8 Oscar Nominees That Deserve To Win (But Will Definitely Lose)

Anybody who's read The Hollywood Reporter's annual Brutally Honest Oscar Ballots series will know that Academy Awards aren't always handed out based on merit. In fact, it's rare to find one of THR's secret Oscar voters voting based on quality; more often than not, a vote will be cast based on what the voter's peers are doing or whether or not they feel a candidate 'deserves' it. Sometimes voters make their decisions without even having watched the movies.

Brogan Morris Jan 25, 2016 1:34 pm2016-01-24T12:36:41-05:00

7) Best Supporting Actor

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Will win: Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Should win: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

At one point in the incredibly crowded Best Supporting Actor race (look at the former frontrunners that didn’t even make it in: Michael Shannon, Idris Elba, Paul Dano, Jason Segel, Benicio Del Toro), it seemed as though Mark Rylance was a lock as this year’s winner. He’s outstanding in Bridge of Spies, and he even had a good narrative going for him: that of a respected theater actor virtually unknown to movie-goers all his working life, finally breaking into film aged 55.

Apparently, nobody expected Sylvester Stallone. So affecting in Creed, Stallone is currently looking like the clearest winner primarily for the fact that he’s a Hollywood legend, and at 69 this could be the last time the Academy has a chance to nominate him (especially considering the generally dire material he usually stars in). Still, even those who want to see Stallone rewarded as a kind of lifetime achievement award shouldn’t deny that Rylance legitimately gave one of the performances of the year in Spies.

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