

Best Picture
“Anora”
“Blitz”
“The Brutalist”
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Gladiator II”
“A Real Pain”
“The Room Next Door”
“Wicked”

Director
Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez”
Sean Baker, “Anora”
Edward Berger, “Conclave”
Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist”
Ridley Scott, “Gladiator II”

Actor
Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”
Daniel Craig, “Queer”
Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”
Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”

Actress
Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”
Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”
Angelina Jolie, “Maria”
Mikey Madison, “Anora”
Tilda Swinton, “The Room Next Door”

Supporting Actor
Yura Borisov, “Anora”
Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
Clarence Maclin, “Sing Sing”
Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”
Denzel Washington, “Gladiator II”

Supporting Actress
Danielle Deadwyler, “The Piano Lesson”
Ariana Grande, “Wicked”
Saoirse Ronan, “Blitz”
Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”
Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”

Original Screenplay
“Anora”
“The Brutalist”
“A Real Pain”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
“September 5”

Adapted Screenplay
“Conclave”
“Emilia Pérez”
“I’m Still Here”
“The Room Next Door”
“Sing Sing”

Animated Feature
“Flow”
“Inside Out 2”
“Memoir of a Snail”
“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”
“The Wild Robot”

Production Design
“Blitz”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Nosferatu”
“Wicked”

Cinematography
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Maria”
“Nosferatu”

Costume Design
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Maria”
“Nosferatu”
“Wicked”

Film Editing
“The Brutalist”
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Wicked”

Makeup and Hairstyling
“A Different Man”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Nosferatu”
“The Substance”
“Wicked”

Sound
“Blitz”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Wicked”

Visual Effects
“Dune: Part Two”
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
“Gladiator II”
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
“Wicked”

Original Score
“Blitz”
“The Brutalist”
“Conclave”
“The Room Next Door”
“The Wild Robot”

Original Song
“Winter Coat” from “Blitz”
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Piece by Piece” from “Piece by Piece”
“Harper and Will Go West” from “Will & Harper”

Documentary Feature
“Dahomey”
“Daughters”
“No Other Land”
“Sugarcane”
“Will & Harper”

International Feature
“Dahomey” from Senegal
“Emilia Pérez” from France
“I’m Still Here” from Brazil
“Kneecap” from Ireland”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from Germany

Animated Short
“An Almost Christmas Story”
“Back to Normal”
“Humantis”
“Remember Us”
“Silent Panorama”

Documentary Short
“I Am Ready, Warden”
“Julia’s Stepping Stones”
“Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World”
“Motorcycle Mary”
“A Swim Lesson”

Live Action Short
“Dovecote”
“The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”
“Motherland”
“Ripe!”
“Room Taken”