In Line: Actors In Line for an Oscar Nomination (2018)

While many often complain about Oscar not rewarding their nominees, even more loathed are the moments when great actors are denied even being invited. Trying to cite great performers that need to be rewarded is difficult, but it's even worse when one realizes that the moment for those great actors has simply passed on. It's genuinely disappointing, but I would like to nominate those who are more than likely to walk Dolby Theater. 
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==20. Billy Crudup==
 
Best Performance: Big Fish (2003)
It's difficult, and painful, to remember that the powerfully enigmatic Billy Crudup is left without an Oscar nomination. He's been a subtle but effective character actor for nearly two decades now, delivering key supporting turns major Oscar contenders like Spotlight and Almost Famous or as a vital big hitter in smaller work such as Big Fish, 20th Century Women, or The Stanford Prison Experiment that all served as ample opportunities to recognize him. Crudup's next most notable project is Where'd You Go Bernadette? as the titular missing person's husband, a potential late summer breakout that could serve as yet another resume builder for his overdue campaign. 
==19. Chadwick Boseman==
Best Performance: 42 (2013)
One of many new black actors to have propelled themselves to stardom in the last decade, Chadwick Boseman has utilized his natural charisma and talent to become a symbol for the acting African-American community. His iconic portrayals as Jackie Robinson in 42, James Brown in Get on Up, and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall brought long overdue figures to the silver screen, while his performance as T'Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has delivered a literal hero to the screen for children everywhere of many colors. Boseman has mostly relegated to action movies next year, and with the overnight success of Black Panther he will likely be in the blockbuster box for some time, but audiences eagerly await his return to prestige- provided they can find someone for him to play.
==18. Adam Sandler==
Best Performance: Punch Drunk Love (2002) 
The film world's relationship with Adam Sandler is a strange one; for a majority of his career, Sandler has been relegated to gross-out, immature comedy that has earned him money but zero critical attention. However, Sandler is far from possessing no talent; his acclaimed work in indie films such as Punch Drunk Love and The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) have been illuminating glances at just what Sandler is capable of, while his early career such as The Wedding Singer proves his sincerity and brand of humor can be masterfully utilized for genuine emotion. Sandler's next project will be fascinating, pairing with the Safdie brothers in their next crime thriller Uncut Gems. 
==17. John Goodman== 
Best Performance: The Big Lebowski (1998)
A founding member of the Internet's very first In Line lists, John Goodman is one of the most beloved actors in the modern film industry that has yet to be honored by the Academy. This, despite littering his filmography with iconic roles such as The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, Inside Llewyn Davis, and O Brother, Where Art Thou- this counting just his work with the Coen brothers. Goodman will be focusing on the small screen for the next year, including the reboot of the show that made him famous The Connors and Danny McBride's The Righteous Gemstones, as well as another science fiction box office player in Captive State. 
==16. Kyle Chandler==
Best Performance: The Spectacular Now (2013)
A bit of a personal favorite, Kyle Chandler has littered himself around a variety of engaging, exciting films with bit parts and supporting roles in between his time as Coach Taylor in Friday Night Lights. His vast array of melancholic but empathetic characters include The Wolf of Wall Street, Carol, Super 8, and a fantastic supporting role in The Spectacular Now. Chandler's currently working in an ensemble cast in the Godzilla franchise for the next two years, but he will surely find his way eventually. 
==15. Armie Hammer==
Best Performance: On the Basis of Sex (2018) 
The newest member of the "character actor trapped in a leading man's body" club, Armie Hammer's often soulful and expressive manner of acting has both earned him acclaim and prevented him from going either into the direction of thespian or movie star. This all despite a large bevy of supporting roles, from being the best part of the terrible J. Edgar to sensitive vulnerability in Call Me By Your Name and On the Basis of Sex to whatever Sorry to Bother You is. Hammer's next career move is the psychological horror thriller Wounds to Kenneth Branagh's next Agatha Christie adaptation Death on the Nile. 
