Could Matthew McConaughey's first Oscar nomination lead to a win? Here's our Best Actor predictions.
Indiewire will provide regular updates of our predictions for the 86th Academy Awards through March 2nd, when the winners are announced.
In one of truly one of the most crowded best actor races in recent memory, Chiwetel Ejiofer, Matthew McConaughey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Dern and Christian Bale ending up making the cut, while Robert Redford, Tom Hanks Oscar Isaac, Forest Whitaker and Joaquin Phoenix - who could have made an awesome lineup themselves - did not. And the race for the win has been a lot less interesting than the race to get nominated: Matthew McConaughey dominated the precursors, and seems poised to win his first Oscar. Though Leonardo DiCaprio and Chiwetel Ejiofor both stand outside chances at upsetting, with the former getting some considerable last minute heat and the latter benefiting from a BAFTA win (where McConaughey notably was not nominated). So while that means McConaughey is probably a little more vulnerable to an upset than some of the other frontrunners, I'm still pretty sure he's walking away with this.
Nominees and predictions below. Check out all predictions in all the categories here.The nominees:Christian Bale in “American Hustle”Bruce Dern in “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave”
Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club”
Will win: Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club”
Could win: Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Should win: Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave”