Skip to main content

Oscar ballot: Who will win and should win


play
Show Caption

It’s getting down to crunch time and the end of awards season is in sight. So just who is going to win Sunday at the 88th Academy Awards (ABC, 7 p.m. ET/4 ET)? Here's a look:

BEST ACTOR

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

Matt Damon, The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Will win/should win: DiCaprio

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. The Aviator. Blood Diamond. The Wolf of Wall Street. Cases could be made for DiCaprio winning this category in previous years but it was never meant to be for arguably one of the best actors of his generation. Unless he gets mauled by a bear on the way to this year’s ceremony, it’s pretty much a lock that The Revenant star will be holding that elusive Oscar for his gritty, grimy role as frontiersman Hugh Glass.

ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Brie Larson, Room

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn 

Will win/should win: Larson

Like DiCaprio, the Room thespian has swept through award season cleaning up honors left and right, so chances are no one’s getting in her way now. Playing a single mom completely devoted to her son, in the worst of circumstances, is a breakout role for Larson that’s filled up her trophy case — just leave space for one more, Brie.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Tom Hardy, The Revenant

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Will win/should win: Stallone

Idris Elba won the Screen Actors Guild Award and Rylance snagged the BAFTA with Stallone not on the cards. But on Oscar night, Elba isn't in the mix and it’s Rylance playing underdog to Stallone, a Hollywood heavyweight who garnered his only other nominations almost 40 years ago for Rocky. This time, Rocky Balboa is going to be the one with a knockout punch and the gold at the end.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara, Carol

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Will win: Vikander

Should win: Mara

While Vikander could have been nominated for either her role in Danish Girl or the lauded Ex Machina, it was her turn as the wife of Redmayne’s transgender artist that won her the wealth of the attention — and for good reason. But Mara exuded winning heart, charm and a sweet innocence that transforms into worldly confidence as the young lover of Blanchett’s well-to-do older woman in 1950s-set Carol.

DIRECTOR

Adam McKay, The Big Short

George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant

Lenny Abrahamson, Room

Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Will win: Iñárritu

Should win: Miller

Last year’s Birdman wins weren’t a fluke. Iñárritu is among the filmmaking elite, proving it once and for all by crafting a gorgeous and intense journey of survival, and he has come on strong in recent weeks as the director to beat. He won last year, though, and one could argue Miller’s job was even harder, taking his own faded Mad Max franchise and revving it up with amazing visuals, artfully designed deathmobiles and Charlize Theron’s bionic-armed heroine singlehandedly redefining women in the action-movie genre.

BEST PICTURE

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

Will win:The Revenant

Should win: Spotlight

Iñárritu’s harrowing wilderness story is one that’s just not made much anymore, and although polarizing in its subject matter and violence, it’s an immersive experience for an audience unlike anything else in the field. That said, Spotlight is the very definition of an Oscar best picture, with an astounding cast, working-class storytelling and a crowd-pleasing true-life tale about the human spirit conquering a social evil.