Oscars 2019: Who Should Win Every Award (And Who Actually Will)

2. Actress In A Leading Role

Glenn Close The Wife
Sony Pictures Classics

Nominees: Glenn Close (The Wife), Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born), Olivia Colman (The Favourite), Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)

Who Should Win

Olivia Colman

The Academy could give this award to Lady Gaga or Glenn Close and it'd be very difficult to argue against it, but it's also impossible not to root for Olivia Colman. Not only is Colman a national treasure and ridiculously likeable, but she's also ridiculously good. She's long had a talent for flitting between drama and comedy, and she does them both impeccably in The Favourite. She's an absolute riot, and really cuts loose in a number of big moments. Even better, though, are the slightly smaller and quieter moments of tragedy she puts on display. It's a tough race, but that just tips her over the edge.

Who Will Win

Glenn Close

Glenn Close won the Golden Globe and the SAG award, co-won the Critics' Choice with Lady Gaga, and is nominated at the Academy Awards for the seventh time at the age of 71, with no wins to her name yet. Her performance in The Wife is superb, and a great example of value of restraint in a performance, and combined with the narrative around her makes it the most likely choice for voters, despite this being a stacked race where any of three actresses would be deserving.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.