Who Will Win Best Actor at the 2021 Oscars?

Who will succeed the Joker? Last year, Joaquin Phoenix won his Oscar as the Clown Prince of Crime. There are no famous comic-book villains in the Best Actor race this year, nor are there the kind of typical Oscar blockbusters in the Best Picture running, but there are plenty of men who have given astounding performances vying for the prize. Let's break it down. (Our Best Actress predictions are this way.)


The nominees
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari
The frontrunner: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ever since Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was first screened for critics, it seemed likely that Boseman would win a posthumous Oscar for the role of Levee, an ambitious, loquacious trumpeter with an Icarus quality. It's well deserved—the performance is incredible—but also a tribute to all the work he will never get to do after his untimely death from cancer last year. He won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a drama, and his trophy was accepted by his wife who gave an emotional speech.

riz ahmed
Riz Ahmed in 'Sound of Metal' | Amazon Studios
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Ahmed, long hailed as one of the finest actors of his generation, gets a showcase in Sound of Metal, playing a heavy metal drummer and former addict who has to reevaluate his life after losing his hearing. He's already won a number of critics awards, and is probably has the second-best chance of winning next to Boseman, especially since the Academy surprisingly showered a lot of love on this small, intense drama. He also is the first Muslim actor ever nominated in this category.

Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Coming back into the Oscar race after last year's supporting nomination for The Two Popes, Hopkins terrifyingly and tragically brings to life a man reeling from the effects of dementia. It's a role that couldn't be farther away from the one he won his trophy for nearly 30 years ago, Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. He also makes history as the oldest person nominated for Best Actor at 83 years old.

Gary Oldman, Mank
Oldman's probably too recent a winner, for Darkest Hour in 2018, to win again for Mank, and David Fincher's look at old Hollywood isn't the most exciting of contenders.

Steven Yeun, Minari
Yeun snagged the spot in this category that was arguably the most up for grabs, but it's a very well-deserved nod. He becomes the first Asian-American to ever be nominated for Best Actor, playing a Korean immigrant trying to start a farm in Arkansas in Lee Isaac Chung's beautiful, personal film. He also got a SAG nomination, which is a good sign for his chances at winning, and Academy voters were fans of Minari overall.

The biggest snub: Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
If you had talked to me before the Globe and the SAG nominations were released, I would have said Lindo is a frontrunner this year. But he was disgracefully snubbed by both those awards bodies for his turn as a Trump-loving Vietnam vet, and eventually the Oscars ignored his incredible work too.

Our prediction: Chadwick Boseman
#BestActor #Oscar2021 #WhatsHotOnBuzz #entertainment