Chasing The Oscar Unlike Previous Years, There’s No Shortage Of Contenders This Time For The Best-Actress Prize

In recent years Hollywood, which is already gearing up for the Academy Awards, has endured the embarrassment of trying to find five nominees in the best-actress category. For that matter, coming up with five best-film candidates has often been a bit of a struggle, too.

This year looks different.

While the best-film category once again appears thin despite 153 releases in wide distribution, there are more than enough contenders for top actress honors.

Though the Oscars are not presented until March, the awards season will begin this week when the Los Angeles and New York critics announce their choices. The most frequently mentioned best-actress contenders are Elisabeth Shue for “Leaving Las Vegas” Sharon Stone for “Casino” and Nicole Kidman for “To Die For,” along with Meryl Streep for “The Bridges of Madison County.”

Others in the running include Susan Sarandon for “Dead Man Walking” (due to open Dec. 29) and Emma Thompson for “Sense and Sensibility,” as well as Sandra Bullock for “While You Were Sleeping,” Annette Bening for “The American President,” and Michelle Pfeiffer for “Dangerous Minds.”

“In the past it’s been a strain to find an abundance of women in best acting and supporting categories,” said Buffy Shutt, president of marketing at Universal Pictures. “This year, for the first time in a while, it’s a pretty robust category.”

Universal, like every other studio, is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars sending videocassettes of potential Oscar nominees to Academy members and advertising in the trade papers, Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.

Some women who are studio executives said they thought the spate of good women’s roles was probably just an accident. “I don’t think it’s a sign of a trend or a shift in Hollywood at all,” said Terry Press, senior vice president at Walt Disney Studios. “Any time women have the upper hand it’s a fluke.”

But Lisa Henson, president of Columbia Pictures, said, “It could be connected to the fact that there are simply more women filmmakers, more women directors and producers putting these projects together.”

Stacy Snider, president of production at Tri-Star, said, “You never know. It’s not concerted, but at least there are promising signs to point to.” She pointed out that the influence of female executives and producers as well as stars like Kidman and Thompson helped create such films as “To Die For” and “Sense and Sensibility,” which opened in big cities Wednesday.

Shue, Kidman, Stone and Streep appear to be the early favorites, though the two Oscars that Streep has already won, for best supporting actress in “Kramer vs. Kramer” in 1980 and best actress for “Sophie’s Choice” in 1983, could, in the opinion of some, work against her.

But as one executive said wryly, “It’s almost in the rule books of the Academy: any time Meryl does an accent it’s a nomination.” In “Bridges” she plays an Italian-born farm wife.

The consensus is that no film will sweep up Oscars, as “Forrest Gump” did last year and “Schindler’s List” did the year before. The nominations made by the 5,032 members of the Academy are to be announced on Feb. 13, and the Oscars are to be presented on March 25.

“A disappointing year because you can’t really come up with a list of really terrific movies to be nominated,” said one top studio executive.

The three most likely contenders are “Apollo 13,” directed by Ron Howard, as well as Oliver Stone’s “Nixon,” starring Anthony Hopkins, and “Heat,” a Michael Mann action-drama starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. “Nixon” and “Heat” are being rushed into release by year’s end to be eligible for 1995 nominations.

Other possible candidates are “Sense and Sensibility,” “Richard III,” “The Bridges of Madison County,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Braveheart,” “Les Miserables,” “Persuasion,” “Get Shorty,” “Casino,” “The American President,” “Seven” and “Babe.”

“It’s a grab bag, free-for-all this year,” said Laurence Mark, a producer.

As for best actor, those mentioned include Anthony Hopkins (“Nixon”), Al Pacino and Robert De Niro (“Heat”), John Travolta (“Get Shorty”), Ian McKellen (“Richard III,” which opens in big cities Dec. 29), Tom Hanks (“Apollo 13”), Jonathan Pryce (“Carrington”), Bruce Willis (“Twelve Monkeys,” which opens Dec. 27), Sean Penn (“Dead Man Walking,” which opens Dec. 29), Clint Eastwood (“The Bridges of Madison County”), Morgan Freeman (“Seven”) and Mel Gibson (“Braveheart”).