Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

The competition: Steve Carell’s oddball billionaire (Foxcatcher), Benedict Cumberbatch’s antisocial mathematician (The Imitation Game), Jake Gyllenhaal’s creepy news hound (Nightcrawler), David Oyelowo’s Martin Luther King, Jr. (Selma), and Eddie Redmayne’s Stephen Hawking (The Theory of Everything).

For your information: Carell is actually the only Globe winner among this bunch, taking home a trophy for the first of his six nominations for “The Office.” Both Cumberbatch and Gyllenhaal have both been nominated once before, and Oyelowo and Redmayne are first-time nominees. All but Gyllenhaal have their films nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama.

Who should win? Cumberbatch and Redmayne deserve it most for excellent performances, though every actor worked hard to deliver an intense and impactful turn.

Who will win? This will be the first real indicator of whether this race has a frontrunner or not. I don’t see Carell or Gyllenhaal taking it, but there’s a real possibility that Oyelowo could pull off an upset thanks to the momentum of his film. Overall, it’s a race between Cumberbatch and Redmayne, and my money is on the latter.