Oscar race for supporting actress shifting

LOS ANGELES — It’s a less than three weeks before Hollywood’s shiniest stars traipse down the red carpet for the annual Academy Awards.

But while some categories have seen a clear winner, others, such as that for Best Supporting Actress, show a tougher fight for the prize.

Since December, Oscar predictions for the Supporting Actress race have changed considerably. While Rooney Mara was an early favorite for Carol, she has been overtaken by Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl. Meanwhile, Steve Jobs star Kate Winslet, Rachel McAdams (Spotlight) and Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight are showing little traction with a panel of awards experts who have been tracking the season.

But just who might grab the golden statuette? Here’s a quick rundown on the nominees.

JENNIFER JASON LEIGH (The Hateful Eight)

The Role: Daisy Domergue, a wanted criminal. Considered very dangerous, she spends most of the film looking disheveled and handcuffed to a bounty hunter. But a twist shows there’s more to the character than you might think.

The Outlook: Leigh lost at the Golden Globes, didn’t receive a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nomination, although she did receive a British Academy (Bafta) nod and is one of the more talked-about performances in this film.

ROONEY MARA (Carol)

The Role: Therese, a young department store clerk with photography ambitions. Her life goes in a new direction when she meets, and begins a relationship with, the suburban housewife Carol.

The Outlook: She, like Leigh, lost at the Golden Globes, but garnered SAG and Bafta nominations. The talking point is that it’s a shame Carol was snubbed for Best Picture, but maybe they’ll make up for it by rewarding this performance.

RACHEL McADAMS (Spotlight)

The Role: Sacha Pfeiffer, the one woman on the Spotlight team of investigative journalists at The Boston Globe. Her sharp investigative work is crucial to a series of articles on the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests and the church’s subsequent cover-up.

The Outlook: McAdams was up for the SAG in the supporting and cast categories, but lost to Vikander.

ALICIA VIKANDER (The Danish Girl)

The Role: Gerda Wegener, a Danish artist. She is married to another artist who, over the course of their marriage and the film, transitions to life as a woman.

The Outlook: The role was considered a lead acting role at the Golden Globes (where she lost). The Baftas also deem it a lead role. But the SAGs considered her a supporting player. That confusion may hurt her chances here. Vikander co-starred in The Danish Girl with Eddie Redmayne, who was nominated for Best Actor for his role as transgender pioneer Lili Elbe in the drama directed by Tom Hooper. Redmayne won last year’s Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

KATE WINSLET (Steve Jobs)

The Role: Joanna Hoffman, marketing expert. She is Steve Jobs’s righthand woman, encouraging some of his actions, discouraging others.

The Outlook: Winslet won the Golden Globe for this and was up for SAG and Bafta awards. She’s also adored by the Academy. So despite the odds, she might actually pick up her second Oscar. Agencies