13 Unexpected Actors Who Might Win Oscars In 2020

2. Dev Patel (Best Actor - The Personal History Of David Copperfield)

The Role: David Copperfield, the protagonist of Charles Dickens' eponymous novel, who begins life in abject poverty but ultimately manages to become a successful author.

Given that David Copperfield is widely accepted to be Dickens' most personal and best-written work, it's certainly ripe for the Hollywood treatment.

And with legendary satirist Armando Iannucci (In the Loop, The Death of Stalin) serving as writer-director, there's an insane amount of potential here.

Dev Patel will star as Copperfield and, if he can make the most of Iannucci's expectedly barbed dialogue, he could find himself a Best Actor nominee (and even a winner) for the very first time.

Patel did receive a Best Supporting Actor nod for Lion back in 2017, though to see the Slumdog Millionaire star rising to the ranks of a fully persuasive lead actor would be quite extraordinary given his tendency to shine in smaller, more subdued roles.

If anyone can push him to deliver career-best work, it's Iannucci.