Standout Performances By Female Actors in a Supporting Role

2. Helena Bonham Carter, “Les Misérables”

Someone needs to bring some comic relief to the heavy proceedings in “Les Misérables,” and who is more qualified than Carter, scene-stealer in films as varied as “Alice in Wonderland” and “Fight Club”? Carter previously teamed with director Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech,” which earned her a nomination in this category, and the role of greedy innkeeper Madame Thénardier seems tailor-made for the actor. Few people can make treachery so appealing.