The Role: Edward Snowden, the ex-NSA contractor who leaked information about the organisation's surveillance operations and has been on the run from the U.S. government ever since. Why They Might Win: It's an extremely timely role, and the Academy may feel that it's time to give Gordon-Levitt an award after his great-but-unnoticed turns in (500) Days of Summer and 50/50. Plus, it's being written and directed by Oliver Stone, who has two Oscars to his name for directing and a third for writing, while the cast also includes Nicolas Cage, Melissa Leo, Shailene Woodley and Tom Wilkinson, giving him plenty of esteemed actors to bounce dialogue off. Why It's Unexpected: Because there are a few roadblocks standing in his way: for starters, he looks absolutely nothing like Edward Snowden and this can adversely affect the perception of a performance no matter how strong it is. Plus, Stone hasn't even been nominated for an Oscar in 20 years, so it's possible that he simply doesn't have the chops anymore to direct Gordon-Levitt to an Oscar-winning performance. Which unlikely actor or performance do you foresee taking home Oscar gold next year? Shout it out in the comments!
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
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