The speculative phase of the awards season is only now getting underway and already we're starting to see a few names emerge as definite Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor contenders. Michael Keaton for
Birdman, David Oyelowo for
Selma, and JK Simmons for
Whiplash seem like obvious picks. But let's not forget there were a lot of other great performances throughout the year that shouldn't be overlooked. Just as with my list of
great overlooked female performances, the actors here have either received minimal awards love or are just my favorites that I wanted to put some shine on. Some took chances, like hiding their faces behind giant masks; others are making the leap into dramatic territory for the first time. In every case, these guys were tremendous in 2014 so let's just get right into it.
Irrfan Khan-
The Lunchbox
Michael Fassbender-
Frank
Tom Hardy-
Locke
Bill Hader-
The Skeleton Twins
Antoine-Olivier Pilon-
Mommy
Tom Hiddleston-
Only Lovers Left Alive
Nicolas Cage-
Joe
Jon Favreau-
Chef
Ansel Elgort-
The Fault in Our Stars
Brendan Gleeson-
Calvary
Chadwick Boseman-
Get On Up
Jack O'Connell-
Starred Up
Edgar Ramirez-
The Liberator
Chris Rock-
Top Five
Michael Shannon-
Young Ones
