An Early Look at the Best Actor Oscar Race
Friday, November 15, 2024 at 4:00PM by Eric Blume
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN remains unseen, but Chalamet is already a major Best Actor contender.
I recently posted about the Best Director Oscar race, and how the same five men seem to be on almost every prognosticator list in town.
A similar thing seems to be happening in the Best Actor Oscar race as well. Almost anywhere you go, these five names seem to fill everyone's list:
- Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
- Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
- Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
- Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
- Daniel Craig, Queer
On the immediate outskirts seem to sit Paul Mescal and Sebastian Stan. Some mentions of Jesse Eisenberg and Hugh Grant. But there seems to be an alarming consensus at the moment.
If these end up being our nominees, it's a pretty great year for the Best Actor race (Chalamet unseen). It'd be great to see Domingo, an under-the-radar character actor for years, go two years in a row in the big race. Fiennes has been one of our best actors for over 30 years, and his expert work in Conclave could be a great place to recognize him. Brody and Craig are doing extraordinary work in their pictures. And these are five superb actors in general, easy to root for additional nominations for them (it would be second nominations for Fiennes, Chalamet, Domingo, and Brody; first nomination for Craig).
How do you feel about these five gents for this category? Who are you pulling for to sneak in to snag their own nomination?
Reader Comments (23)
The academy has been so resistant to Fiennes in the past that I wonder if he's just not that well liked among his peers? I suppose in 2014 he was in a comedy and there were two British actors in biopics, sucking up the british vote. Still his snub there and in 2005 are hard to understand. I don't think I'll consider him safe until he lands the SAG nomination.
Adrian Brody and Timothee Chalamet both feel safe this year. Both are actors the academy praised in early film roles, and they're working in genres the academy loves and will want to reward them.
I do feel nervous for Domingo. He's very good in his film, but will need some critics prizes to push ahead. It seems very easy for him to be forgotten. Craig seems well-primed for a nomination, much like Firth was in 2009. But, the academy doesn't really love Guadagnino films, romantic male stories, or queer stories that involve love/lust. I'm curious about how his film will be received.
I think Sebastian Stan in "A Different Man" could do well. It's a low profile film, but one that could come roaring back if he picks up criticis prizes for it and The Apprentice. Jesse Eisenberg has gotten so much positive attention for his film that if it gets loved by the Academy he could easily be swept up. Finally, I think everyone is underrating Jharrel Jerome. If his film becomes a crowd pleaser that people are talking about, then he could do well.
I love Craig's work in QUEER, but I struggle to believe the Academy will respond well to the film as a whole. Moreover, besides CMBYN, they have never embraced a Guadagnino film unless one wants to bring up I AM LOVE's costume design nomination.
But I guess my main issue here is that A24 doesn't seem to be promoting it very much as one of its top contenders. In this modern era of the Oscars, it would be almost unheard of for one single distributor to get three Best Actor nods. Just based on my inbox as a Golden Globe voter this season, QUEER is not one of their priorities. Not in comparison to THE BRUTALIST or even SING SING, or BABYGIRL though that is going for other prizes.
All that said, I hope I'm wrong because Craig is really remarkable as this fictionalized shadow of William S. Burroughs in the pits of addiction.
Chalamet vs. Fiennes.
Man, this is hard!
My brains and my heart are turn in two.
I really need to see his movies aa soon as possible.
I haven't seen much this year with lead actor contenders.
Chalamet is playing Dylan so he'll get in biopic,late release,previous nominee,the new Leo.
Fiennes seems like the solid well respected pick who doesn't win.
Craig will be embraced by the actors but can't see him winning
Domingo I do think he'll be forgotten but he's well liked though i'm not a fan of his
Mescal if G2 is a bigger player i'd say he's in
Eisenberg I think is closer to a nod than people think,Culkins frontrunner status will help a lot
Stan is having a good year will they reward him for it
Brody seems the like the frontrunner,I think his film will win the big one
Plemons won Cannes,well liked actor
is there someone who is going to get those passion votes that matter in some weaker years which this is looking like,maybe Powell,Murphy,Jerome,Grant or someone else
Mr Ripley79 -- Searchlight is running Plemons as a Supporting Actor for KINDS OF KINDNESS.
