The Best Supporting Actress category at the Oscars is very diverse this year: Angela Bassett is African-American; Kerry Condon, Irish; Hong Chau and Stephanie Hsu are of Asian descent and Jamie Lee Curtis, an American daughter of legends Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Seniority is a degree and both Bassett and Curtis initially start with a greater advantage in this 95th edition with two very colorful characters.

At her splendid 64 years of age and with a career close to forty, Bassett could take her first statuette just thirty years after being nominated for best actress for her formidable Tina Turner from the biopic Tina. And she would do it thanks to her charismatic queen Ramonda from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, a sequel that is a pure tribute to the figure of King T’Challa played by the late Chadwick Boseman.

Bassett, who studied at Yale, has already made history by being the first actress to star in a Marvel production nominated for an Academy Award in Hollywood. From DC, Heath Ledger -posthumously- and Joaquin Phoenix previously obtained it for playing the villain Joker.

His was the Golden Globe in the same category in which he appears at the Oscars. And she also rose victorious in the Critics Choice. In her speech, Bassett remembered Boseman and thanked fans for “embracing these characters and showing us so much love. We made history with this nomination and with this award, which belongs to all of you.”

Also 64 years old, the queen of screaming Jamie Lee Curtis, star of mythical horror films of the eighties such as the Halloween saga, but also of some unforgettable comedies such as A fish called Wanda or Risky Lies, aspires for the first time to the golden statuette for getting into the skin of an employee of the Treasury of arms taking everything at once everywhere.

The comedy about the multiverse of the Daniels has given him many joys. Like the recent award from the Actors Union (SAG), a good thermometer to know where the shots will go during the ceremony. “I am wearing the wedding ring that my father gave to my mother,” she said, honoring the legacy of her famous parents. “I married an actor. I love actors, I love acting and the work we do. I love being part of a team and a cast. It’s a precious job and I know there are a lot of people in this industry who don’t get to work in it,” he added.

Condon’s magnificent role as Colin Farrell’s sister in Inisherin’s Banshees has been rewarded with the British Bafta, but it doesn’t look like she’s going to repeat her luck next Sunday. The same goes for Chau and Hsu, the most unknown on the list.

The first, the daughter of Vietnamese parents, befriends the fat Brendan Fraser’s character in The Whale and has recently appeared in the thriller The Menu, with Ralph Fiennes. Stephanie Hsu, 32, plays Michelle Yeoh’s wayward daughter in All at Once Everywhere. She appeared in Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings and we will see her in David Leitch’s new The fall guy, along with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.