John Hawkes

Top 10 Most Oscar-Worthy Actors of 2012

Which of this year's actors are worthy of the industry's highest honor?

If the screenplay is the backbone of a movie and the director its eyes, the actors and actresses who bring the characters to life on screen are its heart and soul. A bad script in the hands of wonderful actors can still make for a pretty decent movie, but give a wonderful script to bad actors and you're gonna get a bad movie every time. This year, there were a considerable number of exceptionally well written movies starring talented actors and actresses released by both independent studios and the majors so there are almost too many eligible candidates to consider for Academy Award nominations. We already asked you to tell us which actresses deserve consideration come Oscar time — so far, you've chosen Jennifer Lawrence for her leading role in Silver Linings Playbook and Anne Hathaway for her supporting role in Les Miserables — now tell us which actors are worthy of the movie industry's highest honors, whether Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor.

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• Joaquin Phoenix
• Dwight Henry
• Philip Seymour Hoffman
• John Hawkes
• Daniel Day-Lewis
• Bruce Willis
• Tom Hanks
• Christian Bale
• Ben Affleck
• Leonardo DiCaprio
• Christoph Waltz
• Mike Birbiglia
• Denzel Washington
• Matt Damon
• Alan Arkin
• Michael Fassbender
• Robert De Niro
• Suraj Sharma
• Javier Bardem
• Bradley Cooper
• Jean Louis Trintignant
• Anthony Hopkins

Helen Hunt, John Hawkes, and William H. Macy on the Red Carpet for the Premiere of The Sessions

Such a fine line between insanity and bravery.

• The Sessions
• Helen Hunt
• William H. Macy
• John Hawkes
• Hollywood Dailies

Jackie Brown Prequel in the Works

Writer-director Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown was released back in 1997, but that doesn't mean the movie can't get a sequel or, in this case, a prequel.

The idea behind the prequel isn't the cash-in on a popular movie that it might seem. Author Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel Rum Punch served as the source material for Tarantino's Jackie Brown adaptation, but the book was in fact a sequel to his 1978 novel The Switch, which focused on criminals Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara, respectively played by Samuel L. Jackson and Robert De Niro in Jackie Brown. Now, an adaptation of The Switch will bring those characters back in earlier incarnations, with different actors playing the roles.

• Jackie Brown
• Elmore Leonard
• Michael Siegel
• John Hawkes
• Dante Smith
• Daniel Schechter