Scott, Coon Launch Oscar Bids at Telluride — SkimNews
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- Andrew Scott stars in Simon Stone's 'Elsinore' (Focus) as real-life 'Chariots of Fire' actor Ian Charleson, who tested HIV-positive in 1989 while cast as Hamlet at The National Theatre in London during the AIDs crisis.
- Scott is paired with Johnny Flynn as his director and Olivia Colman as his reluctant doctor, with the source reporting 'not a dry eye in the house' at the Palm screening.
- Carrie Coon stars in Guy Nattiv's 'The Liberation' (Bleecker) as Rita Cooper, a wound-up Holocaust survivor who abandons her family in the 1980s to join an all-women cult led by Lily James.
- Coon's real-life spouse Tracy Letts plays her husband, with Bella Ramsey and Odessa Young as their daughters; the source notes Coon is 'all she wrote' for the film's awards chances.
- The source flags the Best Actor race as 'stacked' against Scott while Best Actress offers more 'wriggle room' for Coon, and says Bleecker will platform a qualifying run for 'The Liberation' before broadening in January.
- Saturday at Telluride brings Jesse Eisenberg's third feature 'The Debut,' starring Julianne Moore (who attended the 'Elsinore' screening) and Paul Giamatti.
Why it matters: Both Scott and Coon arrive with strong TV pedigrees — Scott from 'Fleabag' and 'Ripley,' Coon as an Emmy nominee for 'The Gilded Age' — but limited film Oscar recognition, making these their best shots at first nominations. The source explicitly warns both films face steep odds: Scott is up against a 'stacked' Best Actor field, and Bleecker must wrangle box office for a 'desperately sad' movie in a qualifying-then-January expansion strategy.
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