Ralph Fiennes: Heath Ledger's competition?

The Best Supporting Actor category is usually one of the most crowded of the Oscar season, with a half-dozen worthy competitors typically getting the shaft once the nominations are announced (Dennis Quaid in Far From Heaven and J.K. Simmons in Juno come to mind). But this year (and yes, it’s early) there don’t seem to be too many guys in the mix to compete with the category’s one sure nominee, Heath Ledger. All of which may help someone like Ralph Fiennes, who earned terrific reviews for The Duchess but hasn’t emerged as a slam dunk just yet. Just like Ledger, he’s an excellent bad guy and provides perhaps the most memorable performance in his film. With The Duchess now coming out more widely after a few weeks in limited release, here’s Part 2 of my OscarWatch interview with Fiennes.

Watch Part 1 of the interview here.