1. Best Actor in a Leading Role Jennifer Moreno & Kevin García Period 5

2. Christian Bale January 30, 1974 Haverfordwest, United Kingdom His first acting job was a cereal commercial in 1983 Won an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (2011) 43 wins & 48 nominations The Dark Knight (2008) The Fighter (2010) The Dark Knight Rises (2012) American Hustle (2013)

3. Bruce Dern June 4,1936 Chicago, Illinois 12 wins & 18 nominations Bruce MacLeish Dern Monster (2003) Django Unchained (2012) Nebraska (2013)

4. Leonardo DiCaprio November 11, 1974 Los Angeles, California Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio Parents signed him with a talent agent when he was a child, and began appearing on a number of television commercials and educational shows 40 wins & 89 nominations Titanic (1997) The Departed (2006) Inception (2010) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

5. Chiwetel Ejiofor July 10, 1977 Forest Gate, United Kingdom In 1996 he caught Steven Spielberg’s attention and casted him in Amistad (1997) 28 wins & 39 nominations Children of Men (2006) American Gangster (2007) 2012 (2009) 12 Years a Slave (2013)

6. Matthew McConaughey November 4, 1969 Uvalde, Texas He discovered an inspirational Og Mandino book "The Greatest Salesman in the World" and he suddenly knew he had to change his major from law to film 27 wins & 26 nominations Magic Mike (2012) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

7. Prediction We believe that Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), will win because he is highly recognized for the challenging role that he took on for the film He is rated by many critics as the favorite to win the Oscar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDv PcBeOn8E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDv PcBeOn8E

8. Argument #1 “The Academy loves it when actors go to extremes for a role: losing weight (Tom Hanks, "Philadelphia"), gaining weight (Robert De Niro, "Raging Bull"), de- beautification (Charlize Theron, "Monster"; Halle Berry, "Monster's Ball"), etc., so it's no surprise the actor's already picked up a Golden Globe and SAG award. If you want to increase your Oscar chances, just lose or gain a dangerous amount of body mass.” –(Tim Hayne, Moviefone) Many other actors/actresses have won the Oscar for the dramatic changes that they had to make in order to take on a role

10. Argument #2 McConaughey has already won three high- profile wins which were: The Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild awards. These awards prove the value of his film and with all these notable wins, we can clearly see that the actor is poised for the last and greatest honor

11. Argument #3 McConaughey has been working non stop in many films other than the Dallas Buyers Club film which he is nominated for He also had a role in the film that DiCaprio is nominated for in The Wolf of Wall Street He is a part of an on going HBO series called True Detective which has been very successful Ultimately, McConaughey will win because of the challenging roles that he took and the amount of success all of his works have produced

13. Bibliography http://www.imdb.com/ http://news.moviefone.com/2014/02/25/oscar-2014-best- actor-predictions/ http://news.moviefone.com/2014/02/25/oscar-2014-best- actor-predictions/ http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/hbos-true-detective-looking- uncover-series-highs-sunday-1201120307/ http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/hbos-true-detective-looking- uncover-series-highs-sunday-1201120307/ http://www.awardscircuit.com/oscar-predictions/2014-oscar- predictions-best-actor/ http://www.awardscircuit.com/oscar-predictions/2014-oscar- predictions-best-actor/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article- 2549775/Matthew-McConaughey-responsibility-portray-man- best-ability-big-weight-loss-Dallas-Buyers-Club.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article- 2549775/Matthew-McConaughey-responsibility-portray-man- best-ability-big-weight-loss-Dallas-Buyers-Club.html