Oscars: Best supporting actor winner and nominees
- Published
A look at the best supporting actor winner and his fellow nominees for the 86th Academy Awards.
WINNER: JARED LETO
Age: 42
Nominated for: Dallas Buyers Club
The character: Rayon, a transgender woman with Aids, who teams up with Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) to import unapproved HIV drugs to the US.
Oscar record: Leto has multiple MTV Awards for his band 30 Seconds To Mars, but this is his first Oscar nomination.
The critics said: "Leto is simply wonderful. Fully inhabiting Rayon, he makes the slender creature anything but synthetic, his flirtatious banter poignantly underscored by helpless self-destructiveness." David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter, external.
BARKHAD ABDI
Age: 28
Nominated for: Captain Phillips
The character: Abduwali Muse, a Somali pirate leader who takes mariner Captain Richard Phillips hostage.
Oscar record: Captain Phillips is Abdi's first film. The son of a teacher, he fled Somalia's civil war aged seven and was working as a chauffeur when he was cast by director Paul Greengrass.
The critics said: "The extraordinary Abdi, a Mogadishu émigré living in Minneapolis, had never acted before. Yet he crushes his scenes with Hanks, his skinny bravado a force to reckon with." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone, external
BRADLEY COOPER
Age: 39
Nominated for: American Hustle
The character: Richie DiMaso, a single-minded FBI agent with a tight perm, who enlists the help of two con artists to bring down corrupt government officials in New Jersey.
Oscar record: One best actor nomination, for his portrayal of bi-polar schoolteacher Pat Solitano in 2012's Silver Linings Playbook.
The critics said: "That Cooper can keep a straight face with all the hair and beard and wardrobe stuff going on is a testament to his thespian chops. On top of that, he brings a storm of angst and ambition to the table." Steven Rea, Philadelhpia Inquirer, external.
MICHAEL FASSBENDER
Age: 36
Nominated for: 12 Years a Slave
The character: Edwin Epps, a sadistic plantation owner who struggles to reconcile racism with his feelings towards his female slave, Patsey.
Oscar record: None
The critics said: "Fassbender is brilliant in the part. Violence is always only a hair's breadth away, but his belief in his authority results in an eccentricity at times so delicate as to be even more terrifying than the temper... He goes straight from strangling a woman to softly cuddling a terrified friend." Paul MacInnes, The Guardian, external.
JONAH HILL
Age: 30
Nominated for: The Wolf of Wall Street
The character: Donnie Azoff, a despicable, drug-addled trader who helps Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) influence the stock market.
Oscar record: One nomination, for best supporting actor, in Brad Pitt baseball movie Moneyball.
The critics said: "Jonah Hill [is] Belfort's sidekick Donnie Azoff, a hedonistic putz with bizarre white teeth who gets some of the biggest and broadest laughs without ever straying into caricature." Damon Wise, Empire magazine, external.