{"id":85240,"date":"2025-12-07T17:54:46","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T17:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/85240\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T17:54:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T17:54:46","slug":"2026-oscars-power-rankings-best-actor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/85240\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Oscars power rankings: best actor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Can someone be \u201cdue\u201d an Oscar if they haven\u2019t hit 30 and their go-to hoodie is pink<\/a>? What if that someone has spent his career making one classic movie after another, seven of which have been Oscar-nominated for best picture?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re about to enter the season of Chalamet, an actor some find endearing, others annoying. <\/p>\n

This year, is he undeniable? <\/p>\n

I\u2019m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. Ready for some lead actor Oscar power rankings? Cue up something from Iran\u2019s Olivia Newton-John<\/a> as we step into awards season\u2019s Xanadu. <\/p>\n

Sign up for The Envelope <\/p>\n

Get exclusive awards season news, in-depth interviews and columnist Glenn Whipp\u2019s must-read analysis straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n

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You know the drill. Let\u2019s start the countdown. <\/p>\n

1. Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, \u2018Marty Supreme\u2019 \"Timothee <\/p>\n

When Chalamet won the Screen Actors Guild Awards\u2019 lead actor prize earlier this year for playing Bob Dylan in \u201cA Complete Unknown,\u201d he gave a rousing speech telling the world that he was doggedly \u201cin pursuit of greatness.\u201d Now Chalamet is starring in \u201cMarty Supreme,\u201d playing Marty Mauser, a ping-pong hustler dreaming of, yes, greatness! Marty, like Tim\u00e9e, can\u2019t stop, won\u2019t stop until he reaches the top. There\u2019s an overlap too in the unorthodox methods employed by both actor and character. Promoting \u201cMarty Supreme,\u201d which opens Christmas Day, Chalamet has gone on Instagram Live in an elaborate skit<\/a> to brainstorm marketing strategies for the movie. Earlier, he generated a frenzy when he led a team of ping-pong-ball-helmeted co-conspirators into a New York pop-up for \u201cMarty.\u201d Who knows what he will do next. He\u2019s as unpredictable as his adrenaline-fueled movie. And that\u2019s endearing and\/or annoying. You decide. <\/p>\n

2. Leonardo DiCaprio, \u2018One Battle After Another\u2019 \"LEONARDO <\/p>\n

DiCaprio owns one Oscar. He had to eat raw bison liver<\/a> to get it. But that\u2019s no worse than, say, having to attend the Critics Choice Awards. He has been nominated seven times, and probably should have been nominated even more<\/a>. He definitely should have more than one Oscar. His live-wire performance as the amoral stock trader in \u201cThe Wolf of Wall Street\u201d is one for the ages. He\u2019s excellent too as the burned-out dad in \u201cOne Battle,\u201d and if he won his second Oscar for that movie, who would argue? (Other than Tim\u00e9e\u2019s fans, obvs.) One of these years, the academy will have to stop taking DiCaprio for granted. Why not now?<\/p>\n

3. Michael B. Jordan, \u2018Sinners\u2019 \"MICHAEL <\/p>\n

Robert Redford received one Oscar nomination as an actor. It came for \u201cThe Sting,\u201d a blockbuster so big that, for once, the academy could not ignore its golden-haired co-lead. I mention this because Jordan, like Redford, is a true movie star who also happens to be a very good actor. In \u201cSinners\u201d he plays identical twins and brings out the nuanced differences between the brothers in ways that can get lost in all of the glorious chaos of the movie. At the very least, Jordan earns his first nomination this year. If it comes in the wake of other recognition, all the better for his Oscar chances. <\/p>\n

4. Wagner Moura, \u2018The Secret Agent\u2019 \"A <\/p>\n

Kleber Mendon\u00e7a Filho\u2019s political thriller has just started a very limited platform release, and it\u2019s a movie that could really start building momentum in the coming weeks as critics groups weigh in. The New York Film Critics Circle planted the flag early, giving Moura its lead actor honor for his star turn as an ordinary man hiding from an oppressive military dictatorship in 1977 Brazil. Actors branch voters don\u2019t always reward restraint, but Moura\u2019s sense of calm in the midst of an absolute nightmare carries the movie with a power that lingers.<\/p>\n

5. Ethan Hawke, \u2018Blue Moon\u2019 \"ETHAN <\/p>\n

(Sabrina Lantos\/Sony Pictures Classics)<\/p>\n

With Hawke and George Clooney headlining contending films this year, we have two of the most enjoyable storytellers making the rounds, charming voters and reminding us why we\u2019ve enjoyed watching their work for the last four decades. In \u201cBlue Moon,\u201d Hawke plays the gifted, troubled lyricist Lorenz Hart, an alcoholic working out his insecurities as his longtime writing partner, Richard Rodgers, celebrates the success of \u201cOklahoma!\u201d on opening night at Sardi\u2019s. The movie reunites Hawke with filmmaker Richard Linklater, a longtime collaborator who entrusts his actor to handle loads of dialogue and tight emotional turns. <\/p>\n

6. Joel Edgerton, \u2018Train Dreams\u2019 \"A <\/p>\n

Clint Bentley\u2019s delicate period drama about a logger clinging to a world that has vanished has built something of a cult following after landing last month on Netflix. Edgerton probably utters the same number of words in the entire film as Hawke expels in the opening two minutes of \u201cBlue Moon.\u201d But, like Moura, he is integral to the movie\u2019s spirit, exuding a quiet grace that is extraordinary. <\/p>\n

7. Jesse Plemons, \u2018Bugonia\u2019 \"Jesse <\/p>\n

Yorgos Lanthimos\u2019 punishing black comedy could get lost this season. Critics groups will ignore it for better movies, and its despairing misanthropy makes it a difficult film to embrace. Still, even its detractors admire the acting from its gifted stars, Plemons and Emma Stone. Plemons\u2019 sad, single-minded conspiracy theorist is a terrifying creation, filled with the sort of foreboding that Plemons seems to conjure with ease. <\/p>\n

8. George Clooney, \u2018Jay Kelly\u2019 \"George <\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s pour one out for Dwayne Johnson and Jeremy Allen White, once considered shoo-ins for nominations until \u201cThe Smashing Machine\u201d and \u201cSpringsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere\u201d opened to decidedly mixed receptions. Both figure to be invited to the Globes, a ceremony that offers a generous 12 slots for lead actors, another reason not to take the show seriously. And that brings us back to Clooney and his meta turn as an A-list actor having an existential meltdown in \u201cJay Kelly,\u201d a movie that arrives today on Netflix. Maybe it will pop. After all, how many times can you watch \u201cStranger Things\u201d?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can someone be \u201cdue\u201d an Oscar if they haven\u2019t hit 30 and their go-to hoodie is pink? What…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[43794,2308,29897,339,1924,48,52,51,5562,47,50,49,63,43793,1555,4287,100,2429,43795,8843,1968],"class_list":["post-85240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-97th-oscars","tag-art","tag-daily-life","tag-death","tag-film","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-last-week","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-lynch","tag-man","tag-movie","tag-news","tag-thursday","tag-times-writer","tag-way","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}