In the days leading up to the 90th Academy Awards, FilmBuffOnline will be offering profiles on all the nominees in the major categories. Some may be well known, others might be new to you, but if you need a refresher on these talented nominees, here is what you need to know your nominees for Best Actor.
Timothée Chalamet
Nominated for: Playing a 17-year-old who engages in a sexual affair with another man in Call Me by Your Name.
Other honors for this role:
Chalamet has been nominated in 39 other places for the this role, and has won 12 awards for it.
Where you might know him from:
Chalamet has appeared on the TV series Homeland and in the film Interstellar. He is also a member of the cast of Lady Bird.
History with Oscar:
This is Timothée Chalamet’s first Oscar nomination.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Nominated for: Playing an exacting fashion designer in Phantom Thread.
Other honors for this role:
Day-Lewis has received 25 other nominations for this role, and has won four awards.
Where you might know him from:
Day-Lewis has carved out and eclectic career for himself. He has worked in a diverse set of films such as My Beautiful Launderette, The Last of the Mohicans, and The Age of Innocence.
History with Oscar:
Daniel Day-Lewis has won three Oscars and been nominated six times in total.
2013: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Lincoln (Won)
2008: Best Actor in a Leading Role, There Will Be Blood (Won)
2003: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Gangs of New York (Lost to Adrien Brody, The Pianist)
1994: Best Actor in a Leading Role, In the Name of the Father (Lost to Tom Hanks, Philadelphia)
1990: Best Actor in a Leading Role, My Left Foot (Won)
Daniel Kaluuya
Nominated for: Playing a black man who discovers a nefarious secret when he visits his white girlfriend’s family in Get Out.
Other honors for this role:
Kaluuya has been nominated in this category with 39 other organizations, winning 4 awards.
Where you might know him from:
Kaluuya has been seen in Kick-Ass 2, Sicario and is currently co-starring in Black Panther.
History with Oscar:
This is Kaluuya’s first Oscar nomination.
Gary Oldman
Nominated for: Playing Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.
Other honors for this role:
Oldman has been nominated 47 times for this role, winning 25 awards, including the Golden Globe, The BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild Award.
Where you might know him from:
Some of his most famous roles were Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy, Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, Sirius Black in the Harry Potter franchise, and Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s Batman films.
History with Oscar:
This is Gary Oldman’s second Oscar nomination.
2012: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Lost to Jean Dujardin, The Artist)
Denzel Washington
Nominated for: Playing a quirky lawyer struggling with his own sense of idealism in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Other honors for this role:
Washington has received 6 other nominations for this role, winning no other awards.
Where you might know him from:
Washington got his start on the television program, St. Elsewhere. He has also starred in a great number of films in his career, most notably Inside Man and American Gangster.
History with Oscar:
Denzel Washington has two Oscars and seven total prior nominations.
2017: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Fences (Lost to Casey Affleck, Manchester By the Sea)
2013: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Flight (Lost to Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln)
2002: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Training Day (Won)
2000: Best Actor in a Leading Role, The Hurricane (Lost to Kevin Spacey, American Beauty)
1993: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Malcolm X (Lost to Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman)
1990: Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Glory (Won)
1988: Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Cry Freedom ( Lost to Michael Douglas, Wall Street).
