2024 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTOR (November)

With recent screenings of The Iron Claw and Napoleon, now every major Best Actor contender having been seen. A handful of folks have seen Wonka but outside of a likely Golden Globe nomination, I’m not sure anyone really has Timothée Chalamet on their top tier list. No offense, Timmy.

Zac Efron has gotten the best notices of his career for The Iron Claw, but that’s just based on social sentiments, full reviews are still embargoed until some time in December. Napoleon screened this week, with an embargo up even before many were even out of their screening of the film. Hovering at just above 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and keeping it in ‘Fresh’ territory, most reviews were kinder to Joaquin Phoenix than the film itself but it could still play well with the dad crowd. Those that don’t mind that Bonaparte is presented as a whiny cuck with a penchant for temper tantrums.

The Gotham and BIFA nominations were announced since October’s predictions which found love for Andrew Scott in All of Us Strangers at both. Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) nabbed a Gotham nom and is probably among Scott’s biggest competitors in the 4-7 range of contenders.

The good news is that everyone can actively campaign now and they sure are. Interviews, Q&A screenings and more have jam-packed the week and will continue to leading up the Thanksgiving holiday and then pick up again right after as crucial voting periods for Critics Choice, the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes kick off.

Nominations for the Golden Globes will be announced on December 11, 2023 and the awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, January 7, 2024. The Screen Actors Guild will reveal their nominations on January 10 and the 30th SAG Awards will be held on February 24. Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23 and the 96th Academy Awards will be held on March 10.

Here are my 2024 Oscar predictions in Best Actor for October 2023.

1. Bradley Cooper – Maestro (Netflix)
2. Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures)
3. Colman Domingo – Rustin (Netflix)
4. Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple Original Films)
5. Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction (Amazon MGM/Orion)
6. Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers (Searchlight Pictures)
7. Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers (Focus Features)
8. Zac Efron – The Iron Claw (A24)
9. Christian Friedel – The Zone of Interest (A24)
10. Anthony Hopkins – Freud’s Last Session (Sony Pictures Classics)

Next up: Kingsley Ben-Adir – Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount Pictures), Adam Driver – Ferrari (NEON), Barry Keoghan – Saltburn (Amazon Studios), Joaquin Phoenix – Napoleon (Apple Original Films/Sony Pictures), David Strathairn – A Little Prayer (Sony Pictures Classics), Kôji Yakusho – Perfect Days (NEON), Teo Yoo – Past Lives (A24)

Other contenders:

• Riz Ahmed – Fingernails (Apple Original Films)
• Jay Baruchel – BlackBerry (IFC Films)
• Nicolas Cage – Dream Scenario (A24)
• Timothée Chalamet – Wonka (Warner Bros)
• Matt Damon – Air (Amazon Studios)
• Eugenio Derbez – Radical (Miercoles Entertainment)
• Alden Ehrenreich – Fair Play (Netflix)
• Gael García Bernal – Cassandro (Amazon Studios)
• Kelvin Harrison Jr. – Chevalier (Searchlight Pictures)
• Benoît Magimel – The Taste of Things (IFC Films)
• Mads Mikkelsen – The Promised Land (Magnolia Pictures)
• Josh O’Connor – La Chimera (NEON)

Photo by Chris Harris. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.