Alternative picks for Best Actor and Actress


Gary Oldman is a favorite to win Best Actor for Darkest Hour, but the other nominees in the category shouldn’t be overlooked. Photo from IMDB.

With the 90th Academy Awards coming up quickly, everyone in Hollywood is paying attention. Every year, FiveThirtyEight, the statistical website, offers predictions for winners in each Oscar category. Historically, these predictions have been fairly accurate. For instance, the website predicted every single winner correctly except for best picture. last year (They predicted La La Land, which actually was announced as the winner for a few minutes by mistake before Moonlight was named the winner.) Their statistical analysis models best actor and actress based off of other nominations and wins from other awards like BAFTA and SAG.

They break down their predictions into three categories: “the clear front-runners,” “competitive races,” and “we have no clue.” Both the Best Actor and Best Actress winners in 2018 are predicted under “the clear frontrunners” category. For 2018 Best Actor and Best Actress, the site predicts Gary Oldman  will win for his performance in Darkest Hour and Frances McDormand for her performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Though Oldman is likely to win, the Best Actor award should go to either Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) or Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) over Oldman. Chalamet’s performance of Elio perfectly captures the gut-wrenching melodrama that accompanies love and youth. To describe Chalamet’s portrayal as convincing would be an understatement. The actor beautifully embraces Elio, the emotionally conflicted 17-year-old at the cusp of adulthood. As a straight actor, Chalamet skillfully and eloquently presented a character questioning his own sexuality throughout the film. With subtlety and sensitivity, he guides the audience through the emotional turbulence of falling in love and reckoning with shifting perceptions of both one’s self and the surrounding world.

Chalamet should be awarded not just for the dynamic range in his expression but also the parallel richness of his emotional displays. The final scene, in which Chalamet stares into a fireplace after a devastating phone call, requires no words on the actor’s part. His facial expressions alone are enough to send shivers down one’s spine.

Kaluuya’s character Chris in Get Out arguably offers the most socially impactful performance. The film hybridizes satire and horror and serves as a biting critique of race relations in the United States. Chris is an extremely nuanced character living in an even more complex world. An English actor from London, Kaluuya had to contend with critics who were skeptical of his ability to convincingly portray the experience of a black man in America. However, these challenges are not at all obvious in the final product.

Kaluuya’s performance in the film is praised by many for capturing the black experience in the current American political climate. His subtle expressions in the film offer a fascinating interpretation of the quiet paranoia that haunts Chris throughout the movie. Director Jordan Peele certainly cast the right actor to play a character laden with so much symbolism and history.

Though McDormand is declared the “clear frontrunner” for best actress, Saoirse Ronan’s nomination deserves more credit. Starring in the coming-of-age film Lady Bird, Ronan beautifully captures the emotional uncertainty of a fleeting youth and the state of being on the precipice of major life decisions. Ronan’s task to play the eccentric Christine, who re-names herself “Lady Bird,” reveals her ambition as an actress. Stuck in an emotional battle with her mother over many issues, primarily her independence, Ronan’s character captures the tumultuous realities of anxiety-ridden teenage years. The Irish actress truly understands and replicates the struggles of identity that accompany the life of a teenager in America. Whether or not Lady Bird ends up winning the award, Ronan’s alluring performance definitely makes the film an instant cult-classic and avoids falling in the common trap of being another cliche coming-of-age character.

Overall, to receive an Oscar nomination requires an exquisite performance. Any of the nominees is more than deserving of winning. However, Kaluuya, Chalamet and Ronan’s performances each demonstrate the actors’ exceptional abilities to overcome industry barriers and deliver a stunning performance. They exceeded expectations and created distinctive, memorable characters that will leave an enduring mark on Hollywood.