Oscar Award Nominee for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the award has commonly been referred to as the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. While actresses are nominated for this award by Academy members who are actors and actresses themselves, winners are selected by the entire Academy membership.

The Nominees for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role are:

Amy Adams
DOUBT

Amy Adams plays Sister James, an inexperienced young nun whose unwitting observations regarding a new priest spark suspicions on the part of the older Sister Aloysius.

Penélope Cruz
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Penélope Cruz portrays the fiery Maria Elena, a divorced woman still locked in a complex relationship with her ex-husband.

Viola Davis
DOUBT

Viola Davis plays Mrs. Miller, an African-American woman who learns that her son may be the victim of abuse by a priest at his school.

Taraji P. Henson
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Taraji P. Henson plays Queenie, the woman who acts as nursemaid to Benjamin Button, a man who is aging backwards and has been born with the body of an old man.

Marisa Tomei
THE WRESTLER

As Cassidy, Marisa Tomei portrays a middle-aged stripper entering into a tentative relationship with a down-on-his-luck professional wrestler.

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