AWARDS-OSCARS / PREVIEW 1 Three out of four Oscar acting categories locked, according to expert

Record ID: 176555

  • Title: AWARDS-OSCARS / PREVIEW 1 Three out of four Oscar acting categories locked, according to expert
  • Date: 18th February 2015
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) ACTOR JK SIMMONS WITH HIS SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD
  • Embargoed: 5th March 2015 12:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8TZOJUOGA4MWYIVTOO7VIUY73
  • Story Text: Ahead of the 87th Annual Academy Awards, it seems that three out of four of the acting categories are locked up, leaving the best actor race as the only one with a likely surprise.
    According to Matthew Belloni, the executive editor of The Hollywood Reporter, the race for best actress, best supporting actress, and best supporting actor are likely already set.
    "I think the three that are locked are best actress - which, Julianne Moore has run the table, she has won the Golden Globe, and the SAG award, and all the indicators are that she's going to beat out Reese Witherspoon and she's going to beat out Felicity Jones in that category," says Belloni.
    Julianne Moore, 54, is this year's Oscar front-runner for best actress, having picked up all the major awards for her role as a college professor suffering from early Alzheimer's disease in "Still Alice." A well-respected thespian since her debut in the late 1980s, This is Moore's fifth Oscar nomination, with previous lead actress nods for "Far From Heaven" (2002), and "The End of the Affair" (1999), and supporting roles in "Boogie Nights" (1997) and "The Hours" (2002).
    "I think best supporting actor is a lock for JK Simmons; there are a few people who had said maybe Robert Duvall could get some of the career/lifetime achievement votes, but I think JK Simmons is going to win this for 'Whiplash,' adds Belloni, speaking of JK Simmons, 60, this year's front-runner for the Oscar for his role as a manipulative and abusive teacher at an elite music conservatory in "Whiplash," opposite Miles Teller. Simmons has been acting in film and television regularly since the mid 1990s, with audiences recognizing him in roles in tv series "Oz," recurring appearances in "Law and Order" and the "Spider-Man" films. He has earned unequivocal praise for his work in "Whiplash," as well as every major acting award this season, including the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award, a general indicator of who will win the Oscar.
    "Then in the supporting actress, I think Patricia Arquette is really the standout here for 'Boyhood,' she's won the prognosticator awards, and I think the sentiment behind her is she's a career actress, it's a twelve year role, she's going to win that," said Belloni, of Patricia Arquette, 46, the front-runner in the best supporting actress category. Arquette has taken all the top supporting actress prizes, including the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for her role in "Boyhood," Richard Linklater's innovative film that was made over a period of twelve years to capture the trials, tribulations, and aging of an American family. Arquette comes from a notable acting family, and has been acting regularly since the 1980s, with notable roles in film in "True Romance" (1993), "Ed Wood" (1994), "Flirting With Disaster" (1996), "Beyond Rangoon" (1995), "Stigmata" (1999), and "Medium," a popular television series that won her an Emmy in 2005. This is Arquette's first Oscar nomination.
    With these categories already locked, any kind of surprise in the acting race will have to come from the best actor competition.
    "The one that's really wide open right now is best actor. For a while, it was a one-man race, it was Eddie Redmayne, from 'Theory of Everything,' he does a Stephen Hawking, it's a very challenging role playing him in multiple times in his life, he does a person with disability, which usually gives you a leg up in these Oscar races, but then all of a sudden, Michael Keaton started to come on, and 'Birdman,' really has a lot of fans in the Academy, and he's an actor who has been around a long time, he's got a lot of fans, and this is really a comeback role for him, a lot of times the Oscars will honor those types of roles," says Belloni, of the neck-and-neck competition between Eddie Redmayne and Michael Keaton.
    Eddie Redmayne, 33, earns his first Oscar nomination for his role of physicist Stephen Hawking in biopic "The Theory of Everything." The physically demanding role, in which Redmayne portrays Hawking in several stages of ALS, a motor neuron disease that left him mostly paralyzed, has earned Redmayne praise and prizes, including the SAG award, making him the current front-runner for best actor. He is a relative newcomer to the film world, first gaining global attention with his roles in "My Week With Marilyn" (2011), and "Les Miserables" (2012).
    Michael Keaton, 63, has made a career comeback with his role in "Birdman," in which he plays Riggan Thomson, a fading Hollywood action star who has planned a reinvention through a rocky Broadway production. Like the character he plays in "Birdman," Keaton is best known for his starring roles in an action hero franchise, in this case, the first two "Batman" films, directed by Tim Burton. He also starred in Burton's megahit "Bettlejuice," and 90s films like "My Life," "Multiplicity," and "Jack Frost."
    But there is one dark horse that could spoil the race for best actor.
    "Out of the blue, you've got Bradley Cooper, who has to be considered a dark horse here because of how successful 'American Sniper' has been, that movie is going to have probably have made 300 million dollars by the time the Oscars come around, and in Hollywood, you can get points for being successful financially," says Belloni.
    Bradley Cooper, 40, earned his third acting nomination in three years for "American Sniper," in which he stars as Navy Seal Chris Kyle, who is said to be the most lethal sniper in United States military history. He was previously nominated for best actor for "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012) and best supporting actor for "American Hustle" (2013). He is also nominated in the best picture category, as a producer of "American Sniper," and has starred in the popular "Hangover" film series.
    However, if you had to bet the house, Belloni thinks Redmayne is the safest bet.
    "I think that it's really a three-man race, I'd probably still bet on Eddie Redmayne, but I think Michael Keaton has a strong shot, and Bradley Cooper is the dark horse," says Belloni.
    Find out who will take home the Oscar for in all four acting categories on Sunday, February 22, when the 87th Annual Academy Awards will be handed out in a live telecast ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
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