Year in Advance Oscar Predictions: Best Supporting Actress 2015

We've now come to the end of my year in advance Oscar predictions. If you haven't already, be sure to check out my picks for Actor, Actress, and Supporting Actor and make sure to come back when the nominees are announced in January to see how well I did. Some years I just don't know...but I'm feeling good about my choices this year -continuing with the 5 actresses I've chosen for Best Supporting Actress. Last year I didn't guess a single one correctly (well, I did have Meryl, but in lead), let's hope this year fares better. There are two former Best Actress winners (including one that hasn't been recognized by the Academy since her win), a couple of Best Actress nominees, and one newbie making up the 5 women I've ultimately chosen. We've previously discussed 4 out of 5 of these films when predicting their co-stars in the lead categories, but surely these actresses' work will shine just as brightly as their scene partners.  

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Best Supporting Actress

Marion Cotillard Macbeth

Rooney Mara Carol

Ellen Page Freeheld

Alicia Vikander The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet Steve Jobs

Marion Cotillard Macbeth

The Role: "Out, damned spot!" Best Actress winner (and recent nominee) looks to return this year for her role as Shakespeare's manipulative, power-hungry wife Lady Macbeth opposite Michael Fassbender's Scottish king. 

Why She'll Be Nominated: There have actually only been 12 performances from Shakespeare's characters that have managed to score Oscar nominations in any of the 4 acting categories. The last time in this category was 50 years ago with double noms for Maggie Smith's Desdemona and Joyce Redman's Emilia in Olivier's film version of Othello (neither won). And the last acting nomination for a Shakespearen role was Kenneth Branagh 26 years ago for Henry V, so Cotillard definitely has her work cut out for her. But she also has some important key things on her side. Despite versions from Polanski and Welles, there has never been a definitive film version of the Scottish play (which as Shakespeare's shortest and bloodiest seems perfect for cinema), so her interpretation of the character could become the new standard. Having previously been played on stage by Judi Dench, Vivien Leigh, and Helen Mirren, Cotillard finds herself in good company and the character herself has always been an amazing showcase for actresses. And lastly, now that Cotillard, one of the best actresses working today, managed to finally secure a surprise second nomination with the Academy post win (after being passed over for work in Nine and Rust and Bone), it seems that she's in their good graces again. She very well could earn a third nom and a first for a performance in English - and Elizabethan English at that!  

Rooney Mara Carol

The Role: Mara plays Therese Belivet, a young, lonely girl that has moved to New York City to begin her life and longs to be a theater set designer. One day while working at a department store, Therese meets the elegant and older Carol (potential Best Actress nominee Cate Blanchett). The two women soon begin to see each other, forming a romantic relationship. 

  

Why She'll Be Nominated: Like Blanchett in the Lead category, I already predicted that Mara would receive a nomination for her work in this film last year and just like Blanchett, I'm predicting her again. Director Todd Haynes' past three projects have all garnered awards attention for the actresses involved (Winslet, Blanchett, and Moore) because he he's interested in telling women's stories and provides wonderful complex characters for the actresses involved. Mara hasn't really been in the conversation regarding the Oscars since her Best Actress nomination for 2011's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but the fact that she's already been nominated before should help nudge votes in her direction. I personally would've liked to have seen Mia Wasikowska, who had originally been cast in the role, but Mara has a melancholy quality that I enjoy and should do well in the part.   

Ellen Page Freeheld

The Role: In her first major role since publicly coming out as a lesbian last February, Page plays Stacie Andree, a car mechanic whose partner Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) is diagnosed with cancer. Despite their legal status as domestic partners, Andree would not be allowed Hester's pension after she passed away - a right that would not have been denied if Hester had been in a domestic partnership with a man. Based on a true story, the women fought to change this.

Why She'll Be Nominated: In what sounds like a very personal project for Page (who was previously nominated for Best Actress for 2007's Juno), the actress not only stars in the film but also works as a producer and has been involved in the development of this film for over 6 years. While marriage equality is still being fought in the US, Hester and Andree's story will resonant with those that have fought for the right. And despite the advances made in acceptance for same sex couples, during filming the filmmakers encountered some prejudice of their own when a school they had been set to shoot in denied them access because of the film's subject matter. Page seems passionate about the film and I'm sure that passion will come across in her performance. Hopefully the Academy will be paying attention as well.

