Who Actually Won? Kevin Spacey for American Beauty Denzel's second appearance on this list is just as deserving as the first. Where his turn as Malcolm X was all searing intensity, his other awards-worthy biopic - about the life of wrongfully-incarcerated boxer Rubin Carter - was a masterclass in quiet dignity. Kevin Spacey scooped the gong for American Beauty that year, and as good a performance as that was, it felt he won more because of the entire film the role was moored in rather than his specific turn. Stood alone, it certainly didn't hold a candle to Washington's performance. Thankfully, the Academy made up for their arbitrary snubs by awarding Denzel for Training Day a mere two years later.
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
