So many questions about the next Best Actor race
Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 12:25PM by Nathaniel R
Nicole Kidman and Lucas Hedges in "Boy Erased"
Resarch is coming along for the April Foolish Oscar predictions and since y'all were so helpful in extending the early Best Actress possibilities list, let's do the same for Best Actor, shall we? An early alphabetical list of leading men is after the jump...
Six early questions to discuss
- Lucas Hedges is playing a gay man in conversion therapy in Boy Erased which seems like a totally juicy part for such a gifted young actor. But with the shadow of Chalamet's revelatory work in Call Me By Your Name on it would Oscar really break age records two-years running for young actors playing heartbroken young gay men?
- Rami Malek seemed, on paper, like a sure bet for Mimicry love playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody but will the films troubles (mostly centered around director Bryan Singer) doom any potential enthusiasm for Malek's work?
- Could Sam Rockwell snag an afterglow nomination post Oscar win for playing ANOTHER racist? What an uncomfortable niche. He co-leads the true story of a friendship (of sorts apparently) between a Klu Klux Klan member and a Civil Rights Activist in Best of Enemies with Taraji P Henson as his screen partner.
- Will this finally be the Year of [insert 'overdue' name here: Gyllenhaal / Gosling / Phoenix / Cooper]?
- Will all this be just a cakewalk for Christian Bale to nab a second Oscar for playing Dick Cheney in Backseat?
- Who have I totally forgotten about in this preliminary research?
DISCLAIMER: As with all April Foolish lists some of these won't really be contenders but the idea is an overview of key leading roles from which miracle performances, interesting takes, much discussed already star turns, or undervalued and overvalued future lead performances might spring. Performances marked by asterisks are real life based biographical characters... the most likely to get you nominated (on paper) because Oscar never seems to grow out of that particular obsession.
- Christian Bale -Backseat*
- Javier Bardem - Everybody Knows
- Chadwick Boseman - Black Panther
- Steve Carell - Beautiful Boy*
- Steve Carell - Women of Marwencol
- Bradley Cooper - A Star is Born (directed by himself)
- Taron Egerton - Robin Hood
- Andrew Garfield - Under the Silver Lake
- Ryan Gosling - First Man*
- Jake Gyllenhaal - The Sisters Brothers
- Kit Haring - The Death and Life of John F Donovan
- Lucas Hedges - Boy Erased*
- Lucas Hedges - Ben is Back (directed by his father!)
- Charlie Hunnam - Papillon
- Oscar Isaac - Life Itself
- Michael B Jordan - Creed 2
- Rory Kinnear - Peterloo (though possibly supporting because you rarely know who's leading with large cast Mike Leigh films)
- John Krasinksi - A Quiet Place (directed by himself)
- Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody*
- Matthew McConaughey - The Beach Bum
- Matthew McConaughey - Redemption
- Ewan McGregor - Christopher Robin
- Richie Merritt - White Boy Rick (McConaughey is the biggest star here but the story is centered on his character's teenage son)
- Joaquin Phoenix - You Were Never Really Here
- Joaquin Phoenix - Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot
- Joaquin Phoenix - The Sisters Brothers
- Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool 2
- Sam Rockwell - The Best of Enemies*
- Michael Shannon - What They Had
- LaKeith Stanfield - Sorry to Bother You
- Jacob Tremblay - the Death and Life of John F Donovan
probably 2019 unless they rush
- Robert DeNiro - The Irishman
- Leonardo DiCaprio - The Black Hand
- Jake Gyllenhaal - Untitled Dan Gilroy Project
- Ashton Sanders - Native Son
Reader Comments (34)
Timothee Chalamet for Beautiful Boy!
lol @ Deadpool 2 in the mix
Is it bad that I don't care about any of those names on the list? Female performances last year and those projected for this year in film and TV are way more exciting.
There are few that I might consider for a game of F, M, K, but otherwise, meh.
The Best Actress list on the other hand (and judging by the amount of comments you got), oh yes, lots to love.
Ryan Reynolds was probably *this* close of a Best Actor nom for "Deadpool", but he's not going to be considered for repeating the character...
... I just saw "Everybody Knows" trailer and both Cruz and Bardem are really possible nominees, judging from it... the main problem, it's shot in spanish. Ricardo Darín also look great in it.
"Could Sam Rockwell snag an afterglow nomination post Oscar win for playing ANOTHER racist?"
I initially thought you were writing about his role as George W. in Backseat here.
Oscar Isaac has three possibilities that may come out this year - Life Itself, Operation Finale, in which he plays Mossad agent Peter Malkin, and Julian Schnabel's At Eternity's Gate, in which he plays Gauguin. They can't ignore Oscar Isaac forever. Willem Dafoe may also be a possibility for At Eternity's Gate; he plays Van Gogh.
If TIFF gets Boy Erased and Beautiful Boy I will have to go even though I said I wasn't this year.
Is Hugh Jackman in The Front Runner going to drop out of the race, do you think?
Ryan Gosling seems to me too have everything for frontrunner status overdue whatever that means,BO star,well liked family man persona,historical figure,the director has heat,plus Claire Foy on the rise,seems like catnip.
Would love to see Matt Dillon kill it (pun intended) in The House that Jack Built (assuming it gets distribution).
DAVID -- again as i said in my disclaimer -- not a prediction list but a 'performances that will probably be talked about in some way' or 2018 signifying list to think of / work from.
PAM -- it's not bad. Actors are usually less exciting than Actresses ;)
Kidman is nod worthy from the wig alone.