==14. Jason Clarke== 
Best Performance: Mudbound (2017)
Unfairly placed into supporting, smarmy villainous roles over the years, Jason Clarke's ability as an actor to make the unapproachable empathetic should make him a prime candidate for consideration eventually. He fits quite well into period pieces too, capturing 20th century masculinity to a T in films like Mudbound, Chappaquiddick, The Great Gatsby, and First Man. Stepping back from his dramatic work into some lighter fair, Clarke will next be seen alongside John Lithgow in the remake Pet Sematary and another costume romantic drama in The Aftermath. 
==13. Logan Lerman==
Best Performance: Indignation (2016)
One of many younger actors of the new generation to make this list, Logan Lerman has not only left a mark on his career despite his young age but in fact because of it. Coming of age and issues of maturity have never been so perfectly captured like the way Lerman does in The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Fury, and Indignation. Lerman has largely been missing from the cinematic field of late, but a new supporting role in a Shirley Jackson biopic Shirley shows potential promise as either a new qualifying performance or an all-around thrilling piece of film. 
==12. David Oyelewo==
Best Performance: Selma (2014)
With a truly theatrical voice and the sheer magnitude of screen presence to match it, David Oyelewo is the perfect example of someone who needed the Oscar nomination to propel him to true opportunity. Despite his rapturous and defining portrayal of the legendary Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Oyelewo has largely stayed out of the film world aside from A United Kingdom and more providing his voice to beautiful effect in television animated series. For the next few years Oyelewo will be staying in the genre of science fiction including Chaos Walking, Relive, and Come Away. 
==11. Ewan McGregor==
Best Performance: Moulin Rouge! (2001)
It is an absolute travesty that the many gifts of cinema that Ewan McGregor has delivered to the audiences of the world and not a single one has been awarded. His bombastic but compelling portrayal of a drug addict in Trainspotting; the idealistic artist in Moulin Rouge!; the perfect encapsulation of the American spirit in Big Fish; a tragic son coping with a midlife crisis in Beginners; or supporting roles in fantastic ensembles like Miles Ahead or August Osage County. McGregor's talents will go into blockbusters once again when he portrays infamous Gotham crime lord Black Mask in Birds of Prey, while also bringing a long-awaited Shining sequel to life in Doctor Sleep. 
==10. Joseph Gordon-Levitt== 
Best Performance: 50/50 (2011)
Initially believed to be the next big thing in Hollywood, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's efforts in front of and behind the camera have created a devout following for the young filmmaker's repertoire. His effortless charm has endeared him to many in comedies like (500) Days of Summer and 50/50, while his dramatic chops are certainly shown to be up to par in Snowden and The Walk. He's been quiet since Snowden, focusing solely on his company hitRECORD, but he'll return to the screen dancing and singing in his next directorial project alongside Channing Tatum in Wingmen. 
==9. Michael B. Jordan==
Often paired alongside phenomenal L.A. bred filmmaker Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan is the physical and talented spearhead of a new generation of actors. His intensity and charm appear in equal measure, whether it be as the heroic Adonis in Creed or the villainous Killmonger in Black Panther, both serving as powerful and empathetic creations surrounded by the big budget flair. Teaming up with Coogler in once again in 2020 for Wrong Answer could be his potential bout with Oscar, or it could be by becoming Bryan Stevenson in Destin Daniel Cretton's Just Mercy. 
==8. James McAvoy==
Best Performance: Split (2017)
The most underrated actor on this list, McAvoy's dynamic range and undeniable talent makes him a star always willing to challenge himself. Atonement proved his abilities as a traditional romantic leading man, while he has brought a sense of regal class to blockbuster franchise X-Men and the manic, wild-eyed gusto required for Split 's main antagonist. McAvoy will remain in blockbusters for now, with three entries in 2019 in the forms of It: Chapter 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and one already in theaters now with Glass. 
