Supporting Actor

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Updated: 5/24

Top Five Contenders


1. Ed Harris (The Way Back, Once Fallen)	2. Bill Murray (Get Low, Passion Play)	3. Christian Bale (The Fighter)	4. Sam Rockwell (Betty Anne Waters)	5. Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)
With Jeff Bridges out of the way, I think Harris takes his place as the most Oscar overdue actor (except maybe for Albert Finney). With a 0/4 record, Harris has to win sooner or later. The Peter Weir drama The Way Back just might be it. If not that, I discovered his chances for the film Once Fallen.	Murray is getting great early reviews for his performance in Get Low. Though I wonder if his bitterness at losing the Oscar in '03 will cost him a nomination this time. It would be a nice surprise since recently all he's been doing is odd performance art type of roles. Remember Zombieland?	Here's another actor that will have to overcome some recent negative publicity if he is to get his first Oscar nomination. He's clearly an actor that takes his work seriously; just look at The Machinist. So if he gives this dramatic role his all, he could finally wind up nominated.	Rockwell is one of the most underrated actors. He gave great performances in The Green Mile and Frost/Nixon, but he was overshadowed by his costars. He's gotten good exposure this year in Iron Man 2, and that might help lead him to his first nomination for this drama.	Rush has always been one of my favorite actors. He has three nominations and one win, but his last nom was ten years ago. It might be about time for another. This film might do it where he plays the speech tutor to King Henry VI. It should help wipe away those memories of Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

Close Behind

6. Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right)	7. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception)	8. Giovanni Ribisi (The Rum Diary)	9. Jeff Goldblum (Morning Glory)	10. Hank Azaria (Love and Other Drugs)
Ruffalo is another underappreciated actor who should have about two nominations by now, and yet he has none. He got some exposure already this year in Shutter Island, and he could get his first nom for this drama where he plays the birth father of two adopted kids.	Gordon-Levitt is quickly rising to the A-list of talented actors. He's already put in great performances in The Lookout and 500 Days of Summer. I don't think it will be long before he gets his first nomination. If not for Inception, he also has a couple of lead roles this year that could do it.	Ribisi is yet another underappreciated actor. He now has the exposure of being in the highest-grossing film ever, so it's only natural to follow it up with a first Oscar nomination. He gave a pretty good performance last time he worked with Johnny Depp in Public Enemies.	The reason Goldblum has never been Oscar nominated is because he is often playing essentially the same character. I believe in this film he plays some sort of overcontrolling television news producer. Sounds like it might be a little different for him.	I'm throwing this possibility in myself and putting a patent on it. There are a lot of oddball roles in this film that could be nominated, but I'm giving the edge to Azaria who could use his brilliant humor and voice work to get a nomination that he sort of deserved for The Birdcage.

My Original Predix