2015 Muriel Awards: Best Lead Performance, Female

One of the numerous ways in which the Muriels outdoes the Oscars is that we’re much more democratic in deciding what performances are lead and which are supporting. Whereas the Oscars categorize their performances via awards-season politicking in order to better position their films for maximum Oscar potention, the Muriel Awards let the voters decide, and whatever category a performance gets the most points in ends up being the category into which it gets slotted. As you’ll soon see, several of our favorite performances in this category also got points in supporting, but I hope you’ll agree with us that lead is the better choice for them.

Third place:

Nina Hoss, Phoenix [136 points / 21 votes]

Second place:

Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road [166 points / 25 votes]

And the Muriel goes to…

 

Rooney Mara, Carol [190 points / 31 votes]

“Rooney Mara's understated powerhouse of a performance as Therese Belivet in Carol was, in art and in life, underestimated and underappreciated. Did she carry the film (on screen for more than 80 minutes), or did she support Cate Blanchett's performance as Carol Aird? Did she drive the affair between Therese and Carol, or tag along as a passive participant? As Muriel voters have wisely observed, Carol is not the story of Carol but the coming-of-age story of Therese. But campaigning a film called Therese that's actually pronounced ‘Te-REZ’ would have been too laborious for an entire awards season, even for Harvey Weinstein.

“The brilliance of screenwriter Phyllis Nagy’s adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel is that Nagy essentially creates the character of Carol (who in the novel is an enigma). In doing so, she turns the perspective back on to Therese from the outside, creating a more multidimensional character for Mara to inhabit. And that she does with aplomb, portraying Therese as a captivating muse who is not nearly as naive as she originally appears, maturing nearly overnight after her hopeful love is soured by the harshness of reality. And Mara hardly has to say a word to convey this extreme range of emotions. The look her in eyes is more than sufficient, from her awestruck first interaction with Carol to their tempered reunion at a restaurant table. In between, her silent breakdown on a train ride home is arguably the emotional climax of the film.

“For Mara it caps an extraordinary rise over the last few years, from The Social Network to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to Her. With her second Oscar nomination (and first Muriel win) by the age of 30, she must be considered among the most promising actresses of her generation.” ~ Daniel Getahun

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