Alicia Vikander The Danish Girl

The Role: Swedish actress Alicia Vikander plays artist Gerda Wegener in 1920s Copenhagen. She was married to fellow artist Einar (Best Actor winner Eddie Redmayne) and one day when her model didn't show up for a sitting asked Einar if he wouldn't mind taking the female model's place. After he poses several times in the feminine clothing, Einar finds that he wants to transition into becoming a woman, a decision that his wife supports. But she soon finds that once Einar becomes Lili that the relationship is not as it was.

Why She'll Be Nominated: While it seems that Redmayne may be set to receive the bulk of the praise for transforming himself in this film, it seems that just like in The Theory of Everything, that while the husband's story is the one that fascinates people, it is the wife's that is the emotional center. Gerda was a much more famous artist than her husband as well (known for her work in erotica, you can view it here) and her portrait of Lili brought them notoriety. Vikander, who was wonderful in Anna Karenina (2012) and Oscar-nominated Best Foreign Language Film A Royal Affair (2012), is set to have a huge 2015 with around 8(!) films to be released, everything from big-budget action films like Guy Ritchie's The Man from U.N.C.L.E, to a star-studded film about a chef starring Bradley Cooper, and Derek Cianfrance's The Light Between Oceans (co-starring Fassbender and Rachel Weisz). But it's her work in this film that should grab the Academy's attention and lead to a first nomination in what is hopefully a big year for the actress.  

Kate Winslet Steve Jobs

The Role: After being circled by Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, and Jessica Chastain, it is Winslet that will be playing the part of Joanna Hoffman in the film about the Apple creator. Hoffman was one of the original members of the Macintosh team and was the sole rep for the company's marketing team for the first year and half. She went on to be the head of International Marketing. She has been described as the only person that was able to stand up to Jobs and challenge him.

Why She'll Be Nominated: I love Kate Winslet and with six nominations and a Best Actress win for The Reader, the Academy used to as well. But following her win almost 7 years ago, she has not been nominated since and her film projects recently have not been of the same quality as her previous work. But with a lead role in the Aussie film The Dressmaker, a part in the ensemble that includes Oscar nominees Woody Harrelson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Casey Affleck in the crime drama Triple Nine, and her biggest box office success since Titanic with the Divergent films (the sequel opens in a couple weeks), here's hoping that 2015 is the start of a Winslet comeback. But if any of the projects are going to get her back in Oscar's good graces again, it seems most likely with this film. And I will personally be championing her Oscar return.  

Other Possibilities: Helena Bonham Carter Suffragettes, Kirsten Dunst Midnight Special, Jennifer Jason Leigh The Hateful Eight, Elizabeth Olsen I Saw the Light, Amy Ryan St. James Place

Year in Advance Oscar Oscar Predictions: Best Supporting Actor 2015

This time last year, J. K. Simmons came out of the gate strong when Whiplash debuted at Sundance and his inevitable march to victory went mostly unchallenged the entire year. (He was the only prediction I guessed correctly last year. But if you get one right, might as well be the winner!) One of the most talked about performances out of Sundance this year was Jason Segel's performance as Infinite Jest author David Foster Wallace in The End of the Tour, but I've ultimately left him off my predictions because of category confusion. The film focuses on Jesse Eisenberg as a magazine reporter working on a story about Wallace, so Segel's work could be seen as co-lead or supporting. I couldn't think who he could bump off from either list, so put him as a possibility outside of the five here. We'll have to see if is early buzz is enough to breakthrough. The five men I ultimately decided on are all from strong Best Picture contenders, with only two of the actors previous nominees. There's no frontrunner winner, like with Simmons. So for now, we'll just have to theorize how these actors could find themselves with Oscar nominations for their work this year.