Even if Backseat gets glowing reviews, I know I won't have any interest in seeing it. And I admire the all-star cast. But I just can't. I couldn't muster up the stamina to watch W. or Nixon or Primary Colors, either. Same with Chappaquiddick and Game Change. Strangely, I loved Lincoln. Maybe the distance helps.
Are you combining Lead and Supporting Actors lists? Because Nathaniel there's NO WAY Jake Gyllenhaal is lead for "The Sister Brothers", even with a basely loose adaptation of the novel. I know there's a TFE obsession to him, but there must be a better review of the background stories. Gyllenhaal is 100% supporting, unless they make a full different new film with just the title and again, this is John C. Reilly's baby project.
Sorry Nath, I didn't read the previous comment. Sorry about that :(
May I add:
Dafoe - At Eternity's Gate (he's playin Van Gogh!)
Hawke - First Reformed (rave reviews fr TIFF?)
I tink they r v much overdue for an Oscar too
Rockwell (Backseat) n Chalamet (Beautiful Boy) wld probably go supp.
Kevin Costner Highway Men
Lucas Hedges has just played gay in Lady Bird =)
Should Lucas Hedges nab a Best Actor nomination next year, I believe he would be the youngest male to two nominations, beating Sal Mineo by mere days.
Pic caption:
Hedges - I'm gay
Kidman - We're gonna fix that.
If young pairs like Lawrence and Hathaway and Larson and Vikander can have Oscars in one year - then let's see Hedges and Chalamet both with Oscars next year!
My predictions
1. Gosling - First Man
2. Bale - Backseat
3. DeNiro - The Irishman
4. Hedges - Boy Erased
5. James - If Beale Street Could Talk
@ James, I figured something more along the lines of:
Pic caption:
Hedges - I'm gay.
Kidman - Great! I need as much help as I can get with this wig.
Kidman doing Naomi Watts drag.
Has Albert Finney retired? We need to get him that competitive Oscar. Maybe a contemporary take on King Lear? I'm still a bit less than ecstatic about Gary Oldman's Oscar win. I love Gary and his performance was great, but Albert played the role better in The Gathering Storm.
@Carmen Sandiego lol
Not sure if it'll be released this year but I'd add Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins in Fernando Meirelles's "The Pope", playing Francis and Benedicto XVI respectively.
Also Pryce in "The Wife" and John David Washington in "Black Klanksman".
Ben Kingsley looks to be having a busy year. This month he has both "Backstabbing for Beginners" and "An Ordinary Man", as well as "Operation Finale" (November) and "The Red Sea Diving Resort" (specific date unknown). It's interesting to note he has two roles this year as, I believe, WWII war criminals - the lead in "An Ordinary Man" and what is likely be a supporting role as Adolph Eichmann in "Operation Finale". I suppose it is possible that Sir Ben will not be in the conversation when the time comes for accolades, but it seems unlikely.
Leon -- i haven't read the Sisters Brothers novel but adaptations are notoriously hard to predict as to what they might keep and change and the story is, from everything i've read about it, about two brothers, not just one man, So i wonder why you're so certain.. One of them narrates the novel (i assume that's who you mean as total lead?) but that's a storytelling device. Who knows what the screeenplay will be like. (but yeah, in two lead male films, one always goes supporting)
I can definitely see Carell getting it for Beautiful Boy. The book was popular and he barely missed a nom for Battle of the Sexes. It's certainly a fascinating career trajectory.
I just remembered CHARLIE PLUMMER in Lean On Pete which will be released soon but I saw at TIFF last year. Such a beautiful performance. He made me cry like five ties. He’ll definitely be in my top five this year.
Also Domhnall Gleeson in "The Little Stranger".
How cool would it be -
CHALAMET (Beautiful Boy, a second nod in a row, on paper looks feasible)
HEDGES (Boy Erased) , can totally see that happen )
ROBINSON (Love, Simon....wishful thinking, but he`s so good in it.)
BALE (Backseat...bringing traction to Amy Adams finally win her Oscar)
PHOENIX ( You Were Never Really Here...talk about an intense performance)
Love the idea of-
Jake Gyllenhaal ( The Sisters Brothers, or in ANY film for that matter, he`s so overdue and I love him so much)
Oscar Isaac -( Life Itself, bringing sexy back to any Academy line-up and such a terrific actor)
Rami Malek - (Bohemian Rhapsody, again, on paper looks like a sure thing)
Ewan McGregor (Christopher Robin, same case of Jake but unfortunately I don`t see it happening because of CR, unless the Academy goes Depp in Finding Neverland here)
In "The Sisters Brothers" Phoenix and Reilly play the Sisters and two thirds parts of the story is related to them (Full relationship and motivations): Gyllenhaal doesn't appear until the third act and then SPOILERS ALERT he disappears as fast. Even in an adaptation, if they keep the novel as basis, there's NO WAY Gyllenhaal is lead.
If so,I read on Awardswatch some buzz about that saying Reilly is the clear lead, Phoenix is the co-leader, but going for that word, he may be the Christoph Waltz to Gyllenhaal's DiCaprio. So, another year of Gyllenhaal being Oscarless.
Joseph: I thought you meant Christopher Plummer! Haha I got so excited with the possibility of him getting a fourth nomination so quickly, that I checked on IMDb, but I couldn't find him in Lean on Pete (which is Andrew Haigh's, btw).
I guess Christopher could still be a threat for Boundaries, with Vera Farmiga, but I haven't heard anything about this one outside it played in SXSW this year.
Fun fact: Both Plummer were in All the Money in the World.