The 2013 awards race is in full swing, and what better way to spend the Thanksgiving holiday then to take a closer look at how the categories are shaping up thus far? Over the next few days weâre providing a bit of an overview of what the state of the race looks like at this point in time. Yesterday we ran down the contenders for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, and today weâll be taking a look at the fiercely competitive categories for Best Actor and Best Actress. Hit the jump to read on.If you missed our introductory piece that ran down the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories, click here.As a reminder, Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty, and Django Unchained have yet to screen for critics, so at this time Iâve automatically disqualified them from the âFrontrunnersâ category. Obviously weâll see some major contenders emerge from each film, but for the purpose of this preview Iâve simply placed them in the âLikely to Be Nominatedâ or âOther Contendersâ categories.
Best Actor
Frontrunners:
Likely to Be Nominated:Â
- Bradley Cooper â Silver Linings Playbook
- Denzel Washington â Flight
Other Contenders:Â
- Hugh Jackman â Les Miserables
- Anthony Hopkins â Hitchcock
- Christoph Waltz â Django Unchained
- Jamie Foxx â Django Unchained
For your consideration:Â
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt â LooperÂ
This yearâs Best Actor race is one of the most exciting in recent memory, as we have a bounty of incredible performances to mull over as 2012 comes to a close. Daniel Day-Lewis is automatically in the Oscar conversation whenever he decides to grace us mortals with his onscreen presence, but his restrained and introspective work as President Abraham Lincoln is nothing short of brilliant. Day-Lewis was given the impossible task of bringing a near-mythic legendary American figure to life, but he accomplished it with flying colors. You genuinely feel the immense pressure put on Lincolnâs shoulders as heâs faced with some difficult decisions at the close of the Civil War, but Day-Lewisâ layered performance also brings Lincoln to life as a human being. Given his incredible work and the filmâs status as a Best Picture frontrunner, Day-Lewis looks like the one to beat at the moment.
Hot on Day-Lewisâ heels is Joaquin Phoenix for his firecracker performance in The Master. True to the filmâs title, Phoenix brings an almost animal quality to the character of Freddie Quell as weâre reminded that the Iâm Still Here star is one of the most talented actors working today. The filmâs polarizing reception and Phoenixâs negative comments about the awards race in general donât exactly help his case, but the actor is nearly a lock for a nomination regardless.
Believe it or not, the Best Actor conversation actually began way back in January when John Hawkes blew audiences away at the Sundance Film Festival with his portrayal as a man with polio seeking out a sex surrogate in The Sessions. Hawkes has been doing fantastic work as a character actor for years, and he was finally recognized by the Academy in 2010 with a pleasantly surprising nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Winterâs Bone. Heâs got some fierce competition this year in the Best Actor race, but his stellar work in one of this yearâs smaller Oscar contenders is not likely to go unnoticed.
Sitting just outside the top three are a couple of other actors who could find themselves among the nominees in January: Bradley Cooper and Denzel Washington. Cooper has had one of the more graceful rises to Oscar status in recent memory, as he went from âthat guy whoâs really good at playing a doucheâ in Wedding Crashers to respected dramatic actor in just under a decade. His performance as a man struggling with bipolar disorder in Silver Linings Playbook is the best of his career, and the fact that that film is considered the âcrowdpleasingâ candidate for Best Picture certainly plays into his favor. Given the Best Actor categoryâs crowded nature this year Cooper is unlikely to pull off the win, but I suspect this wonât be the last time we see him in the Oscar conversation.
Also joining in on the Best Actor fun is two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington for his role as an alcoholic pilot in Robert Zemeckisâ Flight. The film is more Cast Away than Forrest Gump in terms of awards reception, but the compelling story is one of addiction and Washington does some fine work here in the fairly unlikeable leading role. Iâm not convinced the performance has the goods to pull off a win, but Washington is certainly deserving of a nomination.
Should any one of the five aforementioned candidates not make the cut, there are plenty of actors waiting in the wings. Hugh Jackman is probably the most likely to slip in for his performance in Les Miserables, but itâs tough to call him a lock without having first seen the film. The Broadway veteran definitely has the pipes to pull off the song-heavy leading role of Jean Valjean, and I suspect heâll turn in a great performance that will make him a major part of the already stacked Best Actor conversation.
Anthony Hopkins is also worthy of consideration for his fine work as legendary director Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock, though the filmâs tepid critical reception may turn off voters. Hitch isnât exactly portrayed in the most flattering of ways, and the lack of evidence to back up the filmâs story could have many overlooking Hopkinsâ impressive transformation. Thereâs also Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained, but again the film has yet to screen so itâs tough to predict how much of a contender either will be. Foxx and Waltz are both previous Oscar winners so that certainly makes them at least a minor part of the conversation, but theyâll really have to wow audiences in order to make the cut in this yearâs incredibly tough category.
