Best Actor in a Leading Role: Ranking Every 96th Academy Award Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
This article is a part of the Academy Awards Project, where Andreas Babiolakis from Films Fatale ranks every Oscar nominee from worst to best, and goes through every category once a day five days a week.
We’re almost at the categories that honour entire films (documentary, animated, short, international, and, of course, Best Picture, which I pair up with Best Director at the end of this project). Before we get to these categories, we must wrap up the two groups that we haven’t touched upon yet, and they’re favourites to many: Best Actor and Best Actress. This year will be no exception, as both categories are immensely stacked with performances that could easily win in other years. I’m putting off Best Actress to tomorrow because that may very well be the toughest category to rank this year, but Best Actor is no picnic either. My last-place pick is quite possibly the best performance of this actor’s career. One of my all-time favourite performers is in fourth place. The Oscars Gods can be cruel sometimes. I’m looking at which performers shined the most in their respective films, took on more difficult characters, and even which people saved the films they’re in (one film would be bland without its booming central performance, which can be found below). So, let’s not beat around the bush anymore. Which actor was the best last year? Who will win the Oscar? Are both answers the same person?
Here are your nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role ranked from worst to best.
Biggest Snub: Andrew Scott-All of Us Strangers
I’m gutted that All of Us Strangers didn’t get a single nomination when it was easily one of the best films of last year (which says a lot, considering how strong 2023 was in quality). I’ve never been the biggest Andrew Scott fan, so this isn’t a choice of bias by any means. All I know is that Scott has never felt more humanistic and raw than in this film, where he broke my heart repeatedly. Without ever getting sappy or phoned in, Scott embodies emptiness, loneliness, and yearning in such an internalized way that feels instantly identifiable. This is a beautiful performance that could have easily found its way here, but I suppose it just wasn’t Scott’s year. I’d like to also shout out Kōji Yakusho in Perfect Days who may have been a surprise nominee had this Wim Wenders had more award season spread earlier on; this is another performance that will shatter your soul.
5. Bradley Cooper-Maestro
Ugh. To be last in a tough year. Bradley Cooper has perhaps never been better than he is here in Maestro, so his getting nominated does make sense (the Academy does love him, although not quite enough to ever actually award him, I suppose). His Leonard Bernstein accent is quite thick (albeit sometimes a little too thick, which may be my only rationale for placing Cooper last), and his mannerisms are usually quite reserved. This feels like a commanding, real soul for the most part. Not once do I personally feel like Cooper is impersonating the late music genius, even if those prosthetics do lean ever so slightly toward this territory. The biggest reason why I feel awful for placing Cooper last (when someone has to be, unfortunately) is the pivotal scene where Bernstein is conducting a choir and orchestra in the Ely Cathedral, and the film doesn’t cut away for quite some time. This is highly believable acting. Cooper allegedly put years into preparing for this sole sequence, and it shows. If we don’t get much backstory as to why Bernstein is a legend in Maestro, Cooper tells us all we need to know in these few breathtaking minutes.
4. Jeffrey Wright-American Fiction
Finally! Jeffrey Wright is an Academy Award nominee! About damn time. I’m not going to say that his work in American Fiction is bad (he’s never been miscast, as far as I’m concerned), but it’s interesting that this is his first nomination when he has been capable of even stronger work time and time again (despite it being a miniseries, my personal choice for Wright’s best performance is in Angels in America). In American Fiction, Wright isn’t quite the chameleon actor he usually is as he plays Dr. Thelonious “Monk” Ellison: an acclaimed author who has been ignored by the shifts of time and culture. Disgruntled by the problematic ways Black authors are marketed (and which kinds of literature are pushed), Monk writes an awful novel out of spite, only for it to take off; he does so under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh. Wright — who is usually one of the most transformative actors of all time — makes Monk struggle to be Stagg R. Leigh, and I always say that bad acting is some of the hardest acting to pull off on purpose (Wright’s a master). As Monk is dialled back yet resonant, Wright makes his alter ego a clear joke that only we are picking up on, and that’s incredibly difficult to pull off. While I feel like Wright has pulled off even crazier roles in his time, it’s nice to see him get recognized for American Fiction: a performance which, like his entire filmography, is more challenging than it seems.
3. Colman Domingo-Rustin
The only weak-enough film of these five nominees is Rustin, and it would take a really good actor to make the film even tolerable. Fortunately, Colman Domingo is a fantastic actor, so Rustin is quite watchable as a result. The film relies on Domingo as soon as possible, and you can tell how quickly it rushes the actor into the forefront of this historical drama. As gay and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, Domingo somehow has pulled off the acting tug-of-war between classically trained thespians and method acting artists with a performance that is equal parts transformative and dominant (in a stage play sort of way). I couldn’t take my eyes off of him this entire film, which may have been for the best (given how pedestrian the rest of Rustin felt): the entire soul and heart of the film comes from Domingo carrying the motion picture on his shoulders. His speech is so strong that his monologues will make you forget how much the rest of the film drags. His down-to-earth moments will bring tears to your eyes. Domingo is able to play both sides of the acting spectrum with pure ease. Domingo has been an underrated actor for years, but I think that will no longer be a problem once this nomination for Rustin sends him into the stratosphere.
2. Cillian Murphy-Oppenheimer
Yet another actor the Academy has slept on for years. Cillian Murphy also has his first Oscar nomination (finally) for his complicated, detailed, stellar work as J. Robert Oppenheimer in, well, Oppenheimer. I know this is a Christopher Nolan film, so it’s not like there would be many opportunities for a theatrical, cheesy performance that screams Oscar bait (Nolan’s films are usually much more calculated and cold), but Murphy never feels like he is going off track with his ideas or acting in this way nonetheless. Oppenheimer feels like a real person whose mind we have cracked into mainly because of Murphy’s dialled-back take on this infamous historical figure. The role also calls for neither a celebration nor a condemnation of Oppenheimer, but a difficult, textured look at a multifaceted situation and person. Murphy settles in the grey area and allows us to feel how we will about Oppenheimer’s decisions and legacy while giving enough life to his performance so that he doesn’t feel flat either. I know it took decades for Murphy to finally be recognized by the Oscars, but it may be for his greatest performance if that counts for anything.
1. Paul Giamatti-The Holdovers
The Academy has slept on all of these actors; they nominate Cooper again and again without ever awarding him, and they haven’t nominated Wright, Domingo, or Murphy at all until now. Such a curse is the same situation for one Paul Giamatti, who has only been nominated once before (for Cinderella Man, not even for Sideways). Like the other actors, the Academy couldn’t shun him this time as he shines as curmudgeons teacher Paul Hunham in The Holdovers. This cock-eyed crabapple is a brilliant character made real by an even better performance from Giamatti. Consider the swift delivery of complicated words and ideas with such effortless ease (ask yourself who else can pull off what Giamatti is doing just with this aspect alone). Then take note of how Giamatti is hilarious without ever feeling fake, annoying without going too far and becoming unlikeable, and saddening without ever begging for your pity. This is a highly difficult character that I’d argue many actors would fumble. Not Giamatti, who has never been better than he is here. He brings this misfit to life, and he won my heart within minutes. For months, I’ve been wanting Giamatti to do well for The Holdovers. I am thrilled that the Oscars universe is finally aligning for him in this way.
Who I Want To Win: Honestly? Any of the actors here. As I always say, I don’t like being a coward and saying I want everyone to win, since that’s not what you clearly want to read. If I had to pick, I’d like to think that opportunities will arise for all the other actors (they may not, since, again, the Academy usually ignores or toys with these performers, sadly), but the stars are aligning for Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers, so I’ll pick him as my favourite to win.
Who I Think Will Win: Right now, this is a two-man race. I think Paul Giamatti and The Holdovers has the edge right now, but that can easily change. The BAFTAs are around the corner, and they could do what they’re known for (sticking with UK related releases) and help Cillian Murphy and Oppenheimer take the lead. This could honestly go either way, but I think Oppenheimer will clean up so many awards elsewhere that this may wind up going to Paul Giamatti nonetheless. Again, this can easily change; this race is the tightest of the year, only second to Best Actress (more on that tomorrow).
The Academy Awards Project will continue tomorrow with another category. We’re going to rank every single nominee in every single category, Monday through Friday. You don’t want to miss it!
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson 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.