It’s the Astro Oscars: where we let the stars pick the stars who win!

Part Three: Best Actress & Best Actor

Also read: Part One – The Oscar Ceremony & Seth MacFarlane

Also read: Part Two – Best Supporting Actor & Actress

BEST ACTRESS 

One of the most fascinating races this year pits the youngest-ever nominated actress against the oldest ever nominated, along with a battle royale between a snarky 20-something and an obsessive CIA agent, with a heartsick mother thrown in for good measure. Let’s look at their charts and see who’s golden.

The place of honor, as the first nominee born in the 21^st century, goes to Quvenzhané Wallis. We’ll just call her “Q.”

A quick glance at her chart (alas, with birth time unknown) reveals several things: first of all, she’ll be back. Saturn, planet of wisdom and maturity, currently sits in a harmonious trine to its own natal position, indicating that this is a growing-up experience for Q—literally and figuratively. With Pluto (mystery and power) opposite Saturn as well, there is a confrontation with the unknown at hand, and that’s what Beasts of the Southern Wild was all about.

Q has a lovely Jupiter-Sun-Venus stellium (i.e., three planets together) in the very smart sign of Virgo. Neptune, planet of imagination and spirituality, opposes her Sun and Venus from Pisces over the next couple of years. That’s about as creative as it gets. She also has Mars (energy) and Uranus (awakenings) right where Neptune is transiting, giving her a lot of personal motivation. Better learn to pronounce her name so you don’t sound foolish next time. (It’s kwa-ven-je-nay). Here’s a link to how she pronounces it herself.

Next, the chart of the lovely and talented (but very soggy in The Impossible) Naomi Watts:

Naomi actually has several excellent aspects happening right now that could net her some lovely accolades. Will she get the gold on Oscar night? Well, Libra, her Sun-sign, just loves aesthetics! We know that she throws herself deeply into her roles, what with natal Pluto (intensity) sitting on her Virgo Ascendant, and right now Uranus, (the new, fresh & exciting) is opposite her Sun and right near her North Node, or life destiny point. That signifies a time when NOTHING is impossible!

With Jupiter, lord of blessings, gleefully revving its engines in a fun-filled trine to her Sun, she could be in for a very joyous time indeed. Add to that spiritual Neptune in a beautiful trine to Venus (love/the arts) and you have an actress in the bloom of her career and very happy in her personal life also. It’s tempting to see Oscar gold in all of this. But these transits, while harmonious, may not be enough of a clincher to bring her an actual statuette. I think Naomi will be up at that podium eventually, but probably not this year.

Now all please rise out of respect for the perfect synchronicity: the oldest-ever nominee is up for an Oscar on her 85^th birthday—which also just so happens to be the exact date (February 24, 1927) of the first Academy Awards! Here is the birth chart of Emmanuelle Riva:

Any astrologer will tell you that your birthday every year (technically called the Solar Return) is a personal day of power. Unfortunately, we do not have an exact birth time for Ms. Riva, star of the poignant film Amour, so we cannot peg the energies more exactly. But we can see that she is certainly in her strength now, and actually has the aspects to win.

Her Sun-sign is Pisces, and Neptune, Pisces’ ruling planet, is associated with creativity and glamour; it’s in its home sign and closing in on Emmanuelle’s Sun. It also sits in an approaching trine (flowing angle) to her North Node (life destiny point). No matter what your age, that’s a great aspect for an actress to have. It points to creative recognition.

Emmanuelle has lived long enough to experience a rare opposition of Pluto (personal power/regeneration) to its own natal position. Under this transit life sometimes hands you everything you want just to see what you do with it—because you don’t have much time left. Transiting Jupiter (blessings) also directly opposes Saturn (accomplishments), which looks like a change in status. Uranus (surprises) in trine to Saturn is another sign of a possible win. I’d bet money on a possible upset here, if there weren’t two other actresses still to consider.

Jessica Chastain, a one-woman powerhouse in Zero Dark Thirty, comes next:

As you might expect from a redhead whose characters show such spunk, Jessica’s Sun-sign is Aries, sign of the warrior. (Associated color: red.) Uranus, the planet that says, “Say goodbye to the past—and NOW!” has been crossing back and forth over her Sun for the last year or so. Boom! Big shift in her life and image. It will sit still on her Mercury in a few months, making for even busier times in 2013. Uranus is also making a lovely approaching trine to Saturn (accomplishment). But right now, it seems, is a bit of a fallow period where Jessica has some wonderful aspects that are unfortunately opposed by some really tough ones.

