4. Naomie Harris - Best Actress For Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
Likely Winner: Tie between two actresses. First, Naomie Harris in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, where she will play Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela. Once again, playing politicians or family of them is always a good way to get yourself considered for the award, especially one about the struggles they must endure. The second choice for 'Likely Winner' would be Cate Blanchett in Monuments Men, a George Clooney directed flick about Allied forces trying to rescue and preserve priceless artifacts before their destruction by Hitler.
Other Top Choices: Emma Thompson in the Walt Disney biopic Saving Mr. Banks. Not only has she proven her acting abilities (with one Oscar win and three nominations, two of them the same year), she'll also be playing a beloved real life figure - the author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers. Another excellent candidate? Julia Roberts in August: Osage County, in which she'll play a woman visiting with her mother (Meryl Streep, see page 3) after the death of her father.
Long Shot: Nicole Kidman playing Grace Kelly in the biopic Grace Of Monaco. Why her as the long shot? For one specific reason - criticism already surrounds the picture, with Grace Kelly's family deriding it, calling it needlessly glamorized and inaccurate.