I don’t always get an opportunity to do too many other fun side columns and projects for my site other than just straight-up reviews. Everything is content-driven based on things I’ve recently seen, whether it’s my Small Screen Diaries or pushing reviews out for newer content. But I often talk about the Oscars on my YouTube channel, and I wanted to bring a little bit of that over here. Recently, I did a video, which everyone can check out on my YouTube channel, ranking the Best Actor winners of the 2010s, and this is a series I hope to continue to give my thoughts on what I think about the Oscar races of years prior. I decided to kick it off with the most recent decade that is actually completed, not the one we’re currently in. Thus, the 2010s. And with a roll of the dice, we started with Best Actor. So these are the actors who won for films released in the years 2010 through 2019, with Oscar ceremonies that aired from 2011 through 2020. I’ll give my rankings and thoughts on each one. Oddly enough, when I was looking at the 10 winners, there isn’t that one performance that I feel like defines them all, that has entered the pantheon of some of my favorite films or performances of all time. There are some here that I really like and enjoy, and some where it was just overdue or their time, and I can get behind that. But there aren’t films here that I’ve seen seven, eight, nine, or 10 times. These are films I’ve watched once or twice and, by and large, have not made a giant impact on my film diet.
- Jean Dujardin, The Artist
If you don’t know me, you might be assuming that I picked Jean Dujardin at the bottom of my list because this is primarily a silent film, and therefore, as a blind person, how could I possibly come to understand and love a silent film or get what The Artist brought to the table? The thing is, when this movie came out in theaters, I could see. I didn’t start losing my vision until 2017, and this movie came out years before that. So as far as The Artist goes, I thought it was a cute gimmick at the time. Looking back on the nominations, and especially the wins, Dujardin becomes my least favorite winner of the bunch. I think I would’ve been okay with his nomination. I understand The Artist was a bit of a gimmick, and I’m okay with it being a Best Picture nominee, with him being nominated for Best Actor, and even Bérénice Bejo getting her nomination. But I don’t think this is a winning film. I think it’s a tip of the hat to the Hollywood of yesteryear, but ultimately, I don’t think it’s a film of consequence that many people think about today. It was a bit of a flash-in-the-pan moment. Dujardin hasn’t made too big of a use of his win in terms of taking over Hollywood, although he has been cast in several projects, so obviously he benefited from having “Academy Award winner” associated with his name. But of these 10 winners, he seems to be the one working the least in Hollywood now. He didn’t have any incredibly obvious competition, but given that this would’ve been Brad Pitt’s first acting Oscar for Moneyball, I would swap Dujardin’s win for Pitt. I think Moneyball is a better film, and the nominees this year aren’t exactly jumping out at me. It definitely feels like a year where someone who didn’t get nominated probably should’ve won. But at least with Brad Pitt, it would’ve been his first acting win. I also really liked George Clooney in The Descendants, but he had previously won for Syriana.
- Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Yes, the film that inexplicably dominated the Oscars for some reason, breaking into far more categories than it really deserved to after a chaotic production that saw Bryan Singer fired and Dexter Fletcher brought in to finish the film. They released, at best, a good, not great biopic that relies heavily on nostalgia and concert performances of Queen songs everybody loves. Rami Malek does a bang-up job here, as most people do in these kinds of biopics, and it’s not so much that I’m against his win specifically because I think he did a bad job. The problem is that one of my favorite performances of the decade lost to him. This one became easy because I knew immediately who I would swap him for, and that would be Bradley Cooper for A Star Is Born. Cooper still has yet to win a competitive Oscar despite having double-digit nominations spread across acting, producing, writing, and directing, and A Star Is Born would’ve been just the right moment for him to win. Not just because he’s great in the film, but because he was such a huge aspect of the project itself. Writing, directing, producing, starring, it all made sense, and the fact that Malek somehow managed to trample him is an egregious error that I would rectify immediately. This was Malek’s first nomination, and just the nomination alone for somebody who hadn’t really been given too much notice by Hollywood before, outside of Mr. Robot on television, would’ve boosted him. He didn’t necessarily need the win. Looking at Cooper’s career, he had already been nominated for Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and American Sniper, all within the same decade. This felt like the mountain we were building to. Unfortunately, Oscar voters decided to crown the Queen instead.
- Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
I suppose you could associate his ranking here as a byproduct of the controversy surrounding Casey Affleck, but really it has more to do with the fact that I don’t give Manchester by the Sea much thought. It’s a film I’ve only seen one time, and while I think Casey did a good job, I wouldn’t necessarily take away the win from him, even though he did have some decent competition. It’s just not a win I get excited about anymore. Even as I try to think back on Manchester by the Sea at the time, I tend to remember Michelle Williams’ supporting performance a bit more, and it’s frustrating that once again Michelle Williams has supported someone else to Oscar victory without being able to win herself. She continues to be an actress chasing a win that may never come for her, but hopefully one day will. As for Casey Affleck, I don’t hate the fact that he won. He’s had other strong performances in films like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and Manchester by the Sea is a pretty solid film from Kenneth Lonergan. It’s emotionally devastating enough that it gives Affleck everything he needs to showcase what he can do. It just feels like a small film that, much like The Artist, I think time is leaving behind.
- Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
This is a tough one, as Eddie Redmayne had competition this year as well. He actually does a really lovely job playing Stephen Hawking, as yet another biopic winner within this decade, and he won’t be the last. Considering Redmayne’s follow-up nomination to this was The Danish Girl, a film for which he didn’t even need the nomination, that’s one I could probably just give away. This kind of feels like if Eddie Redmayne was ever going to win an Academy Award, I guess it should be for The Theory of Everything, but once again I’m roped back into a film that I don’t think that much about anymore. Might I have thought about Michael Keaton in Birdman a little bit more? Of course. But things don’t always work out for every actor the way they’re supposed to. Still, Redmayne has turned in some wonderful performances over his career. I really enjoyed his supporting performance in Les Misérables, and it’s nice that he does have an Oscar because now that he’s trending into streaming shows, I don’t know that he’ll necessarily be able to rebound and get that golden opportunity again that leads him to an Oscar win. Never say never, though, because it happened for Adrien Brody.
- Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Yeah, this probably feels low to you. There’s something kind of funny about the fact that two people have won Oscars for playing the Joker, with Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix finding all of the right beats for wildly different variations on the character. Phoenix’s Joker is far more about mental health struggles than anything else, and he brings everything he’s got to Arthur Fleck. This was actually Phoenix’s first Oscar win after previous nominations for Gladiator, Walk the Line, and The Master, so he had certainly put in the work to get here. I guess I’m slightly less enthused about it now because the success of Joker led to Joker: Folie à Deux, which I think has put a little bit of a blemish on this film. Even if the first film is still solid on its own, I think most people are just going to pretend Joker: Folie à Deux never happened. Still, Phoenix brings everything he’s got to the role, and this is an earned win. I’m surprised he swept the season as much as he did, but when you’re good, you’re good.
- Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour represents another actor whose career is astounding and yet somehow seemed to perpetually elude the Academy Awards. He did have a prior nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but they waited until he was fully caked in makeup playing Winston Churchill to finally give him the Oscar. It is a tremendous performance. The film hinges entirely on him. I don’t know that I think about Darkest Hour that much because, again, these are all films I’ve only seen once or twice, but I definitely think about Oldman’s performance here, and I think it’s one of his very best. There was also another film around the same time, Churchill, starring Brian Cox, and while I love Brian Cox far more as an actor, he wasn’t as good of a Winston Churchill as Gary Oldman was, sort of revealing that it was more than just the makeup. It was actually the performance. Nine times out of 10, I would choose Brian Cox every time. This is the instance that proves Gary Oldman really brought a special sauce to the table.
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
It’s kind of crazy when you think about the fact that Daniel Day-Lewis wasn’t Steven Spielberg’s first pick for the role because he’s so tremendous in this film. I was mixed as to where I was going to put this on my list because it is such a great performance, as most Daniel Day-Lewis performances are terrific, fantastic performances. He’s the male version of Meryl Streep. He just doesn’t have the high number of nominations to back it up, but he should. Day-Lewis should easily be a double-digit nominee, and he’s already a three-time winner. Even after this, he does Phantom Thread, which is still a terrific performance. But Spielberg initially envisioned Liam Neeson in the role, and thank God Liam Neeson realized this was not his particular set of skills and passed the torch to Daniel Day-Lewis, who does tremendous work defining Lincoln for years to come. People will use this film to showcase Lincoln the president, making Day-Lewis’ performance the definitive version of him. Even if I haven’t seen Lincoln a ton of times, I respect it, and I respect his performance in it. I think what he brings is quite extraordinary.
- Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
This is a tough one because there’s a whole year here that I could discuss in terms of what should and shouldn’t have happened. Colin Firth was a previous nominee for A Single Man coming into The King’s Speech, and obviously this is Oscar bait, and I don’t think too many people give The King’s Speech much thought otherwise. But Firth has such a wonderful career that it’s hard to root against him, plus this is a terrific performance. But he is up against Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network. Now, I’m perfectly happy with Eisenberg, especially at his age, playing Mark Zuckerberg and being just a nominee. I think the more egregious error associated with these two films is the fact that The Social Network did not win Best Picture and Best Director, which it should have. So while I would leave Colin Firth as the winner for Best Actor, I would swap Picture and Director and take those away from The King’s Speech and Tom Hooper. I think The Social Network remains the stronger film and certainly one that continues to be held on a high pedestal by cinephiles. It is a film that is currently standing the test of time, while The King’s Speech is a bit wobbly. However, Colin Firth having an Oscar is delightful, and I’m absolutely here for it. Had he happened to have won for A Single Man and already had an Oscar coming into this, I would’ve knocked this performance down into the bottom half of the list and suggested that maybe Jesse Eisenberg should’ve won for The Social Network. Eisenberg has plenty more time left to get his flowers.
- Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
This could be number one if I liked The Revenant a little bit more. But it’s such a dark and depressing film that I’m just not that big of a fan of it. Still, it’s really hard to watch The Revenant and not see that Leonardo DiCaprio is one film away from killing himself on camera just to win an Academy Award. What he was willing to put himself through in The Revenant just to try to appeal to Oscar voters and finally get the win is amazing and compelling work. He really puts himself through all sorts of physical punishment and gives everything he’s got in this performance. It’s not my favorite Leonardo DiCaprio performance, but it might be his best because it’s the one where you can tell he wanted it more than anything else. The poor man had been chasing an Oscar for the better part of two decades ever since his first nomination for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and the argument not only can be made, but should be made, that this did not deserve to be his first win. He should’ve already won an Oscar prior to this. The debate would be over which film. But I wouldn’t take away his win here, especially considering it is still his only competitive acting Oscar win to date. I fully believe Leonardo DiCaprio will win again, but it’s likely Oscar voters will make him wait just as long as they did the first time. Interestingly, this is the one lead actor performance that Alejandro González Iñárritu was able to guide to a Best Actor win out of his two Best Picture winners in this decade. His other film, Birdman, managed to win Best Picture, but he wasn’t able to get Michael Keaton the Oscar for Best Actor. Here, he followed through, and DiCaprio finally got to hold his first golden statue.
- Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
I mean, this list is as much my favorite performances as it is trying to break down the actual wins, but this one was really hard. Not only is Matthew McConaughey up against Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, but he’s also up against Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave. Interestingly, this is the one performance near the top that didn’t sweep everything. McConaughey did not win the BAFTA for Best Leading Actor that year. It went to Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave, so McConaughey’s win wasn’t necessarily a presumed slam dunk throughout the entire season. But if you’ve heard the phrase “McConaissance,” the hybrid word blending his last name with “renaissance,” there’s a reason for that. Matthew McConaughey was, for a while, choosing all the right projects. He was popping up in critically acclaimed films like Mud while also appearing in the aforementioned The Wolf of Wall Street. He landed the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. Suddenly, the guy whose bread and butter had been romantic comedies was being taken really seriously. Dallas Buyers Club showcased him at exactly the right moment. The win for McConaughey feels perfectly timed because this was his moment. This feels like everything he was building toward at that time, and that’s what I love about it. Although I would’ve been just as happy if Chiwetel Ejiofor had won that year, and it’s possible that had that happened, he would still be number one on this list. What a hell of a year.
