This year’s Best Actor category is such a peculiar beast. You have a weak bunch of candidates scrambling to make the final five and it’s come to the point where Tom Cruise (“Top Gun: Maverick”) is being discussed as a legitimate nominee. But now that people are jumping on the Cruise bandwagon, I’m hearing from more actors branch voters who just aren’t feeling it. Listen, I’ve been pulling for Cruise to get in, not because I believe he delivered a great performance, but purely for entertainment purposes. Right now, I’m leaning towards Collin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin”), Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”), Bill Nighy (“Living”) and, yes, Tom Cruise (“Top Gun: Maverick”) as our five Best Actor nominees.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 08, 2023 20:31 UTC