Welcome to Beyond The Trailer’s coverage of the 2015 Academy Awards, giving you an
in-depth look at the top categories - and Best Actor is chock full of audience favorites.
Talk about a Sophie’s Choice!
I’m sure The Academy is having a hard time choosing a winner, and I bet you will too
in Beyond The Trailer’s annual Oscar poll.
Whomever you decide to vote for, you can do so via the link in the video description.
Now let’s take that closer look at these nominees...
Many comedians, once they make it big, want to prove they have a serious side too.
Don’t forget the famous image of the sad clown - sometimes those who make us laugh
the hardest feel the most pain.
With Steve Carell, perhaps still most famous for heading up the American version of The
Office, for awhile there he seemed to be following in the footsteps of Jim Carrey: respected
for his dramatic work, but not recognized by The Academy.
But at least Carrey won TWO Golden Globes, for Man on the Moon and The Truman Show.
Carell has a Golden Globe as well for his work on The Office, but despite being nominated
for an Emmy SIX times, Carell never actually won one for his role as Michael Scott.
But I bet even just this Oscar NOMINATION makes up for that!
This puts Carell in Robin Williams territory, as the comedian was nominated three times
before winning for Good Will Hunting in 1998.
Carell almost certainly won’t win here, yet with this nomination and all his Despicable
Me money, he certainly finds his career at an interesting fork in the road.
What kind of movies will he focus on going forward?
And boy, it’s tough to decide which Daily Show alum has gone the furthest, huh?
Tom Hardy has never been nominated for an Oscar.
Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch, just one apiece.
But Bradley Cooper?
He’s on his THIRD!
Technically his fourth, as Cooper is one of the producers on American Sniper and would
also take home an Oscar if the film wins in that category.
Yes, it would seem Cooper is on a mission to win one of these golden boys, much like
Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt - Pitt winning his last year for, whadya know, producing
12 Years a Slave.
But it’s also worth noting that Cooper’s nominations have been consecutive, perhaps
building momentum for a win?
And a win here for Cooper isn’t impossible, as American Sniper has become not just a national
phenomenon but also a worldwide one - with moviegoers even in Iraq cheering on Chris
Kyle.
Will The Academy decide to reward Cooper for his crucial role in creating a new American
Legend?
He’s also currently starring on Broadway in The Elephant Man, sure to give him an extra
boost in terms of artistic integrity.
But the only problem is that the entire awards season to date has focused on Michael Keaton
and Eddie Redmayne - can it switch track this late in the game?
Benedict Cumberbatch has got to be feeling the irony that he’s been essentially knocked
out of competition in his very first Oscar race by an actor portraying Stephen Hawking,
a role he himself played back in 2004 for the BBC.
It’s apparently a potent role on any size screen, as it landed Cumberbatch his first
BAFTA nomination and made him a talent to watch.
And watch him they did.
Thanks to his iconic turn as Sherlock, also for the BBC, Cumberbatch has quickly grown
a fanbase that unusual even by Hollywood standards.
He’s beloved by both women and men, who are not only impressed with his talent - and
universal sex appeal - but connect with him as he seems to be as big a fan of pop culture
as the rest of us!
Let’s face it, everyone would love to see Cumberbatch win an Oscar - but he almost definitely
will not this year, which will make for yet another disappointment for the actor.
He didn’t quite impress in Star Trek Into Darkness, he had hardly anything to do in
12 Years a Slave or August Osage County, The Fifth Estate was an embarrassment across the
board, he never got Andy Serkis level recognition for doing the motion capture for Smaug, Penguins
of Madagascar bombed at the box office and well, after we saw who else was up for the
role we’re not so sure if he’s a good Dr Strange...
Yes, Cumberbatch has got to start delivering on the hype!
At least there’s the new season of Sherlock...
Michael Keaton isn’t just this year’s comeback story, he’s also the dark horse
candidate.
There are some pretty impressive and dynamic careers represented here, but Keaton started
out as a production assistant on Mr Rogers Neighborhood in his native Pittsburgh, where
he also made his debut as an actor playing bit roles.
Heck, he even had to change his last name to Keaton when he came to Hollywood because,
well, Michael Douglas was already taken.
But while his name wasn’t unique, his talent was.
Keaton quickly became a comedy star, but graduated to movie star thanks to several collaborations
with Tim Burton - that’s right, Depp, Keaton saw him first!
Beetlejuice and Batman weren’t just box office hits but became part of the pop culture
landscape - yet at the height of it all, Keaton walked away from the Batman franchise, partially
out of loyalty to Burton and partially because he didn’t like the new direction under Joel
Schumacher.
Of course, history would prove him right on that last one, but that still didn’t help
his career.
And Keaton didn’t even get to go out in a blaze of glory, instead he just...faded
away.
But with the superhero movie not just back in style but threatening to take over Hollywood,
The Academy might not be able to resist rewarding the first guy to really don spandex coming
out so strongly against this...disease!
Then again, he is in talks for Kong Skull Island.
Yeah, Hollywood never really bought into Keaton as an artist, and might still not...
Now the only thing more appealing than a comeback or a dark horse is discovering a new talent,
and Eddie Redmayne sure does seem to have come out of nowhere.
Yeah he was in My Week with Marilyn and Les Miserables, but nobody was even paying attention
to him back then, much less noticing the quality of his work.
But now how can you NOT?!
The Academy also loves it when an actor is able to transform themselves physically, to
make the “actor” disappear, and Redmayne certainly does that in his role as Stephen
Hawking.
As a matter of fact, Redmayne is the same age that Daniel Day-Lewis was back when he
made My Left Foot and received his first Oscar nomination - and won.
The roles of Christy Brown and Stephen Hawking are very similar, and if we’ve found ourselves
a new Daniel Day-Lewis, well then!
The only potential problem is Jupiter Ascending, which is said to feature a not so flattering
performance from Redmayne - and wouldn’t you know it, hits theaters the very day that
the final round of voting begins.
But if Redmayne doesn’t win this year he’s sure to be a strong contender with his next
feature The Danish Girl, where he plays one of the first known individuals to receive
sex reassignment surgery - in 1930.
And those the Best Actor nominees!
Can you decide on a winner?
If so, be sure to vote in Beyond The Trailer’s annual Oscar poll via the link in the video
description!
I’m Grace Randolph, and I hope you’ll check out the rest of BTT’s Oscar coverage
- right now!