The remarkable performances of Oscar nominees often get forgotten once they fail to win the highly-coveted golden trophy. However, we feel that these six stars below deserved the big win.
We can all agree that Hugh Jackman has had a colourful and dynamic career in film. Many would also acknowledge his performance in Prisoners as his best portrayal so far. Jackman plays Keller Dove, a seemingly ordinary father, that is until his six-year-old daughter is kidnapped, a road that leads to Jackman taking justice into his own hands.
The reviews were overwhelmingly positive and the storyline was unpredictable, with Jackman utilising his talents to make his character match that unpredictable nature.
When a famous person an actor has portrayed on film compliments the acting by saying, “The way she portrayed me was just exactly how I was feeling”, you know this is incredible work. This was the case for Amy Adams, with the quote coming straight from the mouth of Margaret Keane, the famous artist Adams played in the film Big Eyes.
Not only was Adams convincing to the audience, but Keane also commented on how much Adams looked like her, saying, “I couldn’t get over how much she looked like my old photographs.” This proves Adams’ performance was as close to real as it gets.
Jake Gyllenhaal is best known for roles that require physical extremes. Some say the avoidance of extreme dieting or weight gain in the movie Demolition is one of the intriguing aspects of his remarkable performance. Demolition really highlights Gyllenhaal’s raw acting talent without all the physical frills.
Gyllenhaal plays a slightly shallow, high society New Yorker who sheds his image piece by piece following his wife’s tragic death. His performance is hands down remarkable, even compared to his long list of career highlights.
Gary Oldman set the stage for a “must see” film based on the 1974 novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Here he plays the main character, former spy George Smiley who embarks on one of the largest investigations of his life.
Ironically, this project landed in Oldman’s lap as he wasn’t out searching for it when it was cast. However, it has proven to be one of his most notable performances to date. The film did so well that there have been rumours of another one swirling about.
Realistic scenes and daring stunts usually lead to entertaining films. However, Naomi Watts took that to the extreme when she played a tsunami survivor in her starring role in The Impossible.
Watts took on very dangerous scenes that she later admitted being angry about. However the powerful, raging waters and cringe-worthy snake scenes made her existing fans go wild, and gained her many new ones. The performance is so real that it brings out untapped emotions in viewers.
As if Johnny Depp wasn’t already a highly-celebrated actor, the star shook up the big screen playing Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. As a musical fantasy horror film, Depp took lessons to prepare his voice for the role: singing is not on the actor’s long resume.
The slight criticism of his singing voice was buried by how fitting he was for such a unique, spunky role. Depp fans would agree he deserves an Oscar for this performance.
