Oscars 2019 Nominations: 13 Biggest Shocks, Snubs & Surprises
12. Surprise: Willem Dafoe - Best Actor
Most of the Best Actor category went as expected, with Christian Bale (Vice), Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), and Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) securing nominations.
The fifth was the one where there was some stiff competition, but even with that Willem Dafoe looked like something of an outsider. It did have a Golden Globe nomination, but apart from that had been ignored by most of the big awarding bodies, which suggested his turn as Vincent Van Gogh was going to be ignored here.
It's the second year in a row, though, that Dafoe has pulled off a nomination for his performance in a film that doesn't get a look in elsewhere, after his nod for The Florida Project last year. That one had more going for it in the build-up though, whereas this seems more out of the blue, but it's hard to complain about Dafoe getting recognition.