==7. Miles Teller== 
Best Performance: Whiplash (2014)
The final member of the young generation, Miles Teller rightfully takes the furthest spot ahead for his dynamic career alongside several industry veterans. A breathtaking debut in Rabbit Hole alongside Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckart, a star making performance against J.K. Simmons in Whiplash, and a hilarious straight man to the manic Jonah Hill in War Dogs proves his versatility despite his boyish looks. Tom Cruise will be looking to add himself to the list of veterans with Teller as he portrays Goose's son in Top Gun: Maverick. 
==6. Colin Farrell== 
Best Performance: In Bruges (2008)
The inaugural and eponymous founder of the "Colin Farrell Syndrome", Colin Farrell's rogueish looks and charm often distract from his genuinely effective skills as an actor. Truly embracing the strange and manic often does wonders for him, going against the type he could be with perfection in In Bruges and Horrible Bosses while also showing his talent as a straight man in Seven Psychopaths and The Beguiled. Once again diving into franchising with Dumbo, Farrell hopes to make waves with his trademark wit and weirdness for Toff Guys alongside Matthew McConaghuey and Guy Ritchie.
==5. Ben Foster==
Best Performance: The Messenger (2009)
An impossibly versatile actor to pin down, Ben Foster is without doubt the most chameleonic and fascinating character actor working today. He has played every aspect of the actor's emotional spectrum, from stoically subdued in his career best The Messenger to empathetically chaotic in Hell or High Water or downright hateful in 3:10 to Yuma. Foster's ample room and skill to play in any performance, next taking his fiery passion into the medieval era in the appropriately titled Medieval, where he will portray the 14th century Czech warlord Jan Zizka.
==4. Oscar Isaac==
Best Performance: A Most Violent Year (2014)
As shifting a gaze as his racial identity, Oscar Isaac's ambiguous but piercing abilities as an actor have made him beloved by every important circle of film criticism. There's little he can't do, with Ex Machina, A Most Violent Year, and Inside Llewyn Davis all provoking primal emotion thanks in large part to Isaac's cataclysmic abilities as a performer. He'll be providing his voice into The Addams Family next year, while he will also make one final appearance in the newest episode in a little franchise called Star Wars. 
==3. Joel Edgerton==
Best Performance: Boy Erased (2018)
Despite his old school charming looks and his rugged exterior, Joel Edgerton's expressive talents make him a subtle but beloved supporting performer that leaves many seeking more. Edgerton's villainous, or at least morally ambiguous, turns are his most renowned, including his delectable work in Boy Erased, It Comes at Night, and The Gift (twice directing himself to his best performances). Edgerton will go back in time to medieval Europe alongside Timothee Chalamet in The King, with a supporting nomination totally possible. 
==2. Michael Stuhlbarg== 
Best Performance: A Serious Man (2009)
The neurotic and unknown influence of Michael Stuhlbarg in many supporting roles has uplifted himself into one of the key supporting actors working today. His interpretation of a midlife crisis is phenomenal in A Serious Man as a lead, while he has bolstered the ensembles of countless films like Miss Sloane, Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water, Steve Jobs, and The Post, making him the signifier of a great film in the process. Stuhlbarg will also be making an appearance alongside Lerman in Shirley, while he has already confirmed a return in Call Me By Your Name 's sequel that almost earned his first nomination. 
==Honorable Mentions==
*Aaron Eckart - Rabbit Hole (2010)
*Robert Pattinson - Good Time (2017) 
*Garrett Hedlund - Mudbound (2017)
*Jason Mitchell - Straight Outta Compton (2015)
*Hugh Grant - About A Boy (2002)
==1. Idris Elba==
Best Performance: The Jungle Book (2016)
With a voice as deep and soulful as sand, piercing dagger eyes, and the raw, unfiltered talent of a master, Idris Elba is the undisputed king of actors awaiting a nomination. His performance in Beasts of No Nation made him the first and so far only actor to win a Screen Actors Guild award without being nominated, while by the power of his voice alone he was able to dominate The Jungle Book. Elba will next be seen in the comedic action spin-off Hobbs and Shaw, as well as performing his heart out in Cats before delving into the fantastical vision of George Miller in Three Thousand Years of Longing. 
