Best Actor: Ranking Every Oscar Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Ugh. This was the worst category to rank. Seriously: the Best Actor nominees at this year’s Academy Awards could not be more neck and neck, in my opinion. Even the criteria I would normally adhere to (how dependent are these films on these performances? How transformative and believable are these actors? Are there any flaws that would knock points away?) didn’t really matter, and the order I have ranked these nominees is separated by fractions of molecules. I may feel like this list is out of order even tomorrow. The only certainty I have is who I feel delivered the best performance of the five (and even then, I wouldn’t say this actor blew everyone else out of the water). This may be one of the hardest categories I’ve ever ranked in the history of my Academy Awards coverage. Please don’t get too mad if you feel like I ranked your favourite low: this wasn’t easy. Here are your nominees.
Biggest Snub: Jeremy Pope-The Inspection
I don’t think I would remove any of the nominees from this list, but I will instead highlight someone that had some awards season coverage (and rightfully so). Jeremy Pope delivers a highly committed, raw performance that begs to be seen in The Inspection: one of the more overlooked, heart-wrenching films of last year. I wouldn’t change the nominees that we do have, but I figured Pope deserves all of the shoutouts he gets.
5. Austin Butler-Elvis
Please don’t kill me. I think Austin Butler is great as Elvis Presley, and so much of Elvis leans on his performance to go well; if someone delivered a worse job, the film may actually be insufferable to watch. Butler gives one of the most all-in performances of the year, and you can see all of the work put into every little inch of his role. The only semi reason why I have placed Butler last — outside of someone needing to be last — is that this is the only performance where I occasionally (ever-so-rarely) felt like Butler tried a teensy bit too hard in his performance, but it’s so seldom that it’s easy to move on from. There’s even a slim chance that Butler could win this award, and I don’t think that’s a problem. He certainly had the work ethic, and for the majority of Elvis, Butler shines as the film’s saving grace.
4. Paul Mescal-Aftersun
Firstly, I am thrilled that Paul Mescal got nominated (and that Aftersun wasn’t completely shut out of the Academy Awards, although I’m still annoyed by how little it was honoured). Mescal has the most natural performance of this category, because he plays an everyman that most of us feel like we have experienced in our lives (hell, he may even resemble our own fathers). So much of the performance is based on us trying to figure out what he has going on in his head as he hides his inner feelings from the entire world; when he eventually cracks, it’s a difficult moment to bear as he unleashes all of his harboured regrets and sadness. When you watch Aftersun twice, you can actually make out what Mescal is keeping held within through the ever-so-subtle hints on his face. He’s not too showy, but he does a great job that I’m glad got recognized.
3. Bill Nighy-Living
What I like the most about Bill Nighy’s performance in Living is how dialled back it is. Here is a bureaucrat learning that he is going to die of cancer, and not once does Nighy force his way into an Oscar-winning monologue or anything. He never yells. He never bawls. He just clings onto all of the sadness of this scenario and allows it to slowly seep out of his muted expressions. The only times he lets us into his actual emotional state is during a musical number or two, and his singing drills its way straight into my heart. So many other actors would have shoved their way to the forefront of Living to try and get further in the Oscar race. Bill Nighy just exists in the part, and it shows in one of the most touching performances of 2022.
2. Colin Farrel-The Banshees of Inisherin
Colin Farrel kind of does what the script calls for in The Banshees of Inisherin; he is punchy when needed, can make us cry on command, and his confusion represents us all. Where Farrel goes the extra mile is with his channelling of each cue in a way that feels like it could only be done by Farrel: as one character, and not as a series of different personalities. There’s a reason why Martin McDonagh works with Farrel time and time again with his genre bending works: because Farrel can roll with the punches and feel like a real person going through all of these different embodiments with complete balance. The parts he is meant to internalize (grief, anger, befuddlement) he does, while he saves his other traits (how darkly funny he is, or how he resembles the sadness of an overall moment) for the audience to soak in. This is a performance that is far more complicated than it may seem on the surface, so I’m happy that it is being cherished like it should.
1. Brendan Fraser-The Whale
It feels typical that I’m placing Brendan Fraser — the darling of this awards season experiencing his renaissance period — at the top of this list, but I can assure you that it isn’t for superficial reasons that he is up here. To me, Fraser possesses the same kind of inherent naturalism of someone like the late Robin Williams: the ability to make you laugh or cry on command because they aren’t acting but rather exposing some of their own inner spirits with us. Fraser has a few Oscar worthy moments that he absolutely nails with the gravity of the many years of neglect the poor actor has endured (again, this isn’t about his backstory, but how he connects with us during the more emotive moments of The Whale — as he channels everything within him — is just so direct). Otherwise, he just exists in The Whale and does whatever each scene calls for, so his handful of emotional outbursts really do land. So much of The Whale depends on Fraser, and he anchors the entire picture with one of the best performances of 2022: the kind delivered by an actor that only ever wanted to convey the truth via his art if the medium only gave him these opportunities sooner.
Who I want to win: I’m fine with anyone winning. To pick just one, I’ll go with Brendan Fraser for The Whale, only because trying to bring up anyone else again will have me trying to include all five nominees again. Fraser was ranked the highest, so I want him to win this.
Who I think will win: This is though. The race is between Austin Butler, Colin Farrel, and Brendan Fraser. I feel like Fraser has picked up a lot of steam because of his smaller circuit wins. Butler had a bit of a boost because of his Golden Globe win, but his popularity has waned a teensy bit (although all of the Elvis fans over at the Academy may focus their love for the film on a win for Butler). Farrel also has high odds, and I feel like his fate is based entirely on how the BAFTAs respond to these nominations. Should Farrel win, I think it’ll be a testament to him winning the Oscar. For now, given how the wins are currently looking, I will go with Fraser winning, since he seems to be getting the most love from fellow performers (and we still have the SAG awards to look forward to in this similar respect: this will also help us gauge where his peers’ heads are at).
Tune in tomorrow for our next Academy Award category! We’re reviewing every single nominee on every weekday.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.