Oscar Predictions 2015: Who Will Win Best Actress?
This Sunday, all eyes will be on the star-studded Oscars!
With less than a week before the big night, it's time to look back and reexamine the most noteworthy performances and films of 2014. In countdown fashion, Moviefone will be releasing a set of staff predictions each day this week for the four major categories -- kicking it off today with Best Actress.
We've already given you the beat on the 2015 Oscars race, so now let's break down our favorites to win Best Actress. Here, we've listed the actress we expect to win, and then, more importantly, which ones we think should win.
Tim Hayne
Who Will Win: Julianne Moore. Not only has she already won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (a predictor of Oscar glory) for her portrayal of a woman dealing with early-onset Alzheimer's in "Still Alice," but Moore is poised to take home the trophy on career merit alone. This is her fifth nomination, and, in 2003, she became one of only a handful of actors to be nominated in both the Best Supporting and Best Actress categories. Her career has been filled with widely varied roles, many of them lauded, and the Academy undoubtedly believes she's paid her dues. In short, it's time.
Who Should Win: Julianne Moore. I mean, come on. She deserves it for all the reasons I mentioned above, and more. It's her year.
Alana Altmann
Who Will Win: Julianne Moore. Most people probably already assume the accomplished powerhouse has an Oscar under her belt, but the nominee has sadly gone home empty handed four times in the past. The versatile actress turned an unremarkable small film with a overwhelmingly heavy concept like "Still Alice" into something worth talking about. It's her year to take it, especially since her competition isn't that steep...
Who Should Win: Julianne Moore. But we're pretending she's getting the award for the "will you be my mommy?" scene in "Boogie Nights." Just kidding. (Sort of). What could have treaded into sappy tear-bait territory in "Still Alice" turned out to be a powerful, moving, and relatable portrayal of a woman whose world is slipping through her finger tips. And although we're picking Julianne here, we're going to take a moment to shout out Rosamund Pike's nuanced breakout work as "Gone Girl's" Amazing Amy just because it was one of the most fun performances to watch this year. It's just not quite Moore-level emotional rawness.
Jonny Black
Who Will Win: Julianne Moore. She was incredible in "Still Alice" and has racked up award after award for her performance, and rightfully so. I mean, she's the main draw for a downer of a movie (the story centers on Moore's character who's recently been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's) and carries it alongside an impressive performance from Kristen Stewart. Moore's 2015 nod is her fifth career Oscar nomination and it's about time she takes home the golden statuette -- she's rarely been more deserving.
Who Should Win: Julianne Moore. She's fantastic in the movie and has more than paid her Academy dues. Have we even mentioned another actress's name for this year's race? Barely. She's also front and center in two of the greatest and most talked about movies of the last twenty years, "Boogie Nights" (1997) and "The Big Lebowski" (1998), so just give her the damn thing!
What's your pick? Tell us in the comments below, and find out which star wins Best Actress when the Oscars air live Sunday, February 22 at 7 ET / 4 PT on ABC.