Only films I have seen will be deemed frontrunners.
Of Jon Bernthal’s three supporting roles this year, including “The Unforgivable” (Netflix), “The Sopranos” origin story “The Many Saints of Newark” (Warner Bros.), and tennis saga “King Richard,” the latter is the most likely to land him a slot for his juicy role as Rick Macci, the hard-driving coach of Venus and Serena Williams.Ĭontenders are listed in alphabetical order. Chu’s adaptation of Miranda’s “In the Heights” (Warner Bros.). plays a witless soldier wooing the sophisticated Roxanne with help from the brilliant “Cyrano” (Peter Dinklage), the theater-to-film musical (MGM-UA) from Joe Wright.Īnd with several possible entries, Oscar-winning producer-writer Ben Affleck (“Argo,” “Good Will Hunting”) seeks his first acting nod as the charming bartender uncle of Tye Sheridan in George Clooney’s heart-tugger “The Tender Bar” (Amazon), as well a powerful royal with a lusty appetite for women in Ridley Scott’s medieval action-drama “The Last Duel” (Disney).Ĭorey Hawkins breaks out in two movies, as Macduff in Joel Coen’s new Shakespeare take “The Tragedy of Macbeth” (A24/AppleTV+) and in Jon M. The possibilities don’t stop there: Belfast-born veteran stage star Ciaran Hinds plays opposite Dame Judi Dench as the doting grandparents to young Buddy (Jude Hill) while Jamie Dornan is his father in Kenneth Branagh’s festival hit, ’60s remembrance “Belfast” (Focus) deaf theater and film actor Troy Kotsur is hilarious opposite Oscar-winner Marlee Maitlin as the parents of a budding singer (Emilia Jones) in Sundance prize-winner “CODA” (Apple TV+) Jason Isaacs and Reed Birney, along with their co-stars Ann Dowd and Martha Plimpton, are vying in the supporting category for actors’ showcase “Mass” (Bleecker Street) and Kelvin Harrison, Jr. Looking for a win after multiple acting nominations: long overdue Bradley Cooper plays a supporting role as a producer in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ’70s high school comedy “Licorice Pizza” actor’s actor Richard Jenkins stars in both con-artist drama “Nightmare Alley” (Searchlight) and the stage-to-screen family drama “The Humans” (A24) and Willem Dafoe stars in both Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” and Paul Schrader’s “The Card Counter.”
Elsewhere, seeking his second nomination is Andrew Garfield (“Hacksaw Ridge”) as a scheming televangelist in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Searchlight).
Vying for their second acting Oscars: Jared Leto (“The Dallas Buyers Club”) gets back into the makeup chair as a fashionmonger in “House of Gucci” (MGM/UA) and Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland”) dominates Aretha Franklin (Jennifer Hudson) as her powerful womanizing father in biopic “Respect” (MGM/UA). The possibilities are many in this race, as the fall film festivals narrowed a long list of possible Supporting Actor contenders, while several Oscar perennials are looking for yet another nod.