Would be nice to see John David Washington gain some traction - and be nominated the same year as his father would be kinda cool :)
Cillian Murphy could sneak back in, and they may go for Eisenberg on coattails of Culkin.
I just pray something happens to knock Chalamet off the list as I’m not a fan of his at all.
There really isn’t a passion pick a la Demi or Pam Anderson this year that comes to mind - no wonder the Actress categories are way more fun lol :)
Claudio really,so no-one is running as lead.
Mr Ripley79 -- For the Globes, at least, they are campaigning and submitting Stone in Best Actress - Drama and Plemons in Supporting Actor.
So the Academy could nominate Plemons as lead anyway, though at this point I don't see him getting nominated in either category.
Tony L,
Chalamet will get the nomination, everyone knows he deserves it only watching "A Complete Unknown" 's trailer.
I suggest you make your prayers for better things.
Fabio - that’s the sad thing about the Oscars - people saying someone deserves a nomination from just a trailer, and not the performance.
But I know that’s how it is when it comes to Oscar’s - those I don’t like get in and the ones I root for do not.
But thanks - I’ll pray for something else
Crazy that Josh O'Connor has zero chances with two of the best male leads of the year.
Peggy Sue -- He's campaigning supporting CHALLENGERS - which is preposterous - LA CHIMERA was eligible last year, and nobody seems to have seen his critically acclaimed turn in AISHA. Well nobody talked about it when the film finally got an American release two years after its UK premiere.
I hate biopics and I’m bored by movies with priests. Looks like I’ll miss best actor race this year, what a loss
I've only seen Conclave out of these 5, but I like all 5 of these actors a lot so presuming the work is there (as it usually is) this looks like a great line-up. As much as I love Chalamet, I'll be annoyed if he wins for a music biopic (am so tired of those, generally). If it comes down to Fiennes vs. Brody, that's a heck of a race/year.
Chalamet will win easily and it will seem so obvious in retrospect, just as it was for Jaime Foxx, Reese Witherspoon, Marion Cottiard, Rami Malik, Renee Zellweger. Acting branch are such predictable suckers for musical biopics, especially when the actor sings.
^ But he's still very young ... If he did win Best Actor, he would overtake the record Adrien Brody has held for 20+ years as the youngest Best Actor winner of all-time. He would tie the age of 29, but he would still be younger than Adrien Brody was overall. WHICH would be an interesting storyline, given that Brody will be in the category this year...
Not saying it's impossible, but it isn't a given. However, it IS a music biopic and he's a previous nominee. You may be onto something.
Jordan DF - Rami didn’t sing, and Austin Butler didn’t win - and very sadly Taron wasn’t even nominated for his music biopic. So not 100% easy
Oh and Audra Day didn’t win and Naomi Ackles wasn’t nominated. So some have not won or even been nominated.
Chalamet remains to be seen, so I wouldnt call him safe yet. If the film lands sure, if not could be replaced by Daniel Criag. I think Mescal has that 5th spot, since Gladiator had a better reception and its likely to appear elsewhere, meanwhile Daniel would be a lone nomination.
It is insane to me that Netflix isn't pushing Glen Powell in Hit Man more. They don't have another contender and that 5th slot is wide open! No one likes Queer!!! (I'm excited to see it still, but all accounts... not the Academy's cup of tea). I think Jesse Eisenberg can sneak in there if Netflix doesn't push and Gladiator doesn't land with a splash. Happy for everyone else and Brody's second win!
Chalamet would be the youngest Best Actor winner ever - and unlike Adrien Brody or Richard Dreyfuss, he's a heartthrob. I don't see him winning this year; they'll make him wait like they did with Leo.
The race is between Fiennes and Brody. They'll probably want to find a place to reward both The Brutalist and Conclave as both are bound to be top-tier contenders (unlike A Complete Unknown) as well.
Why is no one talking about Jude Law in The Order ... or just talking about The Order at all? It's a pretty great movie (despite being a little violent in places) and Jude Law is actually pretty great in it. Nice supporting performances from Nicholas Hoult and Tye Sheridan.