Oscars 2020: Who should win the Best Actor award?

published 9 February 2020

Five world-class actors. Five tuxedos ready-pressed. But only one of these stars can win.

The Best Actor award is one of the highlights of the Oscars. But short of a last-minute controversy we know who is going to win. It’s Joaquin Phoenix portrayal of the joker in Joker. We don’t have a time machine, but every betting side around has him out so far in front the other nominees might as well stay at home.

Think he deserves it? Give his entry an upvote.

Think someone else should get the little golden statue? We want to know. Upvote your best actor of 2019 to set the world to rights.

Oscars 2020: Who should win the Best Actor award?

Odds to win: 1/50Bookies say Joaquin Phoenix has this one in the bag. It polarised reviewers, but almost everyone agrees Phoenix did a great job portraying the nascent Batman villain Joker. This was was the first R-rated film to earn a billion dollars at the box office.Phoenix also lost 52lb to play the role, the kind of commitment that never hurts when up for an acting award. The $55 million budget is also very low for a movie in the “superhero” genre. 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises budget was $250 million.

Odds to win: 16/1A film in which we watch a relationship break down needs good performances. A Marriage Story has two great ones, those of Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver.There’s an abundance of heightened emotion, raised voiced and anxiety-inducing misery. Painful memories of a broken home? Recently divorced? Relationship troubles? This might not be the film to watch tonight. But it’s the quality of performances and Baumbach’s direction that makes A Marriage Story seem quite so real.

Odds to win: 50/1Missed Almodovar’s Pain and Glory last year? Most did, but we’re glad to see it represented in the Best Actor Oscars category. Banderas plays an ageing film director living a hermit-like life awash with painkillers.We see him dig back through his childhood, and a love affair from his younger years, all through the thoughtful lens of a sensitive Banderas performance. It’s a semi-autobiographical story, with scenes and storylines inspired by moments in Almodovar’s past.

SOMETHING MISSING FROM OUR SHORTLIST?

Tell us about it, and if enough people agree we'll add it in.

Andrew Williams has written about tech for a decade. He has written for a stack of magazines and websites including Wired, TrustedReviews, TechRadar and Stuff.