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==20. Lea Seydoux==
 
Best Performance: Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)
A recent transplant from international French cinema to American audiences, Lea Seydoux has weaved her ways into the hearts and minds of many viewers with her touching and sensitive works like Blue is the Warmest Color or her raw unfiltered passion like The Lobster. Seydoux will next lend her talents to Wes Anderson for his own interpretation of France in The French Dispatch, and lend her voice to Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding. 
==19. Robin Wright==
Best Performance: Forrest Gump (1994)
Now that her tenure as the Commander in Chief in House of Cards has ended and with Wonder Woman and Blade Runner 2049 money in the bank, the luxurious Robin Wright might finally be able to return to the smaller fare that is equal to her talents. She was beauty and feisty true love in the early 1990's with The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump, while weaving her way into independent fare like The Congress. She'll be returning to the DC Extended Universe with Wonder Woman 1984, but afterwards her future is limitless. 
==18. Chloe Grace Moretz== 
Best Performance: Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
Despite her young age as an actress, Chloe Grace Moretz has already firmly cemented herself into the film world as a talent to watch. Breaking through with fiery passion in Kick-Ass and weaving onward with hefty dramatic fair in Clouds of Sils Maria and The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Moretz' potential is only rising from here. Chloe's voice will be heard alongside Oscar Isaac in The Addams Family, while she'll see a potential bout with the Academy alongside Garrett Hedlund in Party of the Century or Blood on the Tracks under the directorial hand of Luca Guadagnino. 
==17. Anya Taylor-Joy==
Best Performance: Split (2017)
The newest member of the rank of "Scream Queen", Anya Taylor-Joy's historic skill and abilities as an actress are only just starting to show themselves. She can play either side in the genre, the conniving villain in The VVitch or the terrified target in Split, with a healthy mixture in Thoroughbreds. 2019 will likely be the year that cements her status as a genuine star with roles like Glass and The New Mutants, but a potential comedy from Justin Kelly in Weetzie Bat could be her ticket. 
==16. Aubrey Plaza==
Best Performance: Ingrid Goes West (2017)
Most famous for her deadpan delivery in Parks and Recreation, Aubrey Plaza's penchant for dark humored drama makes her a fascinating actress to watch in her smaller films like Ingrid Goes West and Safety Not Guaranteed. Her idiosyncratic wit and undeniably empathetic abilities make her a deceptively versatile actress, and directors should be more willing to embrace her charms. She'll make her first attempt into major blockbuster films with Child's Play, while she'll lend her voice to a wonderful little animated feature in The Ark and the Aardvark. 
==15. Zoe Kazan==
Best Performance: The Big Sick (2017)
Multitalented granddaughter of Elia Kazan, Zoe Kazan has subtly made a name for herself by weaving her way through a strong career. Whether it's genre fair such as her romantic comedies The Big Sick and Ruby Sparks to the serious, smaller supporting roles she plays in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs or Revolutionary Road, the beautiful and charming Zoe Kazan can do very little harm towards her path to Oscar. After having wrote Wildlife with her partner and fellow overdue performer Paul Dano, Kazan can next be seen in The Kindness of Strangers, working with veterans Bill Nighy and Andrea Riseborough in a new melodrama by Lone Scherfig. 
==14. Bryce Dallas Howard==
Best Performance: The Help (2011)
The daughter of Academy Award winner Ron Howard, Bryce Dallas Howard has established her own name outside of her father's shadow by far. Her villainy and charm makes for a fantastic part of The Help, while making strong use of smaller, limited roles such as 50/50. Dallas Howard only has one more Jurassic World sequel to do before she's freed up to be picked up by more directors, but perhaps Rocketman is all she'll need when she plays the mother of Taron Egerton's Elton John. 
