Oscars 2023: Who should win best actor?

The 95th Academy Awards, aka the Oscars, takes place on March 13, 2023. After last year’s 'slap-happy' show, hopes are high that this year we can all concentrate on the movies, and all of the beautiful people that star in them.

That might well be wishful thinking, with the old #OscarsSoWhite hashtag already rearing its head once again due to a lack of diversity in the Best Actress selection.

While the Best Actor list is similarly pale, there is at least a diverse selection of ages on display. This year’s roster of nominees features a couple of up and coming heart-throbs, a couple of seasoned middle-aged stars, and one industry old timer enjoying a rare moment in the critical spotlight.

Here, then, is the full nomination list for the best actor award at the 2023 Oscars. All you have to do it vote for who you think should with the hallowed statue...

Oscars 2023: who should win best actor?

Brendan Fraser’s reemergence into the Hollywood spotlight with The Whale is the unlikely comeback story of the year.The man who played a series of lunk-headed heroes in the ’90s and ’00s is once again the toast of the talk show circuit thanks to Darren Aronofsky’s film.Not that The Whale itself bears any resemblance to the kind of blockbusting romps that Fraser used to star in. Rather, it’s a queasy psychological drama all about a chronically obese man attempting to repair his relationship with his daughter.Fraser plays the lead role in a remarkably transformative fat suit, applying his magnetic former-leading-man qualities to a character who may prove superficially unattractive to audiences.Image Credit: A24

Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures

Austin Butler has attracted almost universal acclaim for his performance as the king of rock and roll in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic, including from the singer’s late daughter, Priscilla Presley.Butler provides a remarkably kinetic and charismatic run through of Elvis’s greatest hits, covering his breakout success before rushing at breakneck speed through to his interminable Vegas residency.As if Luhrmann’s usual directorial pyrotechnics weren’t enough of a potential distraction, Butler had to act opposite Tom Hanks in full hamming-it-up mode. Playing as the singer’s svengali-like manager Colonel Tom Parker, Hanks dons heavy prosthetics and an even heavier cod-Dutch accent.For Butler to have emerged from such a rich stew of ingredients as the stand-out element is deeply impressive.Image Credit: Warner Bros

Image Credit: Mubi / A24

Nighy plays a civil servant who’s given a terminal diagnosis at the outset of the film, which proves to be an impetus for this buttoned up office drone to belatedly start living. It’s a role that’s far more understated than the actor’s usual flamboyant fare, but he plays the part to perfection.Image Credit: Lionsgate UK

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