THE 4TH ANNUAL ICON AWARDS

Good evening and welcome to the biggest night in Hollywood.

Though the Oscars may try to overshadow us every year, the Blueprint’s fourth annual ICON Awards will always be the most coveted award for any creative in the film industry.

Remind yourself of our nominees here, and place your final bets now: the ICON Awards 2024 are here:

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BEST ANIMAL

Snoop, Anatomy of a Fall 

We’ll be honest; it wasn’t the greatest year for cinematic animals, but it was clear that only one talented canine was going to take the prize this year. Snoop, as played by the super-talented Messi, who took the Palm Dog at Cannes and has won over Hollywood with his insane talent levels and ability to outshine most of the trained actors around him. Plus, he’s so cute.

MOST ELIGIBLE BOYFRIEND

Archie Madekwe as Jann Mardenborough in Gran Turismo

Archie has everything that we look for in this category: he’s tall, talented, and made it so we couldn’t take our eyes off him. A compelling character always helps in these situations, and Jann is a perfect example. And when you’re opposite the David Harbour, it’s difficult to steal focus, but Archie absolutely nailed it. And hopefully us next.

MOST ELIGIBLE GIRLFRIEND

Rachel McAdams in Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret

It was kind of a wasteland for the category this year, but Barbara is a deserving winner. She’s beautiful, kind, and trying her best to be the best person she can be. Bolstered by an unbelievably authentic performance from Rachel McAdams, Barbara would be a wonderful girlfriend, but if she and Herb wanted a third (or fourth I guess), we’re so in.

NOT ELIGIBLE BUT REALLY FUCKING HOT

Tom Blythe as Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

After we finished this movie, as the credits rolled, we turned to each other and said “Well, there’s the ICON Winner” and we stuck to our guns. Coriolanus is strong, hot, and the absolute definition of why we have this category. We don’t want a guy that ends up being a genocidal dictator, thanks, but Tom Blyth certainly made us go “oh…”

SCENE STEALER

Pete Davidson in Dumb Money

In a stacked cast full of notable performers, Pete Davidson absolutely stole the show. A lot of the actors didn’t have enough to do, but Davidson made the most of every single second of his screen time and it’s something that we still talk about to this day, months after the screening. An ICON winner through and through.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A CHILD

Milo Machado Graner in Anatomy of a Fall

A performance so incredibly beyond his years that it was thrown into question whether he was blind or not in real life. In a film where every single person and dog is giving the performance of their lives, Milo Machado Graner stood out in a very real way. The maturity in this performance should be enough to make a lot of Hollywood actors quake with fear.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Gran Turismo

We knew really nothing about this going in, aside from the presence of Blueprint favourite David Harbour. So to find out that we ended up loving it was definitely the biggest surprise of the year. Including the find of aforementioned ICON winner Archie Madekwe (and Geri Halliwell-Horner’s famous lentils, of course), Gran Turismo had been almost written off entirely due to the frequency of the trailer before other films, but we had the absolute best time with it and are so glad to award it in this category.

BEST MOVIE PARENT

Rachel McAdams in Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret?

As well as being an eligible girlfriend, Rachel McAdams also has the honour of being crowned as the best Movie Parent of the year. Strong, sensitive, and filled with nothing but love for her daughter during a tricky time in her life, Barbara leads with grace and compassion while dealing with her own emotional parental issues. A true wonderful lady.

BEST CHEMISTRY

Nicholas Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez in Red, White, and Royal Blue

Couch kiss.

BEST KISS

Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal in All of Us Strangers

The only one of the nominees to elicit a full-on gasp from us while watching it. The real-life chemistry between the two actors combined with the sensual touch of Andrew Haigh’s direction delivers a beautiful and real love scene between these two actors, with a very, very lovely kiss at the forefront.

ONE TO WATCH

Dominic Sessa

One of the best finds of the year, Dominic Sessa has dominated the hearts of many, holding his own and being a standout in a cast with two already powerhouse actors and performances. Added to the fact that he was only cast because the crew were doing a location scout at his school and he impressed them that much. He’s phenomenal in the film and we’re so excited to see his next career moves. Any casting director worth their salt should be beating down his door.

BEST USE OF MUSIC

“Camp Isn’t Home” in Theater Camp

The sheer emotional power of the film’s finale is carried by how great the payoff is. From just a silly, purposefully half-hearted improv piece to a showstopping, heartfelt ballad performed by the committed ensemble of young performers who gave it their everything.

BEST COSTUMING

Poor Things

Just look at anything Emma Stone wore in this film. The costuming was on display at the Barbican for a reason; a terrific achievement in costuming that deserves every award you can throw at it.

