MAYBE
1. MICHAEL FASSBENDER (TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE)
Oscar Record: No nomination
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: Edwin Epps, a cruel southern planter who keeps slaves.
Michael Fassbender could get a nomination for a role similar to what Leonardo DiCaprio had last year in Django Unchained. There are those who feel that he's long due for a nomination, and there would none more fitting a first nod than one from frequent collaborator Steve McQueen.
2. JOEL EDGERTON (THE GREAT GATSBY)
Oscar Record: No nomination
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: Tom Buchanan, a wealthy man and a suspicious husband, with suspicious activities of his own.
Joel Edgerton is a star on the rise, particularly with Animal Kingdom and Warrior in the last two years. This role won Bruce Dern a Golden Globe nomination for the 1974 version.
POSSIBLE
3. JAVIER BARDEM (THE COUNSELOR)
Oscar Record: 3 nominations, with a win for No Country for Old Men
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: Reiner, presumably the villain in the film
He won for playing an evil character and was probably almost nominated for doing that again last year in Skyfall. His role in The Counselor is supposedly the biggest of the supporting roles, so this might be an easier nomination than I'm assuming.
4. DANIEL BRUHL (THE FIFTH ESTATE)
Oscar Record: No nomination
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: Daniel Domscheit-Berg, German activity and once spokesperson for WikiLeaks who has since distanced himself from the site and its founder Julian Assange.
This year is big for Daniel Bruhl, with a potential Best Actor nomination for Ron Howard's Rush. He's been an internationally famous actor for some time, getting his major breakthrough in Good Bye Lenin! but probably more famous now among American audiences for his turn in Inglourious Basterds. Playing a real person, and a controversial one at that, is a big bonus.
5. MARK RUFFALO (FOXCATCHER)
Oscar Record: 1 nomination, no win
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: David Schultz, Olympic wrestler who is murdered by his friend, paranoid millionaire John du Pont.
This is guesswork again, but it's a big role and Bennett Miller has been quite good at getting his primary actors nominations.
6. Bill Murray (The Monuments Men)
Oscar Record: 1 nomination, no win
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: Unknown, but presumably one of the "Monuments Men."
7. Joaquin Phoenix (Lowlife)
Oscar Record: 3 nominations, no win
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: Bruno Weiss
8. Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness)
Oscar Record: No nomination
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: John Harrison, who might be Khan, but is out to destroy the Earth regardless
9. Tim Roth (Grace of Monaco)
Oscar Record: 1 nomination, no win
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: Prince Rainier III of Monaco, husband of Hollywood actress turned princess Grace Kelly.
10. Sam Shepard (August: Osage County)
Oscar Record: 1 nomination, no win
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Role: Beverly Weston, patriarch to the Weston family and husband to ailing Violet Weston
Other Contenders
Steve Carell (The Way, Way Back)
Matt Damon (The Monuments Men)
Harrison Ford (Ender's Game)
Jeremy Irvine (The Railway Man)
Tommy Lee Jones (Malavita)
Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3)
Tobey Maguire (The Great Gatsby)
Brad Pitt (The Counselor)
Brad Pitt (Twelve Years a Slave)
Tahar Rahim (The Past)
Channing Tatum (Foxcatcher)
