Sasha Stone's Best Actor analysis over at Awards Daily— “On Heroes, Failed Heroes, Anti-Heroes,“ summarizes where we are at right now in terms of the pretenders and contenders:
“This year, at least right now, it looks like we’re putting a failed hero (A Star Is Born‘s Bradley Cooper) up against a straight-up hero (Green Book‘s Viggo Mortensen) and an anti-hero (Vice‘s Christian Bale).
“It’s a tough call. While it seems like Cooper has this walking in the door, one has to assess A Star is Born’s future overall. If it’s likely to win Best Picture, he’s not likely to win Best Actor. If it isn’t going to win Best Picture, he might win Best Actor. He could do what Laurence Olivier did, of course, and win both. It’s certainly possible.”
I can't help but agree with Stone: Cooper, Mortensen and Bale are the front-runners. Who else can we consider? As nominees, at least, Ryan Gosling, doing his usual emotionless robotic thing in "First Man," he'll probably be nominated; Rami Malek deserves a nod for 'Bohemian Rhapsody' but the film is being destroyed by critics; Ethan Hawke delivered some peak career work in "First Reformed; Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart in "The Front Runner" definitely gets my personal approval.
Here's how it looks on 10.29.18:
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
Christian Bale, Vice
Ryan Gosling, First Man
Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Hugh Jackman, The Front Runner
John David Washington, BlacKKKlansman
Matthew McConaughey, White Boy Rick
Lucas Hedges, Boy Erased
Lucas Hedges, Ben is Back
Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther
Daniel Kaluuya took a sabbatical from acting back in 2022. There have been many theories as to why, but the important thing is he’s finally back, starring in this fall’s Chris Rock-directed “Misty Green.”