Quebec’s three top-grossing homegrown features of 2003 will face off in this year’s supporting actor category. As was so common at the 2004 Prix Jutra, La Grande seduction is up against Les Invasions barbares, but throw in Seraphin: Un homme et son peche and you have a full-blown French-Canadian battle royale.

Stephane Rousseau is nominated for Invasions, in which he plays Sebastien, a successful businessman who returns from England to care for his dying father Remy (Remy Girard). Rousseau has received numerous awards for his stage work, but this is his first Genie nomination.

Benoit Briere, one of Quebec’s most recognizable comic actors, gets his first Genie nomination for playing Henri, the village banker, in La Grande seduction. Briere has been nominated for four Gemeaux awards, winning one in 1997 for his lead role in the television series Cher Olivier.

Roy Dupuis plays Alexis Labranche in Charles Biname’s Seraphin, which was released in November 2002 to become Quebec’s all-time box-office champ. In this Quebec drama set in 1890, Donalda (Karine Vanasse) and Alexis are engaged to be married, but while Alexis is away at logging camp, Donalda agrees to marry town miser Seraphin (Pierre Lebeau) to get her father out of debt.

Dupuis was a Genie nominee in 1993 for his leading role in Cap Tourmente, and in 1992 he won a Gemeaux for his lead work in the series Les Filles de Caleb.

Rounding off the list of nominees are anglophones David Hayman and Christopher Plummer.

First-time nominee Hayman, a veteran British actor whose credits include Hope and Glory, Sid and Nancy and The Tailor of Panama, plays corrupt diplomat Victor in The Wild Dogs, written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald. The film follows Canadian pornographer Geordie (Fitzgerald) to Bucharest as he scouts cheap porn talent. There, he meets players and prostitutes through Victor, but becomes overwhelmed by the problems of exploitation and class in Romania.

And last, but never least, Toronto native Christopher Plummer is nominated for his distinctive take on Santa Claus in the family film Blizzard. Directed by LeVar Burton, this Toronto-shot feature is about an aunt (Brenda Blethyn) who tells her lonely niece (Jennifer Pisana) a story about a young ice skater (Zoe Warner) and an enchanted reindeer (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg).

The 76-year-old Plummer has won many awards over his distinguished career, among them: the Edwin Booth Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, a National Society of Film Critics Award for The Insider, two Tonys and a pair of Emmys. He also picked up the 1980 best actor Genie for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in Murder by Decree. This is his fifth Genie nomination.

Playback Picks

* Benoit Briere: MD, LRB, SD

* Stephane Rousseau: PV, LB, IE