1. Timothée Chalamet
The hit-boy of the moment, the young Timothée Chalamet had an amazing year by appearing in some of the most critically acclaimed films of 2017. From the small indie comedy-drama Hot Summer Nights, which met positive reviews during South by Southwest Film Festival (but got no 2017 release date), to Scott Cooper's western Hostiles, it would be an amazing year for such a young actor already, but it wasn't enough...! Luca Guadagnino gave him the leading role in the coming-of-age drama Call Me By Your Name and Chalamet delivered a bravura breakthrough performance - a once in a lifetime kind of acting turn. He impersonates the movie's heart, the soul, the tension, the hormones and the need of self-discovery. It's one of the most impressive acting performances I've seen in years and Oscar experts expect him to get a Best Actor nomination when Academy Awards nomination morning comes (this way, he can become the 3rd youngest actor to receive a Best Leading Actor Oscar nomination). Plus, he's hilarious as Lady Bird's hipster paramour in Greta Gerwig's directorial debut Lady Bird, which happens to be one of the best reviewed movies ever! With Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award and SAG Award nominations and multiple critics associations' awards for his performance in Call Me By Your Name and the critical praise for his work in other successful 2017 movies, Chalamet is the actor of the year - much more than a breakthrough performance, he's a cinematic triumph made of flesh.
2. Gary Oldman
Well, The Hitman's Bodyguard and The Space Between Us can't be called successes (The Space Between Us was both a critical and box-office flop, while The Hitman's Bodyguard didn't met great reviews but did well at the box-office), but at least Oldman redeemed himself by starring Joe Wright's Darkest Hour. In this one, he plays the iconic Winston Churchill, in what can be called a million-dollar performance. Critics loved his work and so did the audiences - it's the kind of performances that please both professionals, movie-lovers and regular audiences. He embodies Churchill and disappears behind the makeup work - and it is terrific to watch! The current front-runner for the Academy Award for Best Leading Actor, most award organizations included Oldman in their nominees shortlist and getting an Oscar nomination just seems a natural thing to happen.
3. Adam Driver
He is a frequent collaborator with Noah Baumbach and 2017's The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) marked their third work together. I know he's not one of the movie's main stars, but he must get his share for being part of the Meyerowitz success (no matter what, it is a great ensemble piece of cinema). He got better luck with Steven Soderbergh's Logan Lucky as one of the Logan brothers, the heads of a criminal family. It is an inspiring acting turn, a plain character Driver gives heart, a purpose and a bit of fun - comedic timing, awkwardness and some physicality. The Soderbergh's latest was regarded as one of the best heist movies in recent years and a reminder of his crafted directing abilities. As for the cast: critical praise all around! Right now, people are talking about Driver's shirtless scene in the critically acclaimed box-office titan Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, but I prefer to highlight the fact he's embrancing the leading man status of the new trilogy of the saga: it's all about Rey and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, light and darkness. A great year for one of the biggest stars in-the-making. Driver finds the perfect balance between work in small independent productions that can work as acting showcases (and give him a prestige actor status) and a big studio production able to build a strong name for himself.
4. Christopher Plummer
Yeah, I think he's the oldest Actor of the Year, I've ever nominated, but Plummer does deserve respect for his key role in the whole Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World production. A movie haunted by Kevin Spacey sexual harassment and sexual assault scandal, Plummer surfaced as Spacey's substitute (he was Scott's first choice for the role of J. Paul Getty, but the studio pressured the director to go for Spacey). According to reports, reshoots with Plummer began on November 20 and finished on the 29th (and the first footage of Plummer in the role was released in the new movie trailer the same day). The decision cost millions of dollars in rush fees so the movie was able to keep the December 22 release date. Reviews about the movie and Plummer's single work are enthusiastic - it seems this "old man" steals the show and own the whole movie. He is the magical ingredient to All the Money in the World's success after what could an atrocious release given Spacey's involvement. Thank God for Plummer!
5. Robert Pattinson
An actor I despised... Pattinson does deserve a lot of credit for his amazing work in both The Lost City of Z and Good Time! He will always be remembered as the teenage vampire Edward Cullen of the Twilight Saga, but it seems he's fighting against the kind of fame (and lack of recognition) he got from the role that made him reach worldwide fame. After inspired turns in Cosmopolis, The Rover and Life, Pattinson embraces himself as a true character actor in The Lost City of Z - it is a performance where he simply disappears, you don't see Pattinson, all you see is the miserable Henry Costin and his hopes and dreams. It's a brilliant supporting performance that would meet a ton of award recognition if the movie was made to work as an Oscar vehicle. The Lost City of Z has its own distinctive voice and it is a brilliant movie because it doesn't really try to win awards - and it is just so good to watch because of it. In the acclaimed indie darling Good Time, Pattinson plays a desperate bank robber, in what can easily be his most commanding performance ever - a true leading man, a character actor and a movie star charisma. He got rave reviews and a couple of award nominations for this one. Thanks to 2017, Pattinson gets a seat in the Best Young Actors Working Today Pantheon!
Breakthrough Actor of the Year: Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
The leading man of the critical acclaimed box-office hit Get Out, little was known about Daniel Kaluuya before he hited the screen as a prey in Jordan Peele's horror movie. A performance that goes from subtle to physical brutality, this actor delivers not only a breakthrough performance but also one of the very best I've seen from a male actor in the horror genre. And as you have already relised, Get Out is a major award player this season and one of the favorites in the Best Picture race - will Kaluuya get his first Oscar nomination? The Globes and SAG went for him...
Honorable mention: Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
He might well be the best living actor working today and he announced his retirement from acting after Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread. Some actors take a hiatus, but it seems Daniel Day-Lewis really wants to stop and retire with all the dignity he owns. An acting giant, he can currently be seen in Phantom Thread, for which he's getting a big ton of awards nominations. The AMPAS will want to nominate him for his last acting work, so expect him in Best Actor nominees shortlist coming nominations morning. And we can always re-watch his amazing works in movies like A Room with a View (1985), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), My Left Foot (1989), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), In the Name of the Father (1993), The Boxer (1997), Gangs of New York (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007) or Lincoln (2012).
More than a movie star: Daniel Day-Lewis will always be one of the finest actors ever.
A standing ovation and an honorable mention!
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