Note: For those wondering about a notable absence, there is no Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) on this list. I found her performance incredibly overrated and completely unworthy of a Best Actress nomination at this year's Oscars. You'll also note that the Moonrise Kingdom kids don't make an appearance here either as I thought both their performances were a bit wooden.
Another note: As you'll notice as the 2012 RyMickey Awards progress, I felt this was a really weak year for women in film and that even makes its case in this category with only the sixth place honorable mention carrying two x-chromosomes. This marks the first year that this category goes to all folks of a single sex.
Best Younger Actor/Actress of 2012
Honorable Mentions
#7 - Daniel Huttlestone - Les Miserables
#5 - Pierce Gagnon - Looper
I actually read some reviews panning this kid which shocked me, but I found Gagnon's ability to act both childlike and mature elevated the film's second half to something quite special.
#4 - Suraj Sharma - Life of Pi - debut - 19 year old
Making his film debut, Sharma carries the film much like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. That's a difficult task, but Sharma handles it like a pro interacting with his computerized counterparts in an incredibly realistic manner.
#3 - Samuel Joslin - The Impossible
#2 - Tom Holland - The Impossible
Together, Samuel Joslin and Tom Holland both making their film debuts provided some of the most emotional moments captured on film in 2012. The young Joslin has a heartbreaking moment where he must come to terms with the fact that he must become an adult pretty quickly and the look in his eyes is heartbreakingly real. And Holland carries the difficult film on his shoulders as the leading man and succeeds. I had a difficult time with the top three placement this year as all were fantastic performances.
#1 - Logan Lerman - The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Logan Lerman's win here marks the first time a guy has topped this list of Best Younger Performers, but his win is rightly deserved. First, he elevates the film to a better level than it probably deserves thanks to his performance. Second, I was quite impressed with his realistic take on a young teen stepping foot into the scary world of high school. Third, the final act gives his character a "twist" that brings all of the emotional qualities we've seen Lerman express heretofore make perfect sense. It's actually quite a complex role that he has tackled and I look forward to whatever the future brings for this twenty year-old.
Previous RyMickey Award Winners
Uh.
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't Daniel Day Lewis #1 here?
Lincoln was pretty young.