Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actor 2024

The Contenders:

Sebastian Stan: The Apprentice
Adrien Brody: The Brutalist (winner)
Timothée Chalamet: A Complete Unknown
Conclave: Ralph Fiennes
Colman Domingo: Sing Sing

What’s Missing

This is a rare instance where I think the Academy didn’t do that bad of a job regarding the nominations. Admittedly, there are a bunch of films from 2024 I haven’t seen, so there are naturally some potential performances that I might put here in the future. Until this year, horror has been the redheaded stepchild of the Oscars, so Hugh Grant didn’t have much of a chance for Heretic. I would have loved to have seen some recognition for Michael Keaton in Beetlejuide Beetlejuice, but with only 17 or so minutes of screentime, he’s probably supporting (but was still unrecognized). Daveed Diggs and Brandon Wilson probably worked against each other for Nickel Boys. For me, the biggest clear miss is Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain.

Weeding through the Nominees

5. I’m honestly a little surprised that Timothée Chalamet was nominated for A Complete Unknown and not for Dune: Part Two. This is one of those cases where the actor had a really strong year, and you could make a case that in a lot of ways, Chalamet had the best year of any actor, but of course, this is about the single performance. This is why he’s here—he’s better in the other movie in my opinion. It’s not a horrible nomination, but if he were here for Dune, he’d be higher.

4. I’m sorry to do this to Sebastian Stan, but I have to put The Apprentice one step from the bottom position. There’s not a lot wrong with Stan’s performance, but it’s such an oily film in so many ways. It was hard to watch. I fully admit that I am punishing Sebastian Stan for the character he was playing far more than for the role itself or the performance itself. I don’t actually hate the nomination, but if I could have limited the film to a single Oscar nom it would have gone to Jeremy Strong, who steals every moment he’s on camera.

3. I might be doing a bit of the same with Adrien Brody and The Brutalist. Our eventual winner gives a solid performance, something Brody tends to do well in general. But the movie itself is overwhelming in length—there’s a lot here. Should Brody be penalized for that? No, probably not. If I really think about it, this is probably the first of the nominations I would support, but I like the other two nominations a lot better. Third is the right spot for this, regardless of the length of the movie.

2. I have said before that Colman Domingo has to be named among the best actors currently working, and Sing Sing makes a very good case for this. The movie is very much the complete package, and I continue to be surprised that it wasn’t nominated for Best Picture as it should have been. Domingo feels very much like the sort of actor who will have an Oscar in his future, possibly more than one. In a lot of years, I would have no problem putting this performance on the top—Domingo is often the best thing in his films, and a lot of his films are great, so that’s saying something. The only reason he’s in second is because I like the last performance more.

My Choice

1. Ralph Fiennes, for as much as he is a highly acclaimed actor, never really gets the respect he deserves. The man can do drama and comedy with equal ease, and he’s been snubbed as much or more than anyone. I enjoyed Conclave more than I thought I would, and a great deal of that comes from one of Fiennes’s best performance in a career of great ones. Would this feel like a career Oscar for the man who wasn’t nominated for The Grand Budapest Hotel, In Bruges, and The Menu? Maybe, but it’s still a performance worth the win.

Final Analysis