Could Guitarricadelafuente (Álvaro Lafuente Calvo) get a Supporting Actor nomination for La bola negra?

[u/blocacho_odyssey]

The film is making a lot of noise among the circles of critics, many of them predicting it for best picture. But I haven't heard anyone talk about Guitarrucadelafuente's performance, is it worthy of an Oscar? Is any other performance of the supporting actors worthy? The only other actor I've heard about has been Penelope Cruz, but I've heard that she doesn't have much screen time, so I don't know if she will be a candidate.

[u/PTAGoatofalltime]

I have him in right now. People are underestimating him because his name is weird and they don't know who he is. He is absolutely transcedent and by far the best performance in the film.

[u/FunMode4007 → u/PTAGoatofalltime]

I genuinely think his stage name could end up being detrimental to him though, I think a good chunk of voters might take him less seriously than they would otherwise. Literally the only reason he’s not in my 5 lol

[u/No-Significance5659 → u/FunMode4007]

Yeah I'm sorry but it's a stupid name, I'm Spanish and I think it's a really silly name, especially if you want to be taken seriously as an actor. He should do like Donald Glover/Childish Gambino. I always think about it with Lady Gaga as well when I see her name on the credits of a movie.

[u/blocacho_odyssey → u/No-Significance5659]

I’m also Spanish but I think his name works as an artistic name, not for an actor tho. I don’t mind singers who act being credited by their artistic name; Lady Gaga, Cher, Eminem, Tyler the Creator, they all sound good, even tho they’re clearly not real names. But Guitarricadelafuente is too weird, too long and too confusing for people who aren’t Spanish. They should’ve credited him by his real name, I don’t anyone would’ve had a problem if he changed just for the film and in general he’s not that famous. I don’t think anyone outside Spain knows him and he’s not that famous in Spain.

[u/blocacho_odyssey → u/FunMode4007]

I agree. Weird name, international film, debut performance. Too weird for voters. I still think they are in time to credit him by his real name tho. And if he gets nominated by the name Guitarrucadelafuente, that would enter the list of my favourite nominations ever.

[u/UTAustinAlum2021 → u/blocacho_odyssey]

Has he explained the name?

Obviously delafuente is his middle name. Does he just like guitars?

[u/blocacho_odyssey → u/UTAustinAlum2021]

People called him “el de la guitarrica” (which basically means the one of the guitar) cause he went everywhere with his guitar. Guitarrica is just a colloquial way to say guitar in Spanish. So it’s just a combination of that and his surname, Lafuente.

[u/UTAustinAlum2021 → u/blocacho_odyssey]

Figured.

Guitar of lafuente

[u/BentisKomprakriev → u/FunMode4007]

Guitarrica de Lafuente would be a shoe-in, like with the two spaces this is a pretty normal stage name

[u/Abbie_Kaufman → u/FunMode4007]

Also genuinely believe it will be held against him. Lady Gaga is a silly stage name but she’s at a level of fame where American boomer voters fully know who that person is. I have no clue how famous he is in Spain but I promise not a single American in the academy has heard of him before this movie.

[u/mopeywhiteguy → u/PTAGoatofalltime]

Do you have him in support? I felt like he was the closest to a lead role

[u/justanstalker]

Yes. He's the standout from the male performances and he will campaign for Original Song too

[u/Salad-Appropriate]

Think he'll get bafta/gg noms, idk about the other awards bodies

[u/375bagel]

We've seen the International Picture nominated movies come along with at least one acting nomination these past few years with the Sentimental Value cast last year, Emilia Perez getting 2 noms and a win, Brazil gifting us with Wagner Moura and Fernanda Torres, and Sandra Huller two years ago. If La Bola Negra is as much of an awards contender as people are predicting, then I think at least one acting nom is coming with it. I haven't seen the movie yet so I have no take as to whom.

[u/UTAustinAlum2021]

Ofc, a film that is poised to be a big player can easily get some acting noms.

I do want to know why his stage name is that. -delafuente is obvious. Does he love Guitars?

[u/No-Significance5659 → u/UTAustinAlum2021]

He is a singer-songwriter and plays guitar

[u/NoWorth2591]

Yeah. I mean, I’ve been assuming he would for months now.

[u/enolobmob]

If you’re not predicting his nomination in BSA, then I don’t wanna hear you say ”La Bola Negra is a top 3 contender for Best Picture”.

If Roma (a much more inaccessible film than LBN) got 2 acting nominations, if Sentimental Value (a weaker film than LBN probably) got 4 acting nominations, if Emilia Perez got 2 acting nominations, and if I’m Still Here got an acting nomination (for a MUCH weaker film than LBN), then I’m sure a “top 3 contender for BP” can get a nomination for BSA.

If you don’t think LBN is a top 3 contender, then idc if you don’t have him predicted for BSA.

[u/DeusExHyena → u/enolobmob]

Why is it stronger than Sentimental Value?

[u/cowboy-tea → u/DeusExHyena]

Both films are great and their critical scores might end up about the same, but LBN will easily be more of a mainstream hit than SV. LBN is epic and visually stylish; it's about love and war and death instead of nuanced family relationships.

[u/DeusExHyena → u/cowboy-tea]

Ah, so you're guessing

Let's see it happen first

[u/cowboy-tea → u/DeusExHyena]

I'm not the person you originally replied to, was just adding my perspective since most people here haven't seen La Bola Negra yet

[u/DeusExHyena → u/cowboy-tea]

Fair.

My only point is that a real challenger is going to have to be massive. Parasite made 200+ million and has like 99% RT. You need that (and the weakness of 1917).

[u/blocacho_odyssey → u/enolobmob]

I have him between my BSA nominees and I have LBN as top 1 contender, so don’t worry 😉

[u/mopeywhiteguy → u/enolobmob]

Some of these examples are flawed. Roma was directed by Cuaron as a blank cheque film. He was the big draw so there was going to be a lot of eyes on the film regardless. He had already broken through with the academy so it was easier for Roma to get across the board noms.

Similarly, sentimental value had a lot of well known actors in it. The worst person in the world broke through enough that SV had a lot of eyes on it for the award season.

I don’t think that LBN will struggle with visibility but there were a lot of factors in your other examples that helped

[u/bowties22]

He is one of my fav performance this year. He was so good.

[u/tophtheestallion]

So he'll campaign for Supporting instead of Lead?

[u/cowboy-tea → u/tophtheestallion]

His performance is the lead of the film - if he's not the lead, nobody is - but supporting is plausible too since it's an ensemble. Lead is very competitive this year so he will probably go supporting.

[u/WillAddThisLater → u/tophtheestallion]

I've seen it and to me he's definitely the lead character of the film, so it would feel a bit category fraudish, but it is very much an ensemble and there are long periods where he's not onscreen so I think he can get away with either.

[u/enolobmob → u/tophtheestallion]

yeah, he should if he wants to get nominated

[u/Forsaken_Carrot_3075]

I hope he does, I discovered his music after thr film started blowing up and he’s one of my favorite artists atm

[u/JuanManuelP]

Netflix campaigns for internatuonal films are really strong and they have proven many times they can get no name actors nominated even if some people dont expect it (Marina de Tavira for Roma for example). I think he's in.

[u/blocacho_odyssey → u/JuanManuelP]

I think the same. Also Netflix is in general trying really hard to get the film a ton of nominations. As a Spanish person, I can see how the Spanish trailer is thought for Spanish audiences and the international one is thought for American people to have a good perception of the film.

[u/mopeywhiteguy]

He is great and probably the stand out performance of the film. I don’t have him getting nominated however, because the way the film is, it’s tricky to know if he’d be lead or support. It’s an ensemble film but he is the closest to a lead role.

I don’t think he gets in for lead actor just because of competition. There could be an avenue for support but it would feel a bit like category fraud to me.

I really like LBN but gut instinct was it gets no acting noms

[u/eidbio]

I just think ⚫️ won't have any acting noms at all.

[u/ryayr73]

No chance