Oscars 2018: All about the best actor nominees

Find out more about the nominees for the 90th Academy Awards, which will take place on 4 March 2018.

TIMOTHEE CHALAMET

Also starred in: Interstellar, Lady Bird

Nominated for: Call Me By Your Name

The character: Elio, a young man living in Italy in the 1980s who falls in love with Oliver (Armie Hammer), a university student who has come to stay with his family.

Oscar record: This is the 22-year-old's first nomination.

The critics said: "In a film in which every performance is terrific, Chalamet makes the rest look like they're acting. He alone would make the film worth watching, but he's just one of countless reasons." Olly Richards, Empire

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS

Also starred in: Gangs of New York, Last of the Mohicans, My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, Lincoln

Nominated for: The Phantom Thread

The character: Reynolds Woodcock, a famous and eccentric British dressmaker in 1950s London.

Oscar record: Day-Lewis has won three best actor Oscars, for My Left Foot (1990), There Will Be Blood (2008) and Lincoln (2013). He was also nominated for In the Name of the Father (1994) and Gangs of New York (2003).

The critics said: "Day-Lewis gives a performance of an almost ridiculously charismatic outrageousness, the sort only he could get away with." Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

DANIEL KALUUYA

Also starred in: Black Panther (to be released 2018), Sicario, Skins (TV series)

Nominated for: Get Out

The character: Chris is a black man who visits the family of his white girlfriend for the first time but things start to get uncomfortable pretty quickly.

Oscar record: This is his first nomination.

The critics said: "Kaluuya, a Brit, is a perfect hero for a movie like this. Chris registers on some level that he's a character in a horror movie - he can't believe how bizarre these people are behaving - but the dislocation is deeper and more disabling." David Edelstein, Vulture

GARY OLDMAN

Also starred in: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Dark Knight Rises, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Batman Begins, several Harry Potter films

Nominated for: Darkest Hour

The character: British prime minister Winston Churchill, during the early days of World War II

Oscar record: Nominated in 2012 for best leading actor in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The critics said: "Oldman brings a wicked wit and compassionate heart to the role, one for which he seems almost superhumanly suited — and that's really saying something, consider how many great actors have played Churchill." Peter Howell, Toronto Star

DENZEL WASHINGTON

Also starred in: Fences, The Manchurian Candidate, Training Day, Devil in a Blue Dress, Crimson Tide, The Pelican Brief, Malcolm X, Flight and Glory

Nominated for: Roman J Israel, Esq

The character: A Los Angeles-based lawyer who takes over his firm when his work partner dies, only to discover secrets about the business, most unpleasant, that his former colleague had hidden from him.

Oscar record: Two wins - one for best actor in 2001 for Training Day plus a best supporting win for Glory in 1990. He's also had five other nominations - Fences (2017), Flight (2012), The Hurricane (2000), Malcolm X (1993) and Cry Freedom (1998).

The critics said: "You may think you know Washington as an actor, but you've never seen him like this. He is riveting as Roman J. Israel, Esq." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone