6. Dwight Henry - Beasts Of The Southern Wild
As tortured Wink, untried actor Dwight Henry, who was a bakery owner when he was cast, was an astonishing screen presence in Benh Zeitlin's spell-binding, heart-breaking fantasy. He wore the scars of his character wonderfully, and his relationship with Hushpuppy was as irresistible to watch as it was volatile. His was a character and a performance touched by a feral undercurrent - these characters were subhuman and so much more than human at the same time, and Henry deserves every accolade for what he achieved, especially given his background. And it seems Henry's powerful performance all came from a personal place, which adds an authenticity and a genuine emotional piquancy that another actor couldn't have achieved:
"I was in Hurricane Katrina in neck-high water. I have an inside understanding for what this movie is about. I brought a passion to the part that an outside actor who had never seen a storm or been in a flood or faced losing everything could have. I was two-years-old when Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans and my parent had to put me on the roof of the house. An outsider couldn't have brought the passion to the role that I did."
Why The Snub? If there is to be a nomination for Beasts Of The Southern Wild, it is likely to go to Quvenzhané Wallis, the astonishingly good young actress who blew audiences away with her performance as Hushpuppy. Two performance nods, though wholly justified, is just too much of a stretch.