7. Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Some may balk at the inclusion of the lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars on a list of potential Oscar nominees, but it wouldn't be the first time a singer/actor has won an Oscar (Cher in Moonstruck, for example). Leto himself though was first an actor and has worked with such highly esteemed directors as Terrence Malick, David Fincher and Darren Aronofsky in such well regarded films as The Thin Red Line, Fight Club and Requiem for a Dream, respectively. In other words, you shouldn't knock Mr. Leto's chances, whatever your opinion of him may be. In particular, I think we need to take Leto's Oscar prospects quite seriously given the role he plays in the Matthew McConaughey vehicle, Dallas Buyers Club. The movie is a loosely true telling of the life of Ron Woodruff, a man who was surprisingly diagnosed with AIDS during the height of the epidemic in the mid-1980's. Given only a month to live, Woodruff began to illegally smuggle in non-FDA approved drugs and sold them to AIDS patients in order to extend their lives as long as possible. Mr. Leto's role in the film is that of Rayon, a transsexual AIDS patient who became a partner in Ron Woodruff's mission to sell illegal medicine to AIDS patients, provided they had the prerequisite level of monetary funds to join the, "Dallas Buyers Club". As you can see from the photo above, Mr. Leto has gone all out in becoming his character. As with Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, already a relatively svelte man, has lost a significant amount of weight, to the point of being dangerously thin, for the role. This sort of physical dedication to a role never fails to impress fellow actors, and even if the movie is not all that beloved itself, I expect both Mr. McConaughey and Mr. Leto to receive attention for their performances. We also have to consider, even if it may sound a bit crude, that the Academy has a history of rewarding gender bending roles. Whether it be Felicity Huffman in Transamerica, Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game, or Hillary Swank in Boys Don't Cry, sexual ambiguity and androgyny has a history of striking Oscar's fancy. For this very reason alone, Leto is worth considering as a potential Oscar nominee, but when you add in some of the other factors at work going on in Dallas Buyers Club, I think we have a very serious contender.