# OSCAR POLL - Best Actor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-best-actor/650814 "2013-02-19T17:28:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-best-actor/650814/1 "2013-02-19T17:28:25Z")
If you were an Academy member, for whom would you vote? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-best-actor/650814/2 "2013-02-19T17:30:20Z")
Daniel Day Lewis, by a mile. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-best-actor/650814/3 "2013-02-19T17:33:10Z")
Though I’ll add that I haven’t seen Joaquin Phoenix’s performance. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-best-actor/650814/4 "2013-02-19T18:46:05Z")
I have seen all these performances except Phoenix’s. I enjoyed them all. My wife even said it a was a pity that Bradley Cooper had to have _Silver Linings Playbook_ come out the same year as Lincoln, because he keeps getting nominated for awards with no chance of winning any! This has to be just about a lock for Daniel Day Lewis. He is fantastic as Lincoln - he disappears into the role. Still, Cooper is outstanding, both raging and subtle. Denzel is great as a guy you really can’t stand, but even as much as a douchebag as the character is, you find yourself hoping he’ll get away with it. And I thought Jackman did a great job in _Les Miz_. Excellent nominations, but I can’t see anybody taking it except Mr. DDL. Or is it Sir? I can’t keep up any more. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-best-actor/650814/5 "2013-02-19T19:18:49Z")
Daniel Day Lewis is the very best part of the Movie. I think it’s a movie people wanted to love but it’s length and subject matter (passing an Amendment to the constitution) isn’t necessarily riveting stuff, unless you’re a political wonk. I didn’t know I was watching anyone but an incarnation of Lincoln. He’ll get the nod. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-best-actor/650814/6 "2013-02-19T20:44:40Z")
Much as I would love to see Hugh Jackman get an Oscar to go with his Tony, Daniel Day Lewis is a shoo-in. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-best-actor/650814/7 "2013-02-19T22:36:57Z")
All of these were good performances (n.b.: I didn’t see Pheonix), but Day-Lewis took on a character of mythic proportion and made him human. He _nailed_ that role. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-poll-best-actor/650814/8 "2013-02-20T02:57:53Z")
If you’d told me a year ago that I would ever vote for Bradley Cooper over Daniel Day-Lewis, I would have thought you were crazy, but it’s true. Cooper was an absolute revelation for me, and while Day-Lewis was excellent and will be a deserving winner, he still falls behind Cooper and Joaquin Phoenix for me this year.