Continuing my rundown of personal 2023 Oscar nominations, today I’ll look at the Best Actor category.

I found this group had less depth than most of the others, so I have only two honorable mentions to call out. One is Michael Fassbender, who brought an icy cool — but also a dash of parody — to the titular role in David Fincher’s The Killer. The other is Jason Schwartzman, who had an excellent year overall and did some of his best work yet in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City.

And the nominees are…

Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon
DiCaprio didn’t make the Academy’s cut but he made mine. He’s always so good it’s easy to take him for granted, but he does great work here inhabiting the dim sociopath at the center of the year’s most dysfunctional love story.

Zac Efron – The Iron Claw
Efron has always been a charming, energetic presence, but here he buries all of his emotions deep inside while transforming his body into a wall of pure muscle. It’s the kind of internal and external transformation that’s usually catnip for the Academy, but unfortunately it went unrecognized.

Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Giamatti is one of our best character actors, with movie star charisma housed in the body of… Paul Giamatti. This is the perfect role for him, one that allows him to exude intelligence and biting wit but also sorrow and regret. He’s a marvel.

Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Murphy has been quietly killing it for two decades, usually in roles that play up his icy creepiness. Here he plays it straight, at least until the accumulating weight of his actions starts to hollow him out, a transformation Murphy conveys entirely through his haunted eyes.

Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers
Scott has an infectious live wire energy in the roles of his I’ve seen, a charismatic presence that makes him one of my favorite actors. Here he dials that way down to portray a man who