In the days leading up to the 84th Academy Awards, FilmBuffOnline will be offering profiles on all the nominees in the major categories. Some may be well know, others might be new to you, but if you need a refresher on these talented nominees, here it is.
Demián Bichir
Nominated for: playing Carlos Galindo, an immigrant gardener who is trying to give his son A Better Life.
Other honors for this role:
Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role , 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award.
Nominated, Best Male Lead, 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards..
Where you might know him from:
Bichir played Fidel Castro in Steven Soderbergh’s Che and Ernesto Reyes in the TV Show Weeds.
History with Oscar:
This is Demián Bichir’s first Oscar nomination.
George Clooney
Nominated for: playing Matt King, a man who must reconnect with his estranged children after his wife suffers a life-threatening accident in The Descendants.
Other honors for this role:
Won, Best Actor, Washington DC Film Critics Association.
Won, Best Actor, National Board of Review.
Won, Best Actor, 2012 Critics’ Choice Awards.
Won, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama , The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role , 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award.
Nominated, Best Actor, 2012 BAFTA Awards.
Where you might know him from:
Do I really have to write anything here? Everytime he changes girlfriends, it’s front page news.
After a career doing a number of small roles in unsuccessful films and TV show, Clooney got his big break playing Dr. Doug Ross on the TV series ER. He made the jump to films, and has starred in a number successful ones, and has directed quite a number of them as well. He is a frequent collaborator with fellow nominee Brad Pitt, having shared the screen with him in Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean’s Thirteen, Burn After Reading and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which Clooney also directed.
History with Oscar:
George Clooney has been nominated for an Oscar five times in the past, winning once, and is nominated for another award this year–with Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, The Ides of March.
2006: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Syriana (Won).
2006: Best Achievement in Directing, Good Night, and Good Luck (lost to Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain).
2006: Best Writing, Original Screenplay, Good Night, and Good Luck (with Grant Heslov) (lost to Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco, Crash).
2008: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Michael Clayton (lost to Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood).
2010: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Up in the Air (lost to Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart).
Jean Dujardin
Nominated for: playing George Valentin, a silent movie superstar whose career goes into decline with the advent of sound recording in The Artist.
Other honors for this role:
Nominated, Best Actor, Washington DC Film Critics Association.
Nominated, Best Actor, 2012 Critics’ Choice Awards.
Won, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy , The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
Won, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role , 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award.
Won, Best Actor, 2012 BAFTA Awards.
Nominated, Best Male Lead, 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Where you might know him from:
Unless you’ve lived in Europe, you might not know him. But he has starred in the OSS 117 and Lucky Luke franchises, which savvy fans in the U.S. might have seen.
History with Oscar:
This is Jean Dujardin’s first Oscar nomination.
Gary Oldman
Nominated for: playing George Smiley, a retired British spy who is brought back in the fold to weed out a traitor in the highest levels of British intelligence in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Other honors for this role:
Won, Best Actor, San Francisco Film Critics Circle.
Nominated, Best Actor, 2012 BAFTA Awards.
Where you might know him from:
Some of his most famous roles were Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy, Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, Sirius Black in the Harry Potter franchise, and Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s Batman films.
History with Oscar:
Surprisingly, this is Gary Oldman’s first Oscar nomination.
Brad Pitt
Nominated for: playing Billy Beane, who revolutionizes Major League Baseball by using computer statistical analysis to hire players in Moneyball.
Other honors for this role:
Nominated, Best Actor, Washington DC Film Critics Association.
Won, Best Actor, New York Film Critics Circle (honored for Moneyball and The Tree of Life).
Won, Best Actor, Boston Society of Film Critics.
Nominated, Best Actor, 2012 Critics’ Choice Awards.
Nominated, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama , The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role , 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award.
Nominated, Best Actor, 2012 BAFTA Awards.
Where you might know him from:
Again, do I really have to write anything here? Everytime he goes out for coffee with his family, it’s front page news.
If you need reminding as to who Brad Pitt is, he was the star of Se7en, Fight Club and Troy. In addition to all the films he co-starred in with George Clooney, Pitt also co-starred in True Romance with Gary Oldman.
History with Oscar:
Brad Pitt has been nominated for an Oscar two times in the past, and, like Clooney, is nominated for another award this year– for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Moneyball, which Pitt co-produced with Michael De Luca and Rachel Horovitz.
1996: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Twelve Monkeys (Lost to Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects).
2009: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (lost to Sean Penn, Milk).