Though Iâm convinced that nobody will give a better performance than Day-Lewis this year, I genuinely believe the prolific Joseph Gordon-Levitt deserves some recognition for his fantastic work in Rian Johnsonâs sci-fi drama Looper. Many brushed Gordon-Levittâs performance off as simply a great impression of Bruce Willis, but the guy layered that complex character with enough nuance and emotion to really make you root for whatâs essentially not a very good guy. On top of crafting an engaging and dramatic character arc, Gordon-Levitt also had to make audiences believe that he and Willisâ characters were the same person. Itâs a wildly impressive performance that I feel has been sorely underrated.
Best ActressÂ
Frontrunners:
Likely to Be Nominated:
- Quvenzhane Wallis âBeasts of the Southern Wild
- Marion Cotillard â Rust and Bone
- Jessica Chastain â Zero Dark Thirty
- Helen Mirren â Hitchcock
Other Contenders:
- Naomi Watts â The Impossible
- Emmanuelle Riva â Amour
- Keira Knightley â Anna Karenina
For Your Consideration:
- Emily Blunt â Looper
The Best Actress race has a very clear frontrunner at the moment, but I have a feeling we might see a big shakeup come mid-December. Jennifer Lawrence gives a wonderful performance as a grieving widow/sex addict in Silver Linings Playbook, acting as a great foil to Bradley Cooperâs character. The 22-year-old actress was nominated in this category just two years ago for her breakthrough role in Winterâs Bone, but sheâs all but guaranteed a spot among the nominations this year for Silver Linings. The character is sort of the antithesis to the mythic âManic Pixie Dream Girl,â and Lawrence brings an emotionally grounded quality to a role that could easily have veered into cliché.
Not to be outdone in the young actress department, Quvenzhane Wallis was just 5 years old when she landed the lead role in the emotional roller coaster that is Beasts of the Southern Wild. Wallis is a force to be reckoned with as a young girl named Hushpuppy who is navigating life as her fatherâs guardian when a relentless storm approaches her Louisiana bayou community, just as her father falls ill. Itâs a powerful performance as Wallis commands much of the filmâs screen time, and it has the goods for not only a nomination but possibly even a win depending on how the rest of the category shakes out.
Marion Cotillard won the Best Actress trophy in 2007 and sheâs back in the conversation this year for her work the French-Belgian film Rust and Bone. Sheâs already racked up numerous awards for her performance as a killer whale trainer, but she faces much more stiff competition this year than she did for her previous win. Sheâs definitely one to watch, but I wouldnât hold my breath for Cotillard to come away the victor.
Though the three aforementioned actresses have been drawing considerable praise for their performances, many are predicting that the categoryâs frontrunner has yet to emerge. We only recently became aware that Jessica Chastain plays the lead in Kathryn Bigelowâs drama about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty, but a couple of quiet screenings ahead of the big critics screenings this weekend already have people talking. Chastain plays a real-life CIA analyst who spearheaded the decade-long manhunt for bin Laden and whose obsession with the case eventually lead to the terroristâs assassination. Chastain broke out in a big way last year landing herself a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in The Help, so we certainly know sheâs capable of big things. As public screenings for the film begin, donât be surprised if you see her name begin to move to the head of the pack.
Helen Mirren could also find herself once again on the list of Best Actress nominees for her role as Alfred Hitchcockâs wife, Alma Reville, in Hitchcock. Mirren arguably gives the standout performance in the film, with many noting that the story would have been better focused on Reville rather than Hitch. Sheâs undeniably great in the role, but again the lack of enthusiasm for the movie itself is unlikely to carry her to a win in this yearâs competitive category.
Also part of the conversation is Naomi Watts for The Impossible. The real-life drama that focuses on a family broken apart following the 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia is a bona fide tearjerker, and many have singled out Wattsâ performance as the familyâs matriarch for Oscar consideration. Weâll have a better idea of her chances once the film opens wide, but itâd be unwise to count her out.
One of the most emotionally draining films of the year is Michael Hanekeâs Palm dâOr winner Amour, and Emmanuelle Rivaâs performance as a retired music teacher who suffers a stroke that paralyzes half of her body has earned raves. The Austrian film may be a bit too heavy for voters in the other categories, but it looks like Rivaâs work has the best shot at landing a nomination. Keira Knightley is also worth mentioning for her work in director Joe Wrightâs mesmerizing adaptation of Anna Karenina, but her chances of netting a nomination will likely hinge on the filmâs reception once it hits wide release as early reviews have been mixed.
I know itâs a bit of a cop out for both of my For Your Consideration picks in the acting categories to come from the same film, but I canât help myself; Emily Blunt was simply spectacular in Looper. A large part of why the farm portion of Rian Johnsonâs film works hinges on Bluntâs performance as Sara Rollins, and the actress absolutely nails it. Forget the spot-on Missouri accent, Bluntâs performance as a conflicted mother is wonderfully nuanced with equal parts strength and fear, and itâs her work as Sara that makes the filmâs climax so emotionally riveting.
That's it for the acting categories. Â Sound off below with your thoughts on the tight Best Actor and Best Actress races, and I'd love to hear your own "For Your Consideration" picks as well.
Check back tomorrow when we'll take a look at the contenders in the Best Animated Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Screenplay categories, and I'll run down some quick picks for the technical categories.
Click here if you missed my predictions for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress