Oscars BETTING: Best Supporting Actor

Meet the men behind the men... so to speak

The runners: Javier Bardem (1.23), Casey Affleck (12.5), Hal Holbrook (17.5), Philip Seymour Hoffman (23), Tom Wilkinson (26)

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It's very rare in this life that the little man will get a nod and a morsel of recognition for all the good work he is doing to make the boss look good. Except in Hollywood, where once a year, all the big studio honchos take their faces out of the massive bowls of coke, send the whores home, and head off to the Academy Awards to applaud some of their employees. These are the minions hoping for an evening of ruffled hair...

 

Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
Playing the part of a psychotic killer, Bardem would be following in the footsteps frightening cinema maniacs like Anthony Hopkins (Best Actor, Silence of The Lambs, 1991) and Joe Pesci (Best Supporting Actor, Goodfellas, 1990). Initially tipped for Best Actor, stepping down into the lower category should ensure victory. That said, only twice in the last twenty years has the Best Supporting Actor starred in the Best Picture (Gene Hackman, Unforgiven, 1992; Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby, 2004), and No Country For Old Men looks the favourite for the big prize.

Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Ben's kid brother plays the part of Robert Ford, in what has to be the most ridiculously titled film of all time, alongside The Sixth Sense Special Addition: Bruce Willis is a Ghost (which may or may not exist). At 32 he would be the youngest winner since 1996 (Cuba Gooding Jr, Jerry Maguire), and in a role that has been described by hundreds of critics as “career defining”, he could run things close. On the downside, the film made as much impact at the box office as a shoosh in a gunfight.

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Only six actors in history have won both a Best Actor award and Best Supporting Actor - Jack Lemmon, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, and Denzel Washington. Fat actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman (after winning Best Actor for Capote in 2005) will be vying to get on that list, but perhaps not this year. The whisper on the grapevine suggests that this wasn’t even his best performance of the year (he saved that for The Savages). Unlikely.

Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
The former Prime Suspect actor would only be the third British actor for twenty years to win Best Supporting Actor (Michael Caine, The Cider House Rules, 1999; Jim Broadbent, Iris, 2001), but it looks hugely unlikely. Three actors have been nominated for Michael Clayton (Clooney, Best Actor; Swinton, Best Supporting Actress), and all of them are tipped to end the evening drunk, alone and unhappy.

Hal Holbrook - Into The Wild
Last year, 72-year-old Alan Arkin won this award for his part in Little Miss Sunshine, but at 82, it could be a bit too late for the man who played Deep Throat in All The Presidents Men. Of course, his big name co-stars in that film (Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford) have both enjoyed success at the Academy Awards, but alongside career making performances by Affleck and Bardem, Holbrook is unlikely to join his old pals at the Captain's table (as it were).