Welcome to For Your Consideration, the Collider show that breaks down awards season with hosts Scott Mantz, Perri Nemiroff and Jeff Sneider. With Perri off gallivanting at New York Comic Con, Scott and Jeff were left to debate the hotly-contested Best Actor category on their own this week. Here's how things played out...
Just like with Best Director, there seems to be an emerging consensus that there are three locks this year. We saw the first trailer for Vice earlier this week, and Christian Bale's turn as Dick Cheney looks like a shoo-in for a nomination. The Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody doesn't screen until Saturday night, but according to Jeff's sources, Rami Malek's turn as Freddie Mercury will land the Mr. Robot actor his first nomination. And both Scott and Jeff believe that Bradley Cooper is going to earn a Best Actor nomination for A Star Is Born, even though Scott thinks that Lady Gaga's performance is more likely to be nominated, and Cooper has a better chance at a Best Director nom.
Beyond those three actors though, the field seems primed for some surprises. Jeff thinks that Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) and Hugh Jackman (The Front Runner) make the strongest case for the #4 and #5 slots, while Scott has Robert Redford (The Old Man & the Gun) and Steve Carell (Beautiful Boy) on his list. Jeff loved both The Old Man and the Gun and Beautiful Boy, but fears that Timothée Chalamet could overshadow Carell, who also stars in Vice as well Robert Zemeckis' Welcome to Marwen, so he may split the vote with one-too-many strong performances this year. As for Redford, Scottt thinks he could get a "career" nomination, as he's only been nominated for acting once before, but Jeff worries that Clint Eastwood may steal his thunder with The Mule, another film about an aging criminal.
As for Jackman's turn as embattled politician Gary Hart, Scott fears that The Front Runner just doesn't have enough support from voters to catapult Jackman into the race over actors like Ryan Gosling (First Man) and Lucas Hedges, who stars in a pair of awards contenders between Boy Erased and Ben Is Back. Jeff was shocked that Scott relegated Gosling's turn as Neil Armstrong to his list of honorable mentions, but in his defense, Mantz offers a thoughtful explanation as to how Gosling could find himself overlooked this year.
In the end, Scott and Jeff come to a compromise over their predictions, so tune in to see where they settled. To stay up to date on all things For Your Consideration, follow the gang on Twitter and Instagram at @MovieMantz, @PNemiroff and @TheInSneider. Stay tuned next week for more awards talk, and we'll FYC-ya later!