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Best Supporting Actor

Tom Hardy The Revenant

Samuel L. Jackson The Hateful Eight

Liam Neeson Silence

Édgar Ramírez Joy

Seth Rogen Steve Jobs

Tom Hardy The Revenant

Hardy from "Lawless" Judging from the first pic from Leo in "The Revenant", Hardy will be much more bearded

The Role: Hardy plays John Fitzgerald a real-life frontiersman in the American West during the 1820s. While on a fur trading expedition with the film's protagonist Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), Glass was mauled and wounded by a bear. Believing him to be dead, Fitzgerald and his fellow travelers left Glass behind. Glass survived the attack and traveled more than 200 miles to seek revenge against Fitzgerald.

Why He'll Be Nominated: Coming off his recent big wins for Director and Picture for Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu's follow-up to that film, The Revenant, will certainly be one that the Academy will be watching out for. While I think Leo is a strong possibility in Best Actor, from what I hear, the best role in the film belongs to Hardy's character. I'm not sure how they'll play it - if Fitzgerald maliciously left Glass behind or generally felt remorse. But I'm really hoping that it's a fun villainous turn for Hardy to sink his teeth into. Hardy has always been one to watch and has done award-worthy work in Bronson and Locke, but hasn't really had a role yet that's interested the Academy. I think this project, with the talent involved, should be his ticket to the Dolby theater.

Samuel L. Jackson The Hateful Eight

The Role: Teaming up with writer/director Quentin Tarantino for their sixth film together, Jackson plays Major Marquis Warren aka The Bounty Hunter. Taking place just after the Civil War, Jackson's character was in the Union Calvary during the war and became known for burning Confederates during a prison escape. He along with other bounty hunters and ruffians (I don't know, there may be 8 of them) are trapped together in a stagecoach rest stop during a blizzard when murders begin happening among them... 

Why He'll Be Nominated: Jackson might be the actor with the highest grossing film total of all time, but he has only been nominated once for an Oscar - for 1994's Pulp Fiction, a role that Tarantino wrote specifically for the actor. Many thought that Jackson should have been nominated for his work in the last film he and Tarantino did together, Django Unchained. But co-star Christoph Waltz ended up with the supporting nom (even though he was clearly a lead) and ended up winning. This film has had a rocky start after the script was leaked online and Tarantino canceling production because of it. But after a live reading and some script adjustments, Tarantino changed his mind and the film was back on for a November 13th release date. With a cast that includes Kurt Russell, Channing Tatum, Bruce Dern, and Tim Roth, to name a few, it might be hard to stand out from the ensemble. But I'm counting on Tarantino regular Jackson, in another tailor-made role, to emerge as the film's MVP.

Liam Neeson Silence

The Role: Set in 17th century Japan, Neeson plays Father Ferreira, a Jesuit priest in a Japanese missionary that was a mentor to the film's main character, Father Rodrigues (played by Andrew Garfield). The young priest has come to Japan because of a rumor that Ferreira has renounced his faith, but encounters persecution of Christians in the country.

Why He'll Be Nominated: In the past couple of years, Neeson has redefined his career and experienced a surge in popularity with his work kicking ass in action films, like the Taken trilogy. Sometimes it can be hard to remember that Neeson is a great actor and even received an Oscar nomination for Schindler's List. Teaming up with Scorsese again (he also appeared in the director's Gangs of New York) might just be the vehicle he needs to remind us all of his skills as an actor. The part doesn't seem like it'll be that much screen time, but it was once set to star Daniel Day-Lewis - an actor that works so infrequently that certainly he wouldn't have considered it unless it was of significance. (Interestingly, Day-Lewis actually took over the part of President Lincoln once intended for Neeson. Both actors had to drop out of the respective films because they took too many years to develop.) Silence is filming now so hopefully it will be ready in time for this year and here's also hoping that Neeson's work will be worthy of being recognized by the Academy.

Édgar Ramírez Joy

Obviously not from the film, but for some reason the paparazzi aren't following him on set like J. Law...

The Role: The Golden Globe and Emmy nominee (for the miniseries Carlos), the Venezuelan actor plays Tony Miranne, a fellow classmate of Lawrence's Joy. The two eventually married and had three children, but Miranne later divorced her.

