13 Unexpected Actors Who Might Win Oscars Next Year

8. Adam Driver - Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

The Actor: Adam Driver has fast been making a name for himself over the last three years, playing the most likeable character on Lena Dunham's HBO show Girls, and working on acclaimed projects such as Frances Ha, Lincoln, Inside Llewyn Davis, What If, and Martin Scorsese's upcoming Silence. The Role: If reports are to be believed (despite that suspicious image of Driver in an X-Wing pilot outfit), he will be playing Kylo Ren, the cloaked, lightsaber-totting bada** briefly spotted in the teaser trailer for the movie. Little beyond that is known, but he's expected to be the main antagonist of the movie. Why They Might Win: The Academy isn't totally averse to nominating these movies for acting awards: remember that Alec Guinness received a Best Supporting Actor nod for his work on the first movie, and in recent years the Academy has sprung for more cartoonish blockbuster turns, such as nominating Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean, and giving Heath Ledger a posthumous win for The Dark Knight. If Driver can deliver a truly memorable villain, this could combine with overwhelming nostalgia to win him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.