HLS Movie Awards 2021: Best Actor Nominees!

     Welcome back to HLS Entertainment! Today we are going over the Best Actor nominees for the 2021 Third annual HLS Movie Awards. Usually there are two categories regarding individual acting performances, and they are split up between leading and supporting roles. But here at HLS Entertainment we believe it does not matter if the performer had five or ninety minutes of screentime, if that is among the best performance by an actor or actress that year then they deserve recognition for that. 

    I feel like this is a good place to remind readers how the HLS Movie Awards works, we consider only films that were released to wide audiences in that specific year to be eligible. A great example for this year would be Minari, it premiered so far back as Sundance in January 2020, but did not get a wide release until February 2021. I have always felt that awards like these should be for the films actually available for everyone to view and enjoy, so that everyone can see the incredible art being displayed and awarded. Anyways, enough ranting on to this year's Best Actor nominees!


The nominees will be in alphabetical order by last name, this is not a ranking of the performances.


Luuuuuuuucy Im cheating on your - Javier Bardem

Javier Bardem - Being the Ricardos

    Just like Nicole Kidman reinvented the "role" of Lucille Ball for me, Javier Bardem did so with Desi Arnaz for me maybe to a further extreme. The image of Arnaz I had in my head after watching the reruns of the show as a child have been rewritten and expounded upon by Javier Bardem so much so. This film opened up so much of the couples lives of stories I was unaware of and gave me a greater appreciation for them both, and Bardem brought so much life to a "character" that I never knew I needed. Also if that was his real voice, I need a full album of song sung by Bardem.

Benedict Cumberbatch might be on the best films run of all time and I dont think it is close

Benedict Cumberbatch - The Power of the Dog

    This is easily one of Benedict Cumberbatch's best performances of his career, which I feel like gets said every year for him. This complex villainous character Phil Burbank that he plays with so much depth and ease, it is very easy to see why this performance is getting a lot of award season love.

If hollywood elites didnt turn their back on sci-fi and super hero movies having an extreme bias against them Willem Dafoe would be in serious running for best supporting actor right now for the Oscars

Willem Dafoe - Spider-Man No Way Home

    Willem Dafoe plays the crazed maniac so well but has done so many times before, the difference in this role was the humanity, the scared mind mirroring Norman Osborn to the Green Goblin, and that switch he flips between them with such ease. If this movie was about war and not superheroes he is nominated for best supporting actor for every major award show.

Jason Isaacs not being the one with the terrible son for once

Jason Isaacs - Mass

    Jason Isaacs was the primary reason I was excited to watch this oh so depressing film. All four main actors in this film brought such amazing work to the table but Jason Isaacs really stood out the strongest to me, with such incredible heart, pain and boiling anger under the surface, but at the same time strong willing himself into compassion. Great performance great film.

Sink

Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah

    I think this role needs little introduction or hype; Daniel Kaluuya won an Oscar for Best actor in a supporting role for this film. There was a lot of talk and criticism about should or shouldn't he be in the leading category, yet either way it was a well-earned win as this was just incredible acting through and through.

Troy Kotsur is so incredible in CODA

Troy Kotsur - CODA

    Of all the people on this list, Troy Kotsur is the one I desperately want to see more of in the future after watching their film. I have seen the rest plenty of times, but I now need to see more of Kotsur. Bringing so much humor, heart and anger in this film he really did such an incredible job. 

Will Patton oh yeah I know that guy from something

Will Patton - Minari

    I feel like this was the role that did not get enough love. All of the cast of Minari did great work in their roles, but Will Patton had a much more transformative role playing someone that I had never seen from him before, and I loved seeing different aspects of the range of his acting abilities. 

In West Philadelphia born and raised on the playground is where I spent most of my days, Chilling out maxin relaxin all cool and all shooting some bball outside the school. When a couple of guys who were up to no good started making trouble in my neighborhood. I got in one little fight and my mom got scared, she said youre movin with your auntie and uncle in bel-air. I whistled for a cab and when it came near the license plate said Fresh and it had dice in the mirror if anything I could say that this cab was rare but I thought nah forget it yo holmes to bel air. I. Pulled. Up to the house about seven or eight and yelled to the cabbie, yo holmes smell ya later. I looked at my kingdom I was finally there, to sit on my throne as the prince of belair .

Will Smith - King Richard

    Will Smith aging into the father figure role might be the best growth for his career because he does it SO well. If you are a Will Smith fan, seeing him age from Fresh Prince to now you have to be excited for such heartful/heart breaking roles this incredibly talented man can now play, and King Richard was just the start. I loved seeing the behind the scenes and some of the old Williams family home videos to see how much Will Smith nailed playing the father of Serena and Venus Willaims

Lakeith Stanfield of Get Out fame says GET OUT with an 11 nosebleed

LaKeith Stanfield - Judas and the Black Messiah

    I need more LaKeith Standfield in everything. This man is one of the best actors working period and deserves his pick of roles. I hope we get to see a further range from him in the future but what he does now he is just amazing at and if that is all we ever get I would still be happy and excited to lineup for every movie he is in.

Minari Steven Yuen of Walking Dead fame where he spent a whole mid season break having people believing he was dead but really he climbed under a dumpster

Steven Yeun - Minari

    I understand Walking Dead took up a lot of Steven Yeun's time, but we seriously need him in more films ASAP. Between this and being the lead on the Amazon Animated adaptation of Invincible he has been just killing it lately and each role feels so different I have loved his job choice decisions. In this movie he gets to play the sterner father who is just trying his best to change his family's life and change their future. So much hope and heartbreak, this movie has been a favorite of mine since its release.


Thank you so much for reading! Please like and share and follow me on Twitter @HaroldLStokes !

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