Heavies pull weight in actor nominations
From Gregg Kilday

LOS ANGELES—Lead or supporting actor? That is the question that various awards groups as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are turning their attention to as “for your consideration” season gets under way.
When it comes to deciding whether a performance should be considered as a lead or supporting role, the Academy is scrupulously neutral. Although it sends members a reminder list of the year’s eligible films, the cast listed for each film carries no category designation. When the accountants total up the votes, they calculate the leading and supporting categories simultaneously. In the case of a performance that earns enough votes to score a nomination in both the lead and supporting categories, the Academy simply slots the performance into the category in which it gets the highest percentage of votes.
Of course, by the time Academy members begin to deliberate, critics groups have begun to weigh in and the studios are busy campaigning to steer votes in predetermined directions. And then there are the intangibles — like the question of villainy. A juicy villain almost always rises to the top.
This year, a couple of villain turns already are moving to the fore. Even before it established itself as one of the surprise hits of the summer, Fox 2000’s “The Devil Wears Prada” vaulted Meryl Streep into one of the early front-runner spots in the best actress category for her performance as fierce fashion editor Miranda Priestly.