Decker

It kind of looks like it might be. Canadian actors have done well over the past 25 years with multiple wins by Michael J Fox, as well as Best actor wins for Keifer Sutherland and Erik McCormack.

andicus

I usually give shows two episodes to determine if I'll continue watching them. It didn't cut it, in this case, but I guess this may have changed after the first two. Regardless, I really have trouble getting past this:

mwbmis

Travolta's performance was initially weird and off-putting. The thing I found though was as the show went on, and Shapiro become more and more isolated from the rest of the defense team what Travolta was doing actually started working in context.

To be fair, Cuba never really captured OJ for me. He just didn't have the right kind of charisma.

Noonan

Travolta stuck out like a soar thumb in the beginning but he did settle into the role. He got much better when it was him clashing with the other defense lawyers and OJ.

Decker

And like I said, the show didn't really resonate until the focus shifted from Shapiro to Dardan and Cochran. After two episodes, you'd never expect that Travolta was a Supporting Actor nominee and Vance was a Lead Actor, but that's how it ended up.

I also have no defense for Cuba Gooding's performance. It wasn't bad per say, but there was nothing really that resonant of the OJ we remember either. He got better and was pretty good in the finale, but he was kind of a weak link as far as the show went. That said, he didn't have a huge role in the story after the first two episodes either until the Finale.

mwbmis

OJ had the kind of personality and charisma that could dominate the room. Whatever Gooding's charms are as a performer, he's just not a physically imposing center of attention like OJ. It's a performance that never really clicked because of that. I think they would have been better off going with an unknown.

Edit to add...as good as this was, I still thought Fargo was better. I was disappointed that it didn't win.

hdnmickey

The actors that won for OJ deserved their awards in a big way. But at the same time I can't believe Travolta and Schwimmer were even nominated. Both were basically caricatures throughout the season. Because of the few bad performances along the way, including Cuba as the title character, I would have given it to Fargo over OJ.

mwbmis

I actually really liked what Schwimmer did, and, like I mentioned, Travolta grew on me as the season went on.

Still, in my mind, best supporting actor was a competition between Brown and the heretofore unmentioned Bokeem Woodbine who truly stunned me by how good he was in Fargo. I honestly didn't know he had that in him. I'm not sure who I would pick between the two of them. I'm glad I didn't have to choose.