First, Saturn is sitting still in Scorpio in an almost exact square (hard 90-degree angle) to its own natal position in Leo. Well, that’s pretty tough. Few win awards under that kind of aspect. That stationary Saturn is also squashing her Uranus (personal freedom issues). That’s equally tough. And Mr. Pluto (power issues) is making a close square to its own natal position, often a sign of power struggles and a need for regeneration. I am afraid that, despite all of Jessica Chastain’s work and her probably deserving the award, I do not see a statuette in her hand.

That leaves the equally spunky, trash-talking but charismatic young star of Silver Linings Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence, to take home the gold.

A Sun-sign Leo, we should never expect her to be anything less than at home in the spotlight, and the cosmic beams are plenty bright for her right now. Uranus in Aries (full speed ahead!) is making an exact sextile (60-degree opportunity angle) to her North Node (life destiny point) in Aquarius. That’s a winning aspect right there. But wait! There’s more.

Uranus also makes a flowing trine to the Midheaven, the point of career recognition. Jupiter, giver of all good things, has also, during Oscar voting, been in a precise trine to that destiny-oriented North Node in the 12^th House of past karma. The energy of blessing is virtually unhindered. And it looks to me like a reward that comes from effort in a previous life.

Pluto (power/transformation) is only a degree away from Neptune (dreams/creativity) in the 11^th House of one’s peers and the greater audience. That’s an empowering of her dream. Transiting Saturn (achievement) also sits still in a flowing sextile to that Pluto-Neptune conjunction. This adds the blessing of authority. And with the transiting North Node (the destiny point, remember) also at the precise midpoint between Saturn (achievement) and Mercury (communication), it is easy to see an excited young woman named Jennifer up at the podium, Oscar in hand.

The Moon travels through her Sun-sign, Leo, on Oscar night, as well—giving her even more personal oomph—so joyful dramatics are guaranteed from that stage. Enjoy the moment because Jennifer Lawrence certainly will!

BEST ACTOR

This is a category that is simply magnificent this year. These actors are an acclaimed lot, whose work reflects their laser-like focus. Let’s look first at the chart of Denzel Washington:

Denzel is a Capricorn, a sign known for no-nonsense behavior, and Denzel’s roles reflect what his chart says are his strengths: authority and intelligence, a kind of steely moralism. In Flight, he plays a courageous pilot with a problematic past, and right now we find that he needs that courage. Uranus, (sudden change) has been making a hard square to his Sun while approaching a friendly sextile to his visionary Aquarius Moon. That basically means that the energy had to go somewhere: he did so well in the role that the Academy could not ignore him, even though it may not know what to do with him now.

Jupiter (abundance) is waving its blessing wand in the form of a lovely trine to his Moon, but there aren’t a lot of other aspects going on that might give Denzel the gold. Could he surprise people? Well, Uranus (shocks) IS right on his chart’s horizon, on the 7^th House cusp, indicating a breakthrough or breakdown sort of energy, and Pluto at the bottom of his chart is another sign of empowerment; but I don’t see the golden clincher. This year we must be content to love and respect Denzel without hearing a victory speech.

Next, we’ll consider the case of Joaquin Phoenix, star of The Master.

It shouldn’t surprise us that Joaquin takes idiocyncratic roles and doesn’t care what we think about his quirkiness—he’s an Aquarius, after all. We don’t have his birth time, but even a noon chart like this tells us why he was nominated at this time: there’s a lot happening in early to mid-degrees of the various signs, where Joaquin has many of his planets. His life-cycle, in other words, is well-activated astrologically.

With Uranus (the unusual) exactly atop his Aries Moon right now and making a flowing sextile to his Aquarius Sun (ruled by Uranus), Joaquin is a true wild card in this race. Having just passed through the Pluto square Pluto aspect that indicates the need for personal regeneration—a theme in The Master—Joaquin seems to be on a vision quest for something that’s not quite there for him to take. There are not, at the moment, enough close hits in his chart to indicate a triumphant walk up to the podium on Oscar night. Saturn (hard knocks) squaring his Sun punctuates our thesis. This year, he will not be Oscar’s master.