Why He'll Be Nominated: Ramírez might not be as famous as his fellow co-stars Lawrence, De Niro, and Bradley Cooper, but he's just as talented and hopefully this film will be able to take his career to the next level and grab Oscar's attention. It was hard to choose which of Joy's men would make my prediction (De Niro plays Joy's father, Cooper is a HSN executive), but the Academy loves when actresses play long suffering wives, so why not recognize the man behind the successful woman. I'm not sure of the timeline of their relationship in the film, but I'm guessing that Miranne probably leaves Joy when her success threatens his masculinity...Judging from the track record of the past couple David O. Russell films, it's a safe bet that one of three men in this film will be recognized in this category. And Ramírez was suggested for the part by De Niro himself (the two worked together on a boxing film set to also come out this year, Hands of Stone), so he already has one fan in the Academy. If the part is interesting and not as thankless and dull as poor Jeremy Renner's good guy among the crazies of American Hustle, Ramírez could be looking at his first nomination.

Seth Rogen Steve Jobs

The Role: In a departure for the comedic actor, Rogen plays Steve Wozniak, one of the co-founders of Apple, Inc. and the creator of the company's first computers, which he designed single-handedly.

Why He'll Be Nominated: Perhaps getting jealous that friend Jonah Hill was getting attention from the Academy with two performances honored with nominations, it seems that Rogen decided to temporarily leave behind the frat boy humor and take a part in a dramatic film with an Oscar-winning director. It seems like a safe assumption that of all the nominees I predicted in this category that Rogen is the most likely to end up with a nomination next January. It just feels right. Oscar likes to reward actors that step outside of their comfort zone and it seems that Rogen as Woz is enough of a stretch tonally to do that (but still I have a feeling he'll still be a source of humor for the film). 

Other Possibilities: Bradley Cooper Joy, Robert De Niro Joy, Jason Segel The End of the Tour, Ken Watanabe The Sea of Trees, Forest Whitaker Southpaw

Year in Advance Oscar Predictions: Best Actress 2015

For being my favorite category (the past two Best Actress winners, Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore, rank as some of my favorite actresses of all time), year after year, this is always my worst category in predicting. Unlike Best Actor, which is usually made up of big names in Best Picture contenders, Best Actress performance seem to be left out of the major categories far too often. Which makes trying to predict so far in advance more difficult for the lead actresses. Of the 5 contenders this past year, only one (Jones) was in a Best Picture nominated film and 3 out of the 5 (Cotillard, Moore, and Pike) were their film's sole nomination. And while it's great that the Academy is looking to diverse films to fill out this category, it does have a hint of prejudice about it - stories where women are at the center aren't seen as viable contenders for Screenplay, Picture, or Director. But like Blanchett said in her acceptance speech last year, movies with woman at the center are not a niche, people do want to see them. And as a self-identifying actressexual - boy, do I! The 5 women I've chosen as my year in advance predictions have all been nominated before and three of them have even won in this category, but they're all performances I'm eagerly anticipating. And even if they don't make Oscar's final five spots, with these women in the lead, they're sure to be fascinating.

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Best Actress

Cate Blanchett Carol

Jennifer Lawrence Joy

Julianne Moore Freeheld

Saoirse Ronan Brooklyn

Lily Tomlin Grandma

Cate Blanchett Carol

The Role: Blanchett plays the titular Carol. Set in 1950s New York City (but shot in Cincinnati, Ohio - go figure), Carol Aird is a wealthy Manhattan wife and mother trying to live the picture-perfect post-war life. She has had relationships in the past with women and she begins a romantic affair with a shopgirl (Rooney Mara). While divorcing her husband, Carol must decide if her relationship is worth losing custody of her young daughter...

Why She'll Be Nominated: Does all this sound familiar? Well, it should because I already predicted that Blanchett would be scoring her 7th career nomination for this performance...last year. I hesitated to include it last year because it hadn't started filming yet. Instead of trying to rush completion on it for the end of year 2014, the new plan seems to be to roll it out to film festivals this year before an eventual (awards season friendly) fall release. Cannes seems like the most likely debut for the film. With two wins already, Blanchett is definitely an Academy darling and the last time she worked with director Todd Haynes she scored a supporting nomination for playing a Bob Dylan-esque folk singer in I'm Not There. Blanchett has been compared to Meryl Streep often and it seems that if anyone can take on the Oscar Queen's title, it's her. She's already earning early raves for her villainous turn as Cinderella's stepmother in the Disney live-action film coming out in March. It seems very likely that the accolades will continue this year with this more Oscar-friendly performance.

