The director of the film festival that’s long been a signal of who will go onto find Oscar glory has predicted which three actors will be in the running for trophies in next year’s race.
Cameron Bailey, the overseer of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), was interviewed by Toronto Sun when he was asked who he thinks will be in contention when nominations are announced in January.
“It’s always hard to predict that, but I will say that a film like Just Mercy by Destin Daniel Cretton and based on the bestselling memoir by defence attorney Bryan Stevenson is an incredibly powerful drama,” he said.
“It’s a death penalty story about a lawyer, played by Michael B Jordan, who takes on the case of a death-row inmate, played by Jamie Foxx, as he tries to bring justice to what he sees as an unjust conviction. It’s got incredible acting, directing and writing and that’s one I think awards bodies will be paying attention to.
Alongside Jordan and Foxx, Bailey predicted that voters will pay attention to Meryl Streep, Joaquin Phoenix and Renee Zellweger.
“Also, I think The Laundromat from Steven Soderbergh is a scathing satire with a great performance from Meryl Streep. I think people will be looking at Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in Joker. It’s that good. The same can be said of Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland in Judy. She’s uncanny in that performance.”
Bailey called Joker “terrific” and also had high praise for A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, in which Tom Hanks plays Fred Rogers, Marie Curie biopic Radiation and Jennifer Lopez drama Hustlers, which is based on a New York magazine article from 2015.
TIFF takes place from 5-15 September.