Now consider, if you will, the fortunes of one Bradley Cooper, whose hangover turned into a dream come true by portraying a bipolar man trying to get a grip in Silver Linings Handbook: 

His chart shows that, like fellow Capricorn Denzel, Bradley is hugely ambitious and can do just about anything he puts his mind to. We wouldn’t have known it from his previous roles, but with Mercury and Venus also in Capricorn, and its ruler, Saturn, opposing his Sun, Bradley Cooper is one serious guy.

It’s his Moon in attractive Libra and party-hearty Mars in Sagittarius rising that have given him his previous rep. Neptune on the Ascendant gives him glamour and sexy charisma. But that’s all changing as Pluto (power) swings closer to his Sun and squares its own position in the 10^th House, the point of worldly status. He’s in a period of shifting stature, and he’s only going to rise.

But what about now? As Uranus (the Awakener) makes a flowing trine to Neptune and his Ascendant, Bradley is getting respect for playing a man who struggles with personal boundaries (Neptune). But the Jupiter and Saturn aspects you want to see for a win aren’t really there. Bradley Cooper may make a career out of playing tough guys who have a heart, but he’ll have to applaud for someone else this year.

Speaking of heart, anyone who steals bread, contemplates the sorry fate of man, and then spends two hours singing about it, as Hugh Jackman does in Les Miserables, deserves our attention:

A creative triple threat whose Sun-sign is Libra, sign of the artist, Jackman’s Scorpio Midheaven (one’s status in life, remember) is being well-triggered astrologically. Saturn (dignity/accomplishment) is stationing right there as the Oscar votes are counted, and no astrologer could look at that without saying that Jackman has a real shot at winning. With transiting Pluto (power) also making a flowing sextile (opportunity angle) to the Midheaven, Jackman’s stature is increased. Uranus (sudden change) about to cross the North Node (life destiny point) provides even more ammunition for those who think an Oscar upset is possible.

But will he actually win? Like Bradley Cooper, Jackman has a Sun-Saturn opposition, giving his backbone some steel, probably from dealing with adversity…and such types don’t give up easily. Jupiter, lord of blessings, does sit in a nice sextile to the North Node, the destiny point. If this were any other year, these are aspects that say he should be dusting his mantelpiece now, because a little golden man will be joining him.

But this is not any other year. This, both creatively and astrologically, is the year of Daniel Day-Lewis, whose portrayal, in Lincoln, of our 16^th president really does “belong to the ages.” His chart, though frustratingly without a birth time, is shown below:

Even with this vagueness we are able to discern a few major things that clarify matters for us considerably. First, Daniel’s chart has a Sun-Venus conjunction in Taurus, a Fixed Sign, indicating that his creative career will be long lasting. Second, his Moon in Pisces is all about the image, the creative process, and it sits in a lovely trine to Neptune, ruler of film. Day-Lewis lives to be creative.

Neptune, who astrologically represents the ocean of consciousness, is highly activated in his chart right now. Lincoln opened just as Neptune was transiting over Daniel’s Moon—representing one’s emotional life and (for an actor) one’s audience. Daniel disappeared (“pulled a Neptune”) into the role, and he is loved for it. It happens that Neptune is currently also in a flowing trine to its own natal position in Scorpio, another indication of the emotional depth conveyed in the film. And Neptune also makes a soft sextile (60-degree angle) to his Sun in Taurus, an indication of mass appeal.

These Neptune transits are almost the only major aspects that we can detect happening in his chart right now. But they are enough. Abraham Lincoln is usually thought of as quite Saturnian—pensive, somber, even melancholy—with the weight of the nation’s fate on his shoulders. But we feel his humanity in the film, and respond to it accordingly. This is due to an actor somehow absorbing his very essence. In astrological terms, this is deeply Neptunian.

Daniel Day-Lewis will earn his third Academy Award by bringing us into the oceanic depth of emotional connection with a great man.

NEXT UP: PREDICTIONS FOR BEST SONG AND BEST DIRECTOR