1.
Octavia Spencer for The Help
Born: 25th May, 1972 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Strong, funny and energetic - Octavia Spencer's performance in The Help will give her an Oscar nomination... and a win! She's such an amazing scene-stealer in The Help - she's simply magnetic!
2.
Bérénice Bejo for The Artist
Born: 7th July, 1976 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: She's a beautiful woman, playing a rising cinema star in the most acclaimed movie of the year - The Artist. She's very expressive, she's very charming, she's so sweet and nice to watch and she's having a wonderful awards season... so an Oscar nomination seems assured. Only a really talented actress could deliver a performance like hers in The Artist and I believe the AMPAS will have this fact in consideration and see her as an excuse to give another Oscar nod to what promises to be their favorite movie of the year.
3.
Shailene Woodley for The Descendants
Born: 15th November, 1991 - Simi Valley, California, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: By more than holding herself alongside George Clooney (in one of the best performances of his career) in one of the most acclaimed movies of the year, Shailene Woodley is likely to become an Oscar nominee. Alexander Payne directed actors use to get Oscar nominations and after all the raves and the Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Awards nominations, she's one of the front-runners (missing a SAG Award nod may not hurt her Oscar chances a lot, since she's young and beautiful and this is her first big-screen performance).
4.
Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs
Born: 8th May, 1961 - Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England, UK
Previous Oscar acting recognition: 2000 - Best Leading Actress for Tumbleweeds (nom);
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: The AMPAS loves gender-bending (do you remember Cate Blanchett as one of the Bob Dylans?) and while some people simply can't fall in love for Glenn Close's leading performance in Albert Nobbs, McTeer is getting universal acclaim and award recognition. The movie isn't THAT good, but McTeer's performance is bright and her character is clearly alive, so she will get an Oscar nomination, with or without her co-star in the Best Actress nominees list
5.
Jessica Chastain for The Tree of Life
Born: March 29, 1981 - California, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: I don't remember any actress or actor who had such a wonderful breakthrough year: The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, Coriolanus, The Debt and The Help. Chastain deserves the Academy's recognition for such an incredible breakthrough year and her performance in The Tree of Life, in spite of not being the most Oscar looking, it's the most divine one - she looks so ethereal that you start asking yourself if this beautiful woman is an human being! Voters will easily want to nominate Chastain and I've a feeling that they will go for her performance in Malick's latest.
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6.
Vanessa Redgrave for Coriolanus
Born: 30th January, 1937 - Greenwich, London, England, UK
Previous Oscar acting recognition: 1967 - Best Leading Actress for Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (nom); 1969 - Best Leading Actress for Isadora (nom); 1972 - Best Leading Actress for Mary, Queen of Scots (nom); 1978 - Best Supporting Actress for Julia (win); 1985 - Best Leading Actress for The Bostonians (nom); 1993 - Best Supporting Actress for Howard's End (nom);
Oscar snubed performance(s): 1987 - Prick Up Your Ears; 2007 - Atonement
Oscar chances comment: I really do believe that IF Oscar voters watch Coriolanus, they will want to nominate Vanessa Redgrave "titanic" performance as a "monster mum". Redgrave has been away from the Oscar races since 1992/1993, which is too long for such an acting queen and the Academy loves to honour its "old treasures". No one can ignore Redgrave's performance in Coriolanus, which is (one of) the best acting performance of the year, but the question here is "Will enough Oscar voters see Coriolanus?"
7.
Jessica Chastain for The Help
Born: March 29, 1981 - California, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Jessica Chastain Oscar-nod-worthy performance of the year #2! While it is no better than her turn in The Tree of Life, but just completely different, Chastain benefits from The Help's Best Picture front-runner status and for showing such great comedic chops. Awards are more generous with this performance than Chastain's one in Terrence Malick latest, but the AMPAS loves drama more than comedy, so things may be a little different from the awards season...
8.
Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids
Born: August 26, 1970 - Plainfield, Illinois, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: People love a funny fat lady and Melissa McCarthy's performance in Bridesmaids is simply hilarious and she's able to steal the scene. A lot of people didn't take her Oscar chances THAT seriously (me included), mostly due to "that something the AMPAS seems to have against comedies", but the truth is that Melissa got SAG Awards, BAFTA and Critics' Choice Award nominations! To be honest, I think there would be other performances who deserve Oscar recognition better than Melissa's, but... this is a hell of a damn good comedic performance and the movie is so popular!.
9.
Carey Mulligan for Shame
Born: 28th May, 1985 - Westminster, London, England, UK
Previous Oscar acting recognition: 2010 - Best Leading Actress for An Education (nom);
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Carey Mulligan surprised both critics and audiences with her raw and "dynamite" performance as the sister of a sex-addict in Shame and got some considerable Oscar buzz around her. She received a big couple of major critics awards' noms and since the Academy loves a young and beautiful classy actress with great acting chops in a performance with nudity somewhere, Mulligan's Oscar hopes still alive!
10.
Jessica Chastain for Take Shelter
Born: March 29, 1981 - California, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Another great Chastain performance, but the Take Shelter belongs to Michael Shannon performance, in spite of all the raves she won as her work as a wife of a mentally unhealthy (???) man. She got an Independent Spirit Award nomination for this one and the Academy members go for performances in indie productions, sometimes... so, it can be an expected surprise!