Jennifer Lawrence Joy

The Role: The Best Actress winner teams up again with her Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle director David O. Russell starring as the real-life Joy Mangano, a Long Island single mother who hit it big with selling her inventions on QVC in the early '90s, particularly the Miracle Mop and the network's all-time best seller, Huggable Hangers.

Why She'll Be Nominated: Although I personally was not a fan of either of the films that Lawrence and Russell worked on previously, there's no denying that the Academy was crazy for them. Both films earned nominations for its stars in all four of the acting categories, including back to back nominations for Lawrence, making her the youngest actress to score three Oscar nominations. So it's safe to say that anything that pairs them together is definitely on the Academy's radar. At only 24, I'm not sure why Russell keeps casting Lawrence in these parts that she is clearly too young to play, but there's no denying her star power and goofy likability make her a favorite among critics and audiences. Thanks to the enormous success of The Hunger Games franchise, she's also a bonafide money maker. She's so popular that paparazzi are grabbing pictures of her every day on set for this film - a biopic about a woman and her mops. It seems pretty certain that she'll "mop the floor" with the other contenders to score a fourth nomination...(Are y'all prepared for more mop puns coming our way for the next awards season?)

Julianne Moore Freeheld

The Role: The newly crowned Best Actress winner (yay, Juli!) plays Laurel Hester, a New Jersey police officer. After being diagnosed with lung cancer, she takes on the Board of Chosen Freeholders in her town in New Jersey, fighting to have the right to leave her pension to her partner Stacie (Ellen Page). 

Why She'll Be Nominated: The true life story of Laurel and Stacie's struggle was already the subject of a 2007 documentary short film of the same name that won the Academy Award in that category. With the Oscar-winning material being brought to life with one of our finest actresses, it seems a reasonable assumption that Moore's portrayal is an Oscar contender. After 4 previous nominations without a win and no nominations since 2002 (despite work in The Kids Are All Right and A Single Man that seemed worthy of nominating), many had given up hope that Moore would ever be invited back by the Academy. That all changed on Sunday night when Moore won Best Actress for Still Alice. It seems that the win could actually help booster her profile with this film, reminding the Academy how long they had been overlooking her before and rewarding her with another nomination so soon after the win just to show that, yes, they neglected her too much in the past, but they wanna make it up to her. And her role in this film seems like it might be impossible to ignore.

Saoirse Ronan Brooklyn

The Role: Irish actress Ronan plays Eilis Lacey, a young Irish girl that leaves her home in Ireland to come to Brooklyn in the 1950s for a better chance at life. She falls in love with an Italian-American boy (Emory Cohen) even as another suitor back in her home country (Domhnall Gleeson) makes her decide where her heart lies.
   

Why She'll Be Nominated: The film, which already debuted at Sundance this past January, entered into a bidding war with the studios, eventually selling to Fox Searchlight for $9 million - the most for any film this year at the festival. The romantic melodrama earned wonderful reviews, almost all of which singled out Ronan's performance as the highlight of the film. A previous nominee in the supporting category for her work in Atonement (2007), Ronan also appeared in the recent Oscar winner The Grand Budapest Hotel, proving that even at her relatively young age, the Academy is well-versed in her work. Based on the novel by award-winning Irish author Colm Tóibín, adapted by Nick Hornby, and directed by Tony award nominated director John Crowley (his film work includes 2007's Boy A), the film might have flown under the radar if had not been for its reception in Sundance. But now that we are aware of Ronan's strong work in it, the Oscar buzz has an entire year to build. 

Lily Tomlin Grandma

The Role: Playing the grandma of the film's title, Tomlin is Elle Reid a feminist poet and lesbian that helps her granddaughter raise the funds necessary to have an abortion.

Why She'll Be Nominated: Lily Tomlin is just one award short of the elusive EGOT. For those of you not familiar (um, how did you get here then?!), it's winning all four of the major entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. The one award missing for her title? That would be the golden "O". Nominated only once before in Supporting Actress for her performance in Robert Altman's masterpiece Nashville, if she is nominated for her star turn in this character study, it will have been 40 years between nominations. Also shown at Sundance and judging from my friend Nathaniel at The Film Experience, it is certainly an Oscar-worthy performance from the legendary actress. And with her Netflix series alongside Jane Fonda also coming out this year, it could be a very good time to be a Lily Tomlin fan. I'd love to see her get nominated, especially if we get to see her reunited with Joy's David O. Russell at all the awards ceremonies. We all know how well the two of them get along... 

