Following the announcement of the 97th Academy Awards nominees on Thursday, our attention now transfers from the main focus of who will be seen attending the ceremony, to who will be seen on stage at the ceremony.
And within the Best Actor category, the award is there to be taken.
The 5 names in contention for the Oscar, as read by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott on Thursday morning, are the following:
Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)
Timothee Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)
Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)
Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)
Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)
And although there are 5 names on this list, and all of which are worthy of some consideration for the Oscar, this category in particular does seem to be shaping up to look like a two-horse race.
The two stallions in conversation here are undoubtedly Adrien Brody for his heartbreaking performance as László Tóth in Brady Corbet's 'The Brutalist', and Timothée Chalamet with his convincing portrayal of Bob Dylan in the musical biopic 'A Complete Unknown'.
Despite the fact that these two performances couldn't possibly be more different from eachother, they are almost a coin toss away from separation when it comes to deciding who will be crowned the Best Actor at the Academy Awards on March 3rd.
Not only is the competitiveness of this race very enticing, but the story that it is shaping up to be is also quite headline worthy. Brody, the youngest Best Actor winner to date (The Pianist, 2003) is quite literally defending his own honour against Chalamet, who would take his place with a win here. The Bob Dylan impersonator is younger than what Brody was in 2003 by a matter of months (both aged 29).
A strong advantage that Brody holds over his competitor at the minute is the mere fact that despite both 'The Brutalist' and 'A Complete Unknown' being smothered in nominations, Brady Corbet's 3+ hour epic is a current favourite to win Best Picture.
In the past, Academy voters have famously leaned towards actors who's film is the most likely to win Best Picture, and although we must never say never, it seems unlikely that James Mangold's 'A Complete Unknown' will receive this title.
Although, Monica Barbaro's surprise appearance within the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance as Joan Baez, alongside Chalamet, is blatant evidence that the Academy voters who have a say in the acting categories were overly fond of the cast's ensemble. Edward Norton's mention in Best Supporting Actor is also evidence of this.
So it could very well be the case that we see Chalamet crowned the youngest Best Actor winner to date after all, regardless of the film's unlikely chances of winning Best Picture.
The Screen Actors Guild Awards are expected to play a pivotal role on the outcome of this category at the Oscars. Similarly to the Academy Awards, 'A Complete Unknown' massively over-performed for nominations at SAG, picking up four nominations. And given the fact that 'The Brutalist' seemed to underperform with the Guilds (picking up just one nomination and missing out on Best Ensemble), a Chalamet win here could swing the pendulum back in his favour.
Sebastian Stan's surprising last minute inclusion in this category is pleasant and definitely deserving. And although seeing an actor win an Oscar for portraying Donald Trump would certainly get people talking, it seems nearly impossible that the Academy would do something of this flavour.
And although Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) and Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) provide us with brilliant performances in their respective films, it very much seems as though their appraisal will only take shape through the form of a nomination.
Who do you think will take home the Best Actor award at the 97th Academy Awards?
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