AW’s 50 Favorite Performances of 2015 – The Shortlist

Erik Anderson February 1, 2016

It’s almost time for AwardsWatch 50 Favorite Performances list but for now, I have the hot off the presses shortlist of eligible players. Now, in order to qualify for the shortlist and eventual final list, you only needed to show up on two ballots but even then you’ll see some shocking snubs and delightful inclusions. Take a lesson, Academy, this is what happens when you actually watch films. #AwardsWatchNoSoWhite

Want to vote on these? Voting lasts until February 20th. Here are the rules.

To be an eligible voter, you must have both:

a.) A join date of the AwardsWatch forums prior to December 1st, 2015
b.) A post total greater than 100 posts

You do not have to have voted for the shortlist to be able to vote for this.

The Shortlist
(In alphabetical order by movie title)

Jack O’Connell, ’71
Tom Courtenay, 45 Years
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes

Golshifteh Farahani, About Elly
Birte Schnoeink, Amour Fou
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa
Tom Noonan, Anomalisa
Shu Qi, The Assassin

Abraham Attah, Beasts of no Nation
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Richard Jenkins, Bone Tomahawk
Kurt Russell, Bone Tomahawk
Tom Hanks, Bridge of Spies
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Emory Cohen, Brooklyn
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Joshua Burge, Buzzard
Angelina Jolie Pitt, By the Sea

Cate Blanchett, Carol
Rooney Mara, Carol
Sarah Paulson, Carol
Cate Blanchett, Cinderella
Angela Bassett, Chi-Raq
Teyonah Parris, Chi-Raq
Juliette Binoche, Clouds of Sils Maria
Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria
Michael B. Jordan, Creed
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Tessa Thompson, Creed
Jessica Chastain, Crimson Peak

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Bel Powley, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Kristen Wiig, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Shameik Moore, Dope
Sidse Babette Knudsen, The Duke of Burgundy

Felix de Givry, Eden
Jason Segel, The End of the Tour
Oscar Isaac, Ex Machina
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Peter Sarsgaard, Experimenter

Carey Mulligan, Far From the Madding Crowd
Michael Sheen, Far From The Madding Crowd
Jamie Dornan, Fifty Shades of Grey
Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Malin Akerman, The Final Girls

Ronit Elkabetz, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
Jason Bateman, The Gift
Karidja Touré, Girlhood
Assa Sylla, Girlhood
Susanne Wuest, Goodnight Mommy
Sam Elliott, Grandma
Lily Tomlin, Grandma

Leonid Yarmolnik, Hard To Be A God
Walton Goggins, The Hateful Eight
Samuel L. Jackson, The Hateful Eight
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Kurt Russell, The Hateful Eight
Arielle Holmes, Heaven Knows What
Caleb Landry Jones, Heaven Knows What

Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back
Blythe Danner, I’ll See You in My Dreams
Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear
Robert De Niro, The Intern
Richard Kind, Inside Out
Amy Poehler, Inside Out
Phyllis Smith, Inside Out
Parker Posey, Irrational Man
Emma Stone, Irrational Man
Maika Monroe, It Follows

Christopher Abbott, James White
Cynthia Nixon, James White
Viggo Mortensen, Jauja
Bradley Cooper, Joy
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Edgar Ramirez, Joy
Eddie Redmayne, Jupiter Ascending

Rinko Kikuchi, Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter

Tom Hardy, Legend
Elizabeth Banks, Love & Mercy

Marion Cotillard, Macbeth
Michael Fassbender, Macbeth
Nicholas Hoult, Mad Max: Fury Road
Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road
Jada Pinkett Smith, Magic Mike XXL
Elizabeth Debicki, The Man from UNCLE
Matt Damon, The Martian
Olivia Cooke, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Josh Lucas, The Mend
Stephen Plunkett, The Mend
Rebecca Ferguson, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Greta Gerwig, Mistress America
Lola Kirke, Mistress America
Ian McKellan, Mr. Holmes

Nina Hoss, Phoenix
Ronald Zehrfeld, Phoenix

Patrick Fugit, Queen of Earth
Elisabeth Moss, Queen of Earth
Katherine Waterston, Queen of Earth

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Meryl Streep, Ricki and the Flash
Joan Allen, Room
Brie Larson, Room
Jacob Tremblay, Room

Gaspard Ulliel, Saint Laurent
Aymeline Valade, Saint Laurent
Regina Casé, The Second Mother
Emily Blunt, Sicario
Benicio Del Toro, Sicario
Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Liev Schriber, Spotlight
Stanley Tucci, Spotlight
Rose Byrne, Spy
Melissa McCarthy, Spy
Jason Statham, Spy
Adam Driver, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Daisy Ridley, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Nicole Kidman, Strangerland

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Tangerine
Mya Taylor, Tangerine
Alicia Vikander, Testament of youth
Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Tom at the Farm
Amy Schumer, Trainwreck
Tilda Swinton, Trainwreck

Laia Costa, Victoria

Taika Waititi, What We Do in the Shadows

Rachel Weisz, Youth

Some statistics regarding Phase I:

• 130 performances made the shortlist
• 5 Oscar-nominated performances missed the shortlist
• The Hateful Eight is the film with the most performances appearing on this shortlist – 4

Author
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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.