==13. Melanie Laurent==
Best Performance: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
One of the most successful foreign actresses to grace American audiences, Melanie Laurent has become a star in her own right outside her native France with ease. She easily made her mark as the fiery Shoshanna in Inglourious Basterds, while proving just as subdued and charming in Beginners two years later and into box office hits like Now You See Me. Laurent was behind the camera in 2018 for Galveston, and excluding Michael Bay's newest action film has the wide open schedule needed to get her a prime role or project. 
==12. Emma Watson==
Best Performance: The Perks of Being A Wallflower (2012)
No longer just Hermione Granger, Emma Watson's development from perky young actress to a truly mature actress has been fantastic for longtime fans. Watson's properly put her seductive charm and genuine human connection into flawed characters like The Perks of Being A Wallflower and The Bling Ring to perfect effect, while tiptoeing into other genre fair throughout. Watson took over for Emma Stone in Greta Gerwig's sophomore film in the newest version of Little Women, a likely prime Oscar contender that Watson should get swept into with ease. 
==11. Scarlett Johansson==
Best Performance: Lost in Translatoin (2003)
Despite the strange career choices Scarlett Johansson has made in attempts to prove herself, many forget that she is a genuinely fantastic actress. Her sensibilities can be put to just the right use in a variety of ways, from seductive like Vicky Cristina Barcelona or mysterious like Lost in Translation or empathetically energetic in Her. Johansson is one of the few original MCU performers still stuck in the machine due to Black Widow, but a supporting role in Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit might be just the ticket as well. 
==10. Elizabeth Olsen==
Best Performance: Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
Don't let her status as the youngest Olsen fool viewers; Elizabeth is by far the most talented and well-versed in acting of her sisters. Firmly establishing herself as a powerhouse as early as 2011 for Martha Marcy May Marlene, Olsen's weaving throughout independent cinema like Ingrid Goes West alongside her commitment to the MCU as Scarlet Witch makes her a constantly engaging actress. Olsen will also be in the MCU for some time, with the recently announced The Vision and Scarlet Witch television series, but it's only a matter of time from there.
==9. Kirsten Dunst==
Best Performance: Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Active for well over two decades since her breakthrough work at the young age of 12, Kirsten Dunst has woven herself through a variety of projects more than worthy of rewarding her talent. In her youth Dunst created the mysterious ingenue to perfection in Interview with the Vampire and The Virgin Suicides, while littering her adult career with blockbusters like Spider-Man and Hidden Figures with independent quality like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Beguiled. Kirsten Dunst will next be seen on the small screen as the eponymous lead in the series On Becoming A God in Central Florida, but the film world awaits her return with baited breath. 
==8. Elle Fanning==
Best Performance: The Beguiled (2017)
Elle Fanning began her career only a brief seven years ago, but she has already built herself a resume that would make industry veterans applaud her work. Utilizing her youth to her advantage, Elle Fanning has made herself the prime model of youthful rebellion and disillusionment in hit indie films like Super 8, 20th Century Women, The Beguiled, and How to Talk to Girls At Parties. Fanning will have a busy couple years ahead, playing the lead alongside Justice Smith in Brett Haley's next feature All the Bright Places, while she will go against Salma Hayek and Laura Linney in Molly and return to Disney in Maleficent 2. 
==7. Gugu Mbatha-Raw== 
Best Performance: Miss Sloane (2016)
Arguably the most recent breakthrough on this list, Gugu Mbatha-Raw has more than earned her career in the short time she has been truly active to most of the film world. She absolutely soared to stardom in Belle and Beyond the Lights, while she made waves in supporting work in the equally underrated Miss Sloane and introducing herself to mainstream audiences with Beauty and the Beast and A Wrinkle in Time. Mbatha-Raw has eight total projects in various stages of development at the moment, weaving into both television and drama, so her name and potential is only just beginning. 
