Cynthia Erivo - 1:25:44 (53.53%)
Ariana Grande - 1:11:25 (44.59%)
Jonathan Bailey - 18:29 (11.54%)
Michelle Yeoh - 16:52 (10.53%)
Ethan Slater - 13:53 (8.67%)
Marissa Bode - 11:47 (7.36%)
Jeff Goldblum - 11:25 (7.13%)
Bronwyn James - 11:13 (7.00%)
Bowen Yang - 11:12 (6.99%)
Keala Settle - 4:42 (2.93%)
Peter Dinklage - 3:51 (2.40%)
Andy Nyman - 3:47 (2.36%)
Courtney-Mae Briggs - 1:57 (1.22%)
Karis Musongole - 1:41 (1.05%)
Kristin Chenoweth - 1:27 (0.91%)
Idina Menzel - 1:25 (0.88%)
Cesily Collette Taylor - 0:59 (0.61%)
If Ariana Grande lands a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for Wicked: Part I, hers will be the second longest performance ever recognized in her category and the 14th largest in terms of percentage. From there, she could set a new physical screen time record among all supporting Oscar winners, displacing 51-year title holder Tatum O’Neal (Paper Moon).
Of course, it is entirely possible for someone who appears in 45% of a film to be supporting. I’ve gone so far as to defend supporting placements of actors with 68%. But I find myself unwilling to defend Grande’s campaign.
All things considered (including the source material, upcoming second part, and Glinda’s narrative impact compared to other characters), I would classify Grande’s Part I performance as a solid secondary leading one. Even disregarding screen time, Cynthia Erivo certainly plays more of a leading role, but Grande simply doesn’t belong in supporting under the binary system.
I would further assert that Grande’s isn’t the type of performance for which the supporting categories were created, nor are those of most of her likeliest competitors. It’s distressing that Isabella Rossellini (Conclave) might end up being this year’s only supporting actress nominee who inarguably belongs there, especially since some have deemed her performance unworthy of recognition due to its brevity.
Assuming a shake-up of the binary placement system is out of the realm of possibility, I would just like for true supporting performers to be given their due in those categories and for leads (even secondary ones) to be campaigned accordingly. But, as long as the object of the game is to conquer as many categories as possible, that will remain too tall an order.