2008 Oscar Contenders: Best Supporting Actor (2009 ceremony)

These are my Top 20 contenders for the 2008 Academy Awards.

The ceremony will be held on 22nd February, 2009.

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

These are my very early predictions for the twenty actors who may be in line for an Oscar nomination in the "Best Supporting Actor" category. Many have been to the ceremony before, so perhaps they will gain favour with voters. Others are not very well known, and are caught up in awards fever due to the “buzz” surrounding their movie. Will we see a mix of newcomers with old favourites welcomed back into the fold?

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WINNER:

Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) - died tragically on 22nd January, 2008. He was previously nominated as Best Actor for "Brokeback Mountain".

As a tribute to a brief but talented career, the Academy will reward the many excellent reviews of Ledger's performance in "The Dark Knight" with a posthumous Oscar in this Best Supporting Actor category. Along with "Brokeback Mountain", Heath Ledger's roles in "10 Things I Hate About You", "The Patriot", "A Knight's Tale", "Monster's Ball", "Casanova", "Candy", and "I'm Not There" will be on the minds of voters as they will no longer have the chance to nominate him in future decades.

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NOMINEES:

(I believe all other nominees in this category will realise that the award will go to the late Heath Ledger.)

Josh Brolin (Milk) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Robert Downey Jr. (The Soloist) - he was previously nominated as Best Actor for "Chaplin".

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt) - he won the Best Actor Oscar for "Capote", and was also previously nominated as Best Supporting Actor for "Charlie Wilson's War".

Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

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OTHER CANDIDATES:

Viggo Mortensen (Appaloosa) - he was previously nominated as Best Actor for "Eastern Promises".

Bryan Brown (Australia) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Rade Serbedzija (Battle In Seattle) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Russell Crowe (Body of Lies) - he won a Best Actor Oscar for "Gladiator" and was nominated for "The Insider" and "A Beautiful Mind".

John Malkovich (Burn After Reading) - he was previously nominated as Best Supporting Actor for "Places In The Heart" and "In The Line of Fire".

Jason Butler Hamer (Changeling) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Damian Bechir (Che) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Liev Schreiber (Defiance) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Matthew Rhys (The Edge of Love) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Michael Sheen (Frost / Nixon) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Miracle at St. Anna) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Ciaran Hinds (Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) - he has not previously been nominated for an Oscar.

Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder) - see notes above.

Tom Wilkinson (Valkyrie) - he was previously nominated as Best Actor for "In The Bedroom", and nominated as Best Supporting Actor for "Michael Clayton".

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