Dueling Best Actor candidates for 'Frost/Nixon'

My fellow Oscar-obsessed blogger Sasha Stone points out that Universal Pictures has already set up its awards site, and a little clicking around uncovers something very interesting: The studio apparently has decided to campaign for both Frank Langella and Michael Sheen as Best Actor for Frost/Nixon, instead of placing one of them in the Best Supporting Actor race so they wouldn’t have to compete against each other. Now, there is precedent for double lead-acting nods from the same movie: Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon both scored Best Actress nominations for Thelma & Louise, and Peter Finch and William Holden were both Best Actor-nominated for Network, to name just two examples. While both men were nominated for lead actor at the Olivier Awards in London (and the thing is called Frost/Nixon, after all), I wonder if the move may end up costing Sheen a nomination. The Academy certainly favors more outward performances, and that certainly benefits Langella over Sheen. And with Milk‘s Sean Penn, The Wrestler‘s Mickey Rourke, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button‘s Brad Pitt all in the mix, the Best Actor race is getting mighty crowded mighty quickly. But don’t count Sheen out completely—after being overlooked in the supporting category for The Queen two years ago, the Academy might feel like he’s due for some recognition. Whatever happens, the real winners in this case are Sam Rockwell and Kevin Bacon, who are said to be the supporting standouts of the film. Now they won’t have to worry about Sheen stealing one of their slots.

addCredit(“Ralph Nelson”)