==6. Shailene Woodley==
Best Performance: The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Left in the dust by Jennifer Lawrence's intense rise to fame, Shailene Woodley never received the prime attention she ought to have given her immense talent and skill. Despite appearing in the Divergent series, she has more than redeemed herself wit powerful performances in The Descendents, The Spectacular Now, The Fault in Our Stars, and Big Little Lies. Woodley's next role is in the untitled Drake Dormeus film, as well as providing her voice to the animated adventure film Arkie and returning to Big Little Lies. 
==5. Sarah Paulson==
Best Performance: Carol (2015)
Despite being most well-known and respected for her astounding work on television, this far from discounts Sarah Paulson and her immense talents on film. In fact, it supplements them; her astoundingly empathetic villains make films like 12 Years A Slave and Carol add flavor to the dramas, while she's slowly weaving her way into more mainstream supporting roles like The Post and Glass. There's potential for Paulson to make it to Dolby with John Crowley's The Goldfinch before she once again goes back to television with the One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest prequel series Ratched as the titular Nurse Ratched. 
==4. Kristen Stewart==
Best Performance: Clouds of Sils Maria
Saddled by the legacy of Twilight, true cinephiles know that Stewart isn't defined by that series but in fact is one of the new generation's brightest and most sophisticated actresses. She was the first American to be honored with the Cesar Award for Best Supporting Actress for her deserving work in Clouds of Sils Maria, but her filmography is additionally bolstered by intriguing projects like Personnel Shopper and Café Society. Stewart is being reintroduced to mainstream audiences with Charlie's Angels from Elizabeth Banks, while she'll tackle fascinating projects with Against All Odds as an actress being investigated during the Civil Rights Movement and a LGBT drama in Happiest Season. 
==3. Diane Kruger==
Best Performance: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
One of the few actresses well-known for her work in foreign language cinema, Diane Kruger has defiantly created a path that has led her to always take fascinating roles worthy of her challenges. Kruger's most well-known for her delectable supporting turn in Inglourious Basterds, while she nearly made it to Dolby in 2017 for her grief-stricken mother in In the Fade. She'll appear alongside Martin Freeman in The Operative in 2019, while she has just announced new project Butterfly in the Typewriter as it enters pre-production. 
==2. Michelle Yeoh==
Best Performance: Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Asian actors have always had a complicated and underseen history with the Hollywood film industry, which makes the respect of Michelle Yeoh both gratifyingly lauded and frustratingly unrewarded. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon established her abilities as an action heroine and leading lady, followed by nearly two decades of powerful supporting work in Memoirs of a Geisha and Sunshine that has culminated in an iconic turn this year with Crazy Rich Asians. Michelle Yeoh will go alongside Crazy Rich Asians ' alumni Henry Golding in Last Christmas, while also providing her voice alongside Samuel L. Jackson in Blazing Samurai and returning to the Star Trek universe in Star Trek: Discovery. 
==Honorable Mentions==
*Riley Keough - American Honey
*Daisy Ridley - Star Wars: The Force Awakens
*Amandla Stenburg - The Hate U Give
*Katheryn Hahn - Private Life
*Thandie Newton - Crash
==1. Emily Blunt==
Best Performance: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
How could it happen, when Emily Blunt is by far ne of the most talented, charming, and beautiful actresses working today, that she has been left without a single Oscar nomination? The Devil Wears Prada, Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, and Into the Woods were ample times to reward her as a supporting player, while Sicario, The Girl on the Train, A Quiet Place, and Mary Poppins Returns were all phenomenal lead performances that have proven her talent. For A Quiet Place, she joined Idris Elba as one of two actors to actually win the SAG Award for a film, A Quiet Place, without being nominated for an Oscar. Blunt's only project slated for now is Jungle Cruise, which is already in post-production, making her a dominant candidate to headline a new project eventually. Don't let audiences down again, Academy. 
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Category:In Line