Other Possibilities: Angelina Jolie By the Sea, Carey Mulligan Suffragette, Zoe Saldana Nina, Meryl Streep Ricki and the Flash, Kate Winslet The Dressmaker 

Year in Advance Oscar Predictions: Best Actor 2015

This past Sunday, the Academy honored the best of 2014 (well, what they deemed the best anyway) and the performances of Eddie Redmayne, Julianne Moore, J.K. Simmons, and Patricia Arquette (all from Best Picture nominated films) were ultimately crowned the victors (all were first-time winners as well). While there were highs (Julianne Moore is an Oscar winner at last! Man, that performance of "Glory" from Selma sure stirred some emotions...And who knew I needed Lady Gaga signing a medley of songs from The Sound of Music in a faux British accent in my life?) there were also many lows (Hosting is a thankless job and sadly Neil Patrick Harris was not up to the task this year. Who invited Sean Penn to present Best Picture - was no one else available? And oh, creepy uncle John Trovalta, as screenwriter Graham Moore said in his acceptance speech, "Stay weird.") Now that we've closed the books on another year, it's time to...predict the acting nominees for next year! (duh)

It's an annual tradition I have here of selecting who I think - site unseen, months in advance - could potentially be nominated for the upcoming Oscars. It's all for fun (and who doesn't like to have some bragging rights?), so take it in, bookmark for when nominations are announced in January 2016, and see how well I did! The predictions begin with Best Actor and make sure to come back all this week for the other acting categories!

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Best Actor

Michael Fassbender Steve Jobs

Tom Hanks St. James Place

Tom Hiddleston I Saw the Light

Robert Redford Truth

Eddie Redmayne The Danish Girl

Michael Fassbender Steve Jobs

The Role: Thanks to the Sony email hacks from December, the drama of casting the titular lead role in this Danny Boyle helmed film about the founder and CEO of Apple Inc. turned into headline news. After Leonardo DiCaprio eventually passed on it, Christian Bale was approached but declined. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, showing how out of touch he is with modern cinema, was eager to cast Tom Cruise (really?) and initially scoffed at the man who finally landed the part saying, "I don't know who Michael Fassbender is and the rest of the world isn't going to care."

Why He'll Be Nominated: Sorry, Mr. Sorkin, but I have a very good feeling that the Academy will definitely care about one of the best actors working today taking on such a well-known figure. After he failed to score an Oscar nomination for his performance in Shame (2011), the Academy finally honored Fassbender with a supporting nomination in Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave (2013) and starring in such a high profile, prestige film like Steve Jobs is certainly more than enough to garner Oscar's attention again. It certainly helps that Fassbender is set to potentially have a banner year with no less than 5 other films set to open this year including one of Shakespeare's most famous characters, Macbeth, a part in one of legendary director Terrence Malick's films (well, if his part isn't completely cut), and a starring role in The Light Between Oceans, the next film from one of my favorite new director's Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines). But his best bet out of all of them for a nomination is certainly as Jobs. He's gotta fare better than Ashton Kutcher's take on the man at least...    

Tom Hanks St. James Place

The Role: Two-time Best Actor winner (and five-time nominee) Hanks takes on the role of real-life lawyer James Donovan, who in 1960 negotiated with the Soviet Union to release an American pilot that was shot down in their airspace. The U-2 Incident (named after the plane that was captured) was at the height of the Cold War between the two countries.

