Welcome to Beyond The Trailer’s coverage of the 2016 Academy Awards, giving you an
in-depth look at the top categories.
Today, Best Actor - or as we seem to be calling it this year, The Leonardo DiCaprio Award!
Yes, while this year’s Oscars has sparked quite the debate regarding diversity, it seems
everyone can at least agree that this is finally Leo’s year.
Do you agree?
You can voice your opinion in Beyond The Trailer’s annual Oscar poll!
There’s a link in the video description, and right now let’s take a look at DiCaprio
and his bridesmaids…
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
There are few actors who have squandered their fan bases quite like Bryan Cranston.
White hot after playing Walter White, he followed up that legendary award winning run with a
bate and switch role in Godzilla, voicing Po’s father in Kung Fu Panda 3 aaaand Trumbo.
Trumbo is actually a nifty little film that’s much more than the “TV movie” it appeared
to be in the trailers - and while critics didn’t seem to appreciate it, thankfully
newbie distributor Bleecker Street Films did a better job with one of their very first
awards campaigns than Open Road did with Nightcrawler last year.
Trumbo took off like a rocket after it rocked the SAG nominations, but with the Golden Globes
and then the Oscars its nominations got whittled down to just one for Cranston.
And to top it all off, it has yet to actually win anything.
Yes, it would seem that Cranston - who’s been working since the 1980s - is not having
a JK Simmons moment.
Come to think of it, I bet Simmons and Cranston find themselves in competition for the same
roles a lot these days - and are even BOTH in Kung Fu Panda 3.
Hmm, seems Oscar WIN and ICONIC TV CHARACTER balance each other out…
Matt Damon - The Martian
If anyone’s going to snag Leo’s Oscar, it’s THIS guy!
Lucky for Leo though, Matt Damon’s already got an Oscar for co-writing Good Will Hunting,
so the odds are still in DiCaprio’s favor.
Interestingly enough, The Martian and The Revenant aren’t actually that far off from
one another, with both actors portraying men stranded in unforgiving yet majestic environments.
Plus both have to solely command the attention of the audience for long periods of time,
so to anyone else who wants an Oscar, I hope you’re taking notes!
Damon’s role is more optimistic - which is why he won Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
at the Golden Globes - while DiCaprio’s role is more tragic - which is why he won
Best Actor in a Drama at the Golden Globes.
But the Oscars only gives out one Best Actor award, and one guess as to which they gravitate
towards more - optimism or tragedy.
But while it’s unlikely Damon will win, that he’s such a tough challenger for DiCaprio
only proves he’s still one of the biggest stars in Hollywood - almost twenty years after
he burst onto the scene…at the Oscars!
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Now if you think twenty years is a long time, that’s nothin’ to DiCaprio.
While he got his big break on Growing Pains, he got his first Oscar nomination just shortly
afterwards in 1994 for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape at just twenty years old.
And while DiCaprio initially seemed to be embarked on a impressive artsy career with
The Basketball Diaries, Romeo & Juliet and Marvin’s Room, he indadvertedly became a
heartthrob movie star with James Cameron’s Titanic - a film which got a slew of Oscars
nominations and wins, yet Leo was totally shut out.
And thus began DiCaprio’s love-hate relationship with The Academy.
See, despite collaborations with Danny Boyle, Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes, Clint Eastwood
and Quentin Tarantino, DiCaprio could not win a freakin’ Oscar despite his box office
success - or perhaps because of it.
Sometimes The Academy likes to see big stars humbled, and with The Revenant DiCaprio might
have finally sacrificed enough - yes, The Revenant’s awards campaign is largely composed
of sharing horror stories from the set.
But DiCaprio is said to have campaigned particularly hard this year and - in a year when moviegoers
have little interest in the nominees - the only reason for many people to tune in is
to see fan-favorite DiCaprio finally accept his Oscar…
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Ah-ha!
This nomination is sweet revenge for Fassbender who was, like, Sony’s EIGHTH choice for
this role.
Not to mention that when Sony was hacked, an email leaked where screenwriter Aaron Sorkin
wondered if Fassbender was capable of putting butts in the seats.
Although, Sorkin likely feels that any actor starring in one of his films is guaranteed
an Oscar nomination, and the fact that Fassbender isn’t really a genuine contender to win
only further proves his initial reservations - and Sorkin might be right about that.
But in Fassbender’s defense, Steve Jobs has been a bit of a disappointment all around,
and certainly not worth all the real life drama it caused between Sony’s Amy Pascal
and producer Scott Rudin.
The Social Network, it is not.
But Fassbender should just be grateful to have landed the nomination - his Macbeth was
totally ignored - as this is his second one, and establishes him as the type of actor that
“gets nominated”, which will certainly help him continue to get more prestige work.
And with all his blockbuster work like X-Men, Alien and Assassin’s Creed, odds are he’ll
end up pulling a Peter O’Toole, winning an Honorary Oscar when he’s in HIS seventies.
Which would be pretty ironic considering his David is modeled after O’Toole’s iconic
Lawrence of Arabia…
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl
Well it’s a good thing Redmayne won last year, because his chances this year are ZERO.
See, last year rumor was that Michael Keaton would win Best Actor for Birdman because the
industry was already buzzing about Redmayne’s performance in The Danish Girl which had just
begun filming.
Everyone felt Redmayne was sure to win in 2016 so let Keaton win in 2015 - until he
didn’t.
And again, Redmayne is very lucky that’s the way it went down because The Danish Girl
suffered an unforeseen turn of events.
First, instead of leading the transgender movement it suddenly found itself lagging
behind, as REAL transgendered individuals stepped into the spotlight.
In fact, The Danish Girl came under heavy criticism for not casting a transgender actress
in the lead role.
But is that the lead role?
When The Danish Girl began screening at film festivals - i.e. the road to the Oscars - many
felt it was really Alicia Vikander’s movie.
And in keeping with that initial reaction, Vikander is this movie’s best bet for an
Oscar win.
Yes, like Carol, this film was supposed to be very forward thinking.
But while Carol ended up just coming across as antiquated, The Danish Girl has come across
as being out of touch - not a good look for Oscar.
And those are the 2016 nominees for Best Actor!
Do you agree that Leo has it in the bag?
Be sure to leave your comments down below, as well as 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!