The nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role at this year's Academy Awards have just been announced from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles, with the expected favorites all bagging nods—and indications are we are set to see a first-time winner of the award as well. Five actors have been recognized for the first time for their performances in the past year, which should provide a nice shake-up to the Hollywood hierarchy.
Brendan Fraser's powerful and moving performance as a 600lb school teacher in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale has seen his career resurgence given its biggest endorsement yet with his first nomination, following his years in the wilderness after his own personal struggles and challenges. His biggest rival looks to be Colin Farrell, whose career-best turn in The Banshees of Inisherin as a simple Irish man who tries desperately to reconnect with his former best friend during the Irish Civil War is as deeply dramatic as it is blackly comic.
Joining Farrell and Fraser is Austin Butler, also grabbing his first nomination for the title role in Baz Luhrmann's bombastically-entertaining biopic Elvis. So caught up in the role, Butler has even struggled to shake off the voice and mannerisms of the King, years after wrapping the movie. Alongside Butler comes a long-overdue first-time nomination for the legendary Bill Nighy. The 73-year-old has received widespread critical acclaim for his deeply moving performance as a terminally-ill gentleman, who dedicated his life to simply living by the rules and doing what was expected of him, before embracing the true beauty of life in his final months. Paul Mescal grabs a stunning nomination for his beautiful performance as a young father in Aftersun to complete the line up.
Last year saw Will Smith take home the Oscar for his portrayal of tennis patriarch Richard Williams in King Richard - although his evening was remembered for other reasons. His fellow nominees were Javier Bardem, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield and Denzel Washington.
The 95th Oscars will air live on ABC on March 12. The telecast also will stream on ABC.com, Hulu Live TV and YouTubeTV. Jimmy Kimmel is returning as host.