Not to blow my own trumpet, but Andrew Garfield has been in my Best Actor predictions since August. In my October piece, I suggested keeping an eye on his upcoming performance in tick, tick… BOOM!. Now that the film has debuted and Garfield’s performance has received unanimous praise, he cements his place in this race and seems certain to earn his second Oscar nomination.
Regardless, Will Smith still remains out in front for his performance in the well-received crowd-pleaser King Richard. While Smith has made headlines for a bad case of oversharing lately (a Change.org petition entitled “Stop interviewing Will and Jada Smith” currently has more than 20,000 signatures), he should hopefully be able to rein it in and campaign effectively over the next few months.
That being said, Benedict Cumberbatch is waiting in the wings to steal this race away from Smith at any moment. You get the feeling Cumberbatch will be the critics darling during the precursor season and likely score more wins than anyone else before the televised awards begin. That often means absolutely nothing to the Oscar race, but Cumberbatch is so universally adored that many will be lining up to hand him an Oscar.
Now that Don’t Look Up has premiered and Leonardo DiCaprio has received hugely positive reviews for his anxiety-riddled performance, he sneaks into my top five this month. We know the Academy adores DiCaprio to the tune of seven nominations and one win. His recent nod in 2019 for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood proved the love was still there, so an eighth nomination is looking likely.
BEST ACTOR PREDICTIONS:
1. Will Smith – King Richard (Warner Bros.)
2. Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
3. Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth (A24/Apple TV+)
4. Andrew Garfield – tick, tick… BOOM! (Netflix)
5. Leonardo DiCaprio – Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
IN CONTENTION
Javier Bardem – Being the Ricardos (Amazon Studios)
Nicolas Cage – Pig (Neon)
Clifton Collins Jr. – Jockey (Sony Pictures Classics)
Bradley Cooper – Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
Peter Dinklage – Cyrano (Netflix)
Adam Driver – House of Gucci (MGM)
Jude Hill – Belfast (Focus Features)
Cooper Hoffman – Licorice Pizza (MGM)
Joaquin Phoenix – C’mon C’mon (A24)
Simon Rex – Red Rocket (A24)