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Poor Things

The makeup and hairstyling of Poor Things was the successful bridge between the very human story and the unique world it was set in: the over-accentuated scars, the yards long hair, the curls on the mustaches: all toeing the line between hyper realistic and just a little fantastical. No notes.

BIGGEST SNUB

Zac Efron for The Iron Claw

Amidst a very strong cast in a very well made film, Efron is the crucial backbone of The Iron Claw. He guides and grounds every moment with a remarkably understated performance, and to have not been recognised by any major voting body is the biggest snub.

MOST OVERLOOKED PERFORMANCE

Jamie Bell in All of Us Strangers

Andrew Haigh’s emotive film based on Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel features a tiny cast of incredibly talented actors; and we’re astounded that Jamie Bell didn’t receive more accolade for his role wherein he manages to carve out a memorable portrayal of a father coming to terms with his own mistakes. He has a few key scenes that really demonstrate his talent, which has been absolutely overlooked throughout his long career, and this is certainly another Jamie Bell performance that is deserving of a lot more awards attention. It’s delicate, endearing and heart wrenching.

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

The Iron Claw

While not the biggest ensemble cast this year, every single actor here made a notable impact. Centred around a pretty big family, The Iron Claw boasts talent in every corner, and together that excels the story to another calibre of greatness.

BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE

Charles Melton in May December

From being a supporting player on Riverdale to being cast in a major Todd Haynes movie opposite two Oscar-winning legends of the modern screen, Charles Melton has broken out in a major way. He delivered a groundbreaking performance with the on-screen presence of a man who’d been acting for decades and has paved the way for an exciting career. 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Poor Things

The very first shot of this film made us audibly gasp in the cinema when I first saw it. The use of colours, combined with Lanthimos’ signature wide-angle lens usage mixes together to make a luscious portrait of a woman’s liberation, decorating its bizarre world-building with ravishing backdrops. The typical ‘hang every shot in a museum’ applies here, just some of the most beautiful shots of recent memory.

BEST SCREENPLAY

May December

Samy Burch’s debut professional script is magical, every syllable of dialogue bolstered by its masterful performers. Such a tight, thematically resonant piece of writing that shines in every scene.

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers

Who is surprised? A masterful performance fully deserving of its sweep.

BEST DIRECTOR

Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

This is a story that could easily have been mishandled, but Lanthimos directed every aspect of Poor Things with as much sensitivity as he did audacity, making for a truly unique and remarkable visual experience, pulling out his usual bag of tricks and flipping the script from any preconceived expectations and delivering something that will be remembered.

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon

Emma Stone in Poor Things

For the first time in ICON history, the Blueprint is announcing a tie. Two completely different, yet equally masterful pieces of acting: Gladstone’s subdued and gut-punch powerful that had her stealing every scene from her two world-class costars; Stone’s the fullest release of ego and inhibition ever seen on screen to showcase a daring, unforgettable character. They’re tremendous performances that will remain the standouts of not only the year, but of the decade.

PICTURE OF THE YEAR

Poor Things

An all-round groundbreaking achievement in filmmaking. Yorgos Lanthimos is running around in his creative playground and building upon his already distinct voice in the film industry to craft bold, innovative films that will undoubtedly serve to inspire future weirdos to come. We’ve talked about Poor Things a lot in this post, but it truly deserves all of the hype. Impeccably cast, designed to perfection in a way that steals your breath in every shot. Just a brilliant, brilliant piece of cinema that will live on forever. Emma Stone supremacy. Mark Ruffalo supremacy.

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ICON OF THE YEAR

Ayo Edebiri

We don’t know who might have had a year like 2023/2024 for Ayo Edebiri. Alongside her multi-award winning turn as Sydney on The Bear, Ayo starred in multiple films that received considerable acclaim, including ICON-nominated Bottoms and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and a scene-stealing turn in ICON-winning Theater Camp. It’s safe to say she’s the most employed actor working right now, and we can only pour one out for her friends who try to make plans with her. It’s safe to say that she’s not slowing down anytime soon, with upcoming parts in Inside Out 2 and A24 horror Opus, as well as another season of The Bear premiering in June. We’ll watch as much of her as we can get, so we’re not complaining.

She could well be ICON of the year every year.

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Congratulations to all the winners of another truly incredible year of cinema. It’s truly been a landmark year across the board, and we’re so thrilled to celebrate it for a fourth iconic year.

Thank you for joining us, and enjoy the afterparty (the Oscars).

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