2012 Calvin Awards: Breakthrough Performance
By Reagen Sulewski
February 15, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
While there's a good reason the role of Lisbeth Salander in the American remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was sought by every young actress in Hollywood, it was far from a sure thing that whoever got the role could pull it off. Enter Rooney Mara, who wasn't just equal to the task of playing the emotionally stunted Swedish goth detective, but made a serious case for herself as an improvement on Noomi Rapace's take on the character. Mara's take on the role was a more violent, alien performance filled with barely concealed rage at the Swedish society that had betrayed and mistreated her for her entire life. It takes a big leap to make a 100-pound girl intimidating, but Mara managed it with ease. The only slight problem with her winning - she finished tenth last year for The Social Network. Okay, so not everyone considered that her breakout role. Go back and look at how many times we tried to give this award to Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And Rooney is threatening to make older sister Kate the “other” Mara.
Finishing just one point behind was Jean Dujardin for The Artist. Although he's appeared in a number of French films, including a well regarded James Bond parody, this was the first long look he's gotten States-side. While not exactly carrying the movie single-handedly (more on that later), Dujardin had a monumental task in having to be the emotional center of this silent film, and without the benefit of dialogue. While this could have easily degenerated into shameless mugging for the camera (and okay, it's a broad performance, but we are talking silent film here) Dujardin found a way to be vulnerable and find that star quality needed for the performance.
Only a few more points behind was Elle Fanning for Super 8. The younger sister of Dakota, and with a ridiculous extensive resume for a 13-year-old, here Elle played the almost literal girl next door who was probably named “J.J.'s Childhood Crush” in the draft screenplay. Fanning took this character and fleshed it out into a fully realized little person on the cusp of figuring out how to exist in the world where all the grownups are just as screwed up as she is. A couple of knock out scenes with wise-beyond-her-years performances didn't hurt, not to mention some of the most eerily effective zombie acting ever.
Familiar to us from her long running role on Gilmore Girls (and less so, on Mike & Molly), Melissa McCarthy is one of those actresses that you would have assumed would never really get a meaty role to sink her teeth into. Along came Kristen Wiig to create a role in Bridesmaids for her, which we voted up to fourth place. What's usually a stock crude male role turned into a moral center of the film in McCarthy's hands, as she stole basically every scene she was in.
Did you know there was another Olsen sister? And that she's actually really good at acting? Elizabeth Olsen was this year's indie darling discovery in Martha Marcy May Marlene, as a recovering member of a religious cult, which earned fifth among the breakout roles of this year. Olsen takes this damaged character to shockingly vulnerable depths, bringing us into a world from which people sometimes never really escape. As debut performances go, this one's hard to top.
Sixth spot goes to Bérénice Bejo, Jean Dujardin's co-star in The Artist. Equally as unfamiliar to American audiences, Bejo carried the other half of the film as the young ingenue who heralds the death of Dujardin's way of making art. Completely captivating in every moment on screen, Bejo pulled off not only the idea of a rise to the top filled with regrets, but also playing the role of the archetypal American starlet while being from Argentina and France, and oh yeah, doing it without talking. It's a role with an incredible degree of difficulty.
Seventh spot goes to Michael Fassbender from X-Men: First Class where he took on the role of young Erik Lehnsherr, aka Magneto. Not only did he give an absolutely commanding performance in a huge summer tentpole, he managed to plausibly step into a role that's been defined and maybe perfected by one Sir Ian McKellen. While this isn't his first role in a major picture (Inglourious Basterds was his introduction to most American filmgoers) nor his first amazing performance (this could have arguably also have been for his award-worthy turn in Shame), Magneto is the role that's going to make him stick.
Speaking of multiple breakout performances, we have Jessica Chastain, who ties with Fassbender here for her role in The Debt. The personification of what this category is all about, Chastain was just everywhere this year all of a sudden, and if she got to count the four (four!) roles for which she got votes in this category, she'd be the runaway winner. Completely mesmerizing in a variety of roles (adding to this, there's The Tree of Life, Take Shelter and The Help), Chastain has quickly become an actress who is impossible to ignore.
A ninth place tie brings us another young actor from Super 8, Joel Courtney. Rarely does a 15-year-old get asked to carry a summer blockbuster, nor does it usually turn out so marvelous as this, as Courtney's completely unforced performance struck the perfect balance between wide-eyed innocence and a developing confidence amidst chaotic events.
Perhaps the flipside of that is the actor that tied with him, Chris Hemsworth from Thor. While I doubt anyone's really hailing him as Best Actor worthy for this role, it's quite the definition of a star-making performance, taking what could, nay, should have been a completely ridiculous role in an outlandish comic book movie and making it seem, if not grounded, at least plausibly out-of-this world. And if you think this kind of thing is easy, just ask Sam Worthington.
Just missing the mark here was Corey Stoll's hilariously on the mark turn as Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris, Shailene Woodley in The Descendents, the aforementioned Jessica Chastain performances, and Ezra Miller as a disturbed teen in We Need to Talk About Kevin.
The Calvins: An Introduction
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Album
Best Cast
Best Character
Best Director
Best Overlooked Film
Best Picture
Best Scene
Best Screenplay
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best TV Show
Best Use of Music
Best Videogame
Breakthrough Performance
Worst Performance
Worst Picture