The 94th annual Academy Awards take place on March 27th, 2022 and there is set to be a titanic battle for the Best Actor category between five world-renowned Hollywood superstars at the Oscars.
In one of the most star-studded categories in recent years, we’ll see Will Smith, Benedict Cumberbatch, Denzel Washington, Andrew Garfield, and Javier Bardem competing for the big award with only Washington having ever been successful in this category in the past.
We’ll break down what each actor is nominated for and make our betting pick for the award too.
| Oscars 2022 - Best Actor |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will Smith | -350 | -325 | -260 |
| Benedict Cumberbatch | +250 | +275 | +250 |
| Andrew Garfield | +700 | +600 | +600 |
| Denzel Washington | +3300 | +2500 | +3000 |
| Javier Bardem | +4000 | +3300 | +4000 |
Of the five nominees for Best Actor, two of the films are also nominated for Best Film. That tells you who the front runners are in advance but it doesn’t tell the whole story. More often than not, the winner of the award doesn’t come from the ‘Best Film’ winner.
All five performances were absolutely brilliant and the guys have had great years, so how do we separate them when it comes to picking a winner for this award?
Who is the favorite for the Oscars award? Who is the most likely to win the Oscars award? And who’s got a real shot rather than just in the race to make sure there are enough nominees? Let’s take a look…
The man who has previously been nominated for this award twice in the past, Will Smith is the man leading the charge for this Oscars award. Smith has become one of the biggest names in Hollywood after his successful career as a rapper and actor since the 1990’s when he burst onto the scene as the ‘Fresh Prince’.
Smith has earned this nomination, his third in the category after Ali and Pursuit of Happyness, for his depiction as Richard Williams, the father of legendary tennis sister duo Serena and Venus Williams.
Many people immediately backed Smith to be crowned the winner of this award after the film premiered at Telluride.
His performance has already earned him the Golden Globe award and a SAG nomination, but the odds are arguably skewed a bit too heavily in his favor considering the chatter currently.
Since the buzz of the film has died down, so have the immediate calls for Smith to be crowned as the Best Actor for the first time in his career. With odds of -260, it’s probably worth staying away for now because he’s not the definite victor here.
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The man who has recently received a huge surge in popularity for the award, Cumberbatch’s performance as a hard-nose, ultra-macho cowboy is most likely to upset Smith’s success for the third time.
‘The Power of the Dog’ has been widely considered as the best performance of Cumberbatch’s career to date.
His performance was part of the reason that the film earned 12 nominations for the Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress, which shows just how well the movie came together in the end.
The former Sherlock Holmes won the ‘Best Actor’s award ahead of Smith at the New York Film Critics Circle and was the runner-up from the Los Angeles Critics’ Group too, so he has plenty of backing to come out on top and win his first Oscar. I think he’ll do it too, considering the backing he’s getting, and at +275 he’s a great underdog bet.
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Garfield made his claim for the Best Actor Oscar by belting out renditions of several songs in this movie, and it’s put him in with a chance to win the first Academy Award of his acting career to date.
He plays the younger version of the creator of the film, Jonathan Larson, in a movie all about his early career as a writer, in a film about some of his early works.
The songs are great, the energy is high and the costume is brilliant too as Garfield tops off an excellent year personally, but unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely he comes away with anything other than a pat on the back this year.
In a weaker year, he’d likely have a decent shot, but this looks like a two-horse race at this point so I’ll stick my neck out and say that Garfield won’t be winning this award.
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Without a doubt the biggest name in the category when it comes to the movie business, Denzel Washington will be aware that he won’t be winning the Oscar for Best Actor in 2022.
Washington plays a dark villain in the movie and catches the madness of Shakespeare’s play perfectly, but against the opposition in this category this year, I’d be shocked if he didn’t finish bottom of the voting.
Being nominated at all is an honor in itself, but this will almost certainly be another losing effort for the legendary actor who won this category 20 years ago for his role in Training Day.
Bardem is a massive outsider for the award. That much is obvious considering his +4000 price. But a recent SAG nomination has seen some consider him as a real potential challenger this year in this award suddenly.
Despite not being Cuban or of Cuban descent, he plays Desi Arnaz in this film and his casting caused plenty of controversy in the film world. Despite that though, the performance has earned him plenty of praise and at this price, it’s definitely worth a little flutter to see him pick up a shock Oscar award win.
About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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