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Golden Globes: Could Kate Winslet’s Double Victory Cost Her at the Oscars?

So what bearing will last night’s Golden Globe results have on the already-decided Oscar race? Almost none! Except for on Kate Winslet’s chances, maybe! Winslet took home two trophies, for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress (for her roles in Revolutionary Road and The Reader, respectively), categories in which there’s still some lingering mystery over who might win an Academy Award. But will her wins help her Oscar chances, or blight them irrevocably?

Before last night, the consensus among Oscar fetishists was that support for Revolutionary Road was cratering — reviews weren’t nearly as strong as expected, the movie failed to pick up momentum at early precursor awards, and some felt that Sam Mendes’s take on Richard Yates’s novel might be too hopelessly depressing for the Academy. Even worse was the perception that Winslet’s other blistering 2008 lead performance in The Reader (another movie that struggled a bit with critics), for which she’s being pushed in the Best Supporting Actress category, would confuse Oscar voters about which role to support her for (further muddying waters was recent talk about nominating her as a lead for Reader).

While awesome, Winslet’s double victory at the Golden Globes isn’t really an indication that a similar thing might occur at the Oscars (Sigourney Weaver and Joan Plowright have each scored two Globes at a single ceremony, but no performer has ever won two Academy Awards for acting in the same year). And, since Oscar nomination ballots were due today, her wins probably can’t affect how she’s nominated (or for which movie). But suppose, as expected, she gets nods for Best Actress for Revolutionary Road and Best Supporting Actress for The Reader — will Academy members, come voting time, be more baffled than ever over how best to give her an award? Obviously she’d probably rather win as a lead actress, but in a competitive race with Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway there (and with Penélope Cruz and Viola Davis in supporting), any potential confusion could cost her a trip to the podium.

If it were up to us, though, she could have all the awards she wants!

Golden Globes: Could Kate Winslet’s Double Victory Cost Her at the Oscars?