2017 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTOR (October)

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Denzel Washington (Fences) and Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) are locked in their #1 and #2 positions, respectively, and even keep their same point totals from last month. Ryan Gosling moves up to #3 on the strength of his film La La Land in virtually every other category. Andrew Garfield (Silence) falls a bit and Tom Hanks (Sully) rebounds back into the top 5 just as his film crosses the $100M line.

At the bottom, Joel Edgerton (Loving) and newcomer Joe Alwyn (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) finish the list with a handful of #4 and #5 placements. Off the list this month is The Birth of a Nation‘s Nate Parker. It’s been a rough month for the actor-turned-director and it’s reflected across the board in our predictions.

In the Other Contenders section there are possible spoilers in this very open category from Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey (Gold) and Oscar nominee Michael Keaton (The Founder). Both actors play real-life people in late December releases and both are backed by The Weinstein Company, for better or worse. Dev Patel (Lion) could break in but he’s likely to be pushed supporting as he appears in just about half of his film.

Here are the 2017 Oscar predictions for Best Actor from The Gold Rush Gang for October:

OTHER CONTENDERS
Ben Affleck – Live by Night
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nocturnal Animals
Michael Keaton – The Founder
Matthew McConaughey – Gold
Ewan McGregor – American Pastoral
Nate Parker – The Birth of a Nation
Dev Patel – Lion
Brad Pitt – Allied
Miles Teller – Bleed For This

Follow the updated Gold Rush Gang predictions in these Oscar categories here:

BEST PICTURE
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST ACTOR
BEST ACTRESS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BEST FILM EDITING
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
BEST SOUND EDITING
BEST SOUND MIXING
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (the shortlist)