In cinema, as especially when it comes to the Oscars, it’s all about quality rather than quantity and in this year’s awards ceremony, one actress has been nominated for just eight minutes of screen time.

Isabella Rossellini is up for the Best Supporting Actress award - the first time she has nominated for an Oscar, for her cameo appearance in Edward Berger‘s political thriller Conclave, based on Robert Harris' 2016 novel of the same name.

Rossellini‘s captivating cameo in Conclave

Rossellini plays Sister Agnes, a nun working at working at the Vatican during a papal conclave. She is the cardinals' head caterer and housekeeper and has just one key scene during the two-hour movie.

The actress explained how Berger directed her, handing her a discreet role with little dialogue. “[Edward] kept me in total silence until I have one pivotal scene, which I think underlined so well the patriarchal society of the Vatican and women’s subservient roles. They’re present but never speaking—like shadows,“ she told Town and Country magazine. ”I am circulating through the film never saying anything, but when she speaks, she speaks so powerfully“.

One of the most memorable moments of Rossellini’s performance is when she performs a curtsy to reassert her power. “We did it in one take,” she explains “Somebody asked if it was written in the script, and I don’t remember if it was or if I did it spontaneously, or if it was suggested, but it felt right. I never talk. My role is to be invisible but nevertheless God has given me eyes and ears. In front of a lie, I simply ratify, and say, “No, the cardinal sent the letter.” That’s it. I just say the truth, and then do the curtsy because I put myself back in the position of being a nun, and that has been the choice of Sister Agnes. She’s not forced in that position. She’s elected to be a nun. The curtsy is the result of the power of her choice".

Rossellini has just eight minutes of screen time in Conclave but other nominees have picked up an Oscar for less. The record is held by Beatrice Straight whose five minutes and two seconds on screen in 1976 satire Network was worthy of winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

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