In Character: Oscar Nominees Edition

For a nice change of pace to my weekly In Character column, I thought it’d be fun to look at the careers of this year’s Oscar nominees, so here are my thoughts on the career-best performances given by all the acting nominees. Enjoy!

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Notable Roles: American Psycho, Batman Begins, The New World, The Machinist, The Fighter

Best Role: Damn tough call, but I’ve always thought his fearless and humble work in Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn was Bale’s finest achievement yet.

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Notable Roles: The Cowboys, Black Sunday, Coming Home, Big Love

Best Role: That would be the one he’s currently nominated for. Never has Dern achieved greatness to the heights of Nebraska. (Click here for my full Dern In Character post.)

Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Notable Roles: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Basketball Diaries, The Departed, Django Unchained

Best Role: His Frank Wheeler in Revolutionary Road is something that continues to haunt me. (More about that here.)

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Notable Roles: Dirty Pretty Things, Kinky Boots, Children of Men, Talk to Me, Redbelt

Best Role: Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave, no question. Give the man an Oscar. (Click here for my full Ejiofor In Character post.)

Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Notable Roles: Dazed and Confused, The Paperboy, Magic Mike, Killer Joe, Mud
Best Role: McConaughey has been killing it these past few years, making this decision a difficult one. Upon rewatching Dallas Buyers Club, I feel safe calling it his finest work to date. Is it my favorite? Nah, that’ll always be Dazed, but Dallas is a damn fine performance all the same.

BEST ACTRESS
Amy Adams – American Hustle

Notable Roles: Catch Me If You Can, Junebug, Enchanted, Doubt, The Master, Her

Best Role: She’s so good in everything. Always. But The Fighter takes it for me. Her complex, spiteful, loyal Charlene felt so real.

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Notable Roles: Elizabeth, Veronica Guerin, The Aviator, Babel, I’m Not There.

Best Role: The best Cate Blanchett performance… God, where to begin? Everything the woman does is perfection, but I’ll throw out Notes on a Scandal. Her desperation was so captivating.

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Notable Roles: Speed, The Net, Miss Congeniality, 28 Days, Murder by Numbers, Crash

Best Role: Gravity. Easy. No contest.

Judi Dench – Philomena

Notable Roles: Mrs. Brown, Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat, Iris, Skyfall

Best Role: Speaking of Notes on a Scandal… I’ve never been more impressed with Dench than in that film. So creepily obsessive.

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Notable Roles: The Deer Hunter, Sophie’s Choice, Out of Africa, Adaptation, Doubt

Best Role: Christ, these actresses are making this section tough. The best Meryl Streep performance? I’ll go with her haunting turn as a depressive mother in Kramer vs. Kramer. She just kills me in that film.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Notable Roles: None

Best Role: Abdi’s work in Captain Phillips was one of the year’s best surprises. I’m so happy his performance has made it this far.

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Notable Roles: Wedding Crashers, The Hangover, The Words, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Role: I thought Cooper’s truly great performance of 2013 (and, I suppose, of his entire career) was as a conflicted cop in The Place Beyond the Pines.

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Notable Roles: Hunger, Eden Lake, Fish Tank, Haywire, Prometheus, The Counselor

Best Role: Shame. A tortured and fearless performance that is as good as acting gets.

Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street

Notable Roles: Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Moneyball, This Is the End

Best Role: The Wolf of Wall Street, easy. It’s where Hill transformed from a comedic schlub to an acting powerhouse. 

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Notable Roles: My So-Called Life, Prefontaine, Fight Club, Requiem for a Dream, American Psycho, Panic Room

Best Role: Dallas Buyers Club. I don’t think Leto deserves to beat Fassbender this year, but I can’t argue with the acclaim.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Notable Roles: X-Men: First Class, The Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Role: Yeah, I still think Lawrence’s work in Winter’s Bone is the best performance she’s delivered. By a long shot.

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Notable Roles: All or Nothing, Vera Drake, Cassandra’s Dream, An Education

Best Role: As the impossibly optimistic Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky. Oh how I loved her so.

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Notable Roles: None.

Best Role: Like Barkhad Abdi, Nyong’o came out of nowhere and completely floored me. You could just feel the pain of her Patsey.

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

Notable Roles: Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovich, Ocean’s 11

Best Role: The central argument she has with Clive Owen in Closer is the best scene either of them have done.

June Squibb – Nebraska

Notable Roles: Meet Joe Black, About Schmidt, The Young and the Restless

Best Role: Her Kate Grant was my favorite part of Nebraska. Such a feisty old bat.