Oscars 2021: Ranking The Nominated Performances From Worst To Best

20. Gary Oldman - Mank

Gary Oldman is a legend and a well respected actor for good reason, he already has one Oscar to his name for his leading performance in Darkest Hour which he won in 2018. That being said, Mank is hardly his best work.

Starring as the titular screenwriter as he struggles with alcoholism and morals as he writes a first draft of Citizen Kane, Oldman is not bad at all here and an actor of his calibre can always make whatever he's doing seem interesting. What that amounts to however, is Oldman stumbling around being drunk and disagreeable for two hours in a performance that isn't exactly revolutionary.

One of the primary reasons for Oldman to rank last here is the fact there was clearly a better alternative the Academy ignored. Delroy Lindo's unhinged performance in Da 5 Bloods was snubbed here (and practically everywhere else) and is a far superior performance to Oldman's. Tahar Rahim in The Mauratanian would have been a worthy replacement also.

It's not a wholly unworthy nomination, but it is the worst of the bunch.