Why He'll Be Nominated: American treasure Hanks used to be a reliable Oscar favorite all through the '90s, but he hasn't received an acting nomination since 2000's Castaway. Despite what some saw as some of his strongest work to date in 2013's Captain Phillips (that scene where he breaks down after being rescued is probably his finest moment) and a guaranteed lock for his sixth nomination, Hanks found himself the odd man out in favor of Christian Bale in American Hustle. I think that snub will do well in securing him a nomination this year as a way of amending the oversight. Playing a character based on an actual person and teaming up for the fourth time with Academy favorite Steven Spielberg, (whose last film brought a Best Actor win for Daniel Day-Lewis) certainly seems like a good way of grabbing the Academy's attention. Plus, he'll also appear this year in the film version of Dave Eggers' A Hologram for the King, which is sure to be another great showcase for the actor. But I'm giving the edge to his work with Spielberg to garner him that sixth Best Actor nomination that eluded him two years ago.

Tom Hiddleston I Saw the Light

The Role: In this musical biopic, Tom Hiddleston plays one of the legends of country music, Hank Williams. Unable to read or notate music, Williams wrote such hit songs as "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and had 11 number one hits on the Billboard country charts. An alcoholic and addicted to prescription drugs, he died at the age of 29.

Why He'll Be Nominated: British born and classically trained British thespian Hiddleston doesn't immediately spring to mind as the first person to play a famous country singer (and at 34, he's already 5 years older than Williams was when he died), but the Academy loves when an actor is able to challenge themselves. Hiddleston, who will sing and play the guitar himself in the film, trained everyday for a month and even showed off his skills to audiences at a country music festival back in September. Hiddleston is part of the group of new British actors (made up of Cumberbatch and Fassbender) that have made a name for themselves as actors to watch over the past couple of years. His work as villain Loki in the Marvel films has proven he can bring considerable charm, skill, and gravitas to almost any project (and he'll do it again this fall in the genre, horror film from Guillermo del Toro, Crimson Peak). And while both of his fellow Brits have already been honored by the Academy with nominations, it seems that if Hiddleston is able to pull off his transformation as Williams, it'll be the right time to honor him as well.    

Robert Redford Truth

The Role: Hollywood legend Robert Redford tackles the role of news anchor Dan Rather in his final days at CBS news. Based on the book Truth and Duty by Rather's producer Mary Mapes (to be played in the film by Cate Blanchett), Rather found himself under fire during the reelection for George W. Bush when he reported that the President received special treatment to avoid serving in Vietnam.

Why He'll Be Nominated: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, All the President's Men, there's no doubt that Robert Redford has secured his cinematic legacy. And not content to just act, then he did it again as a director (winning Best Director for Ordinary People). But, surprisingly, Redford has only received one acting nomination from the Academy in his entire career (for 1973's The Sting). He came very close with his one man, almost wordless performance in 2013's All Is Lost, but like Hanks that same year, found himself without a nomination (it was a rough year for acting veterans). But like Hanks, that shut out should help him score points with his work this year. The Academy loves mimicry of well-known figures and this period in Rather's life is a juicy bit of storytelling. Paired with recent Best Actress winner Blanchett, it seems like something the Academy would be interested in rewarding. Political films can be hit or miss, but if the film is more Good Night and Good Luck or The Insider and less like Redford's own snoozer Lions for Lambs, it could surely score a second career acting nomination for the star.  

Eddie Redmayne The Danish Girl

The Role: The recent Best Actor winner (very recent, as in just two days ago) could find himself with back-to-back nominations (and perhaps even back-to-back wins) playing artist Einar Wegener, a transgender woman that became one of the first on record to have gender reassignment surgery.

Why He'll Be Nominated: Oscar tends to get crushes on certain actors for certain periods of time, nominating them for anything that appears worthy. And newly anointed victor Redmayne looks to be securing an afterglow nomination with his work for this film which pairs him up again with his Les Miz director Tom Hopper. His win on Sunday as Stephen Hawking shows that the Academy was impressed with his physical transformation as the physicist, but as Einar/Lili the actor will be challenged to transform himself again, physically and emotionally. The project was a passion of Nicole Kidman for over a decade, but she could never get it off the ground. Perhaps now is the right time, with shows like Transparent and actress Laverne Cox making discussions of trans people and their struggles for acceptance an important issue, to shine the light on this groundbreaking pioneer that made it possible for future individuals to live as they were intended. 

Other Possibilities: Don Cheadle Miles Ahead, Bryan Cranston Trumbo, Leonardo DiCaprio The Revenant, Jake Gyllenhaal Demolition, Michael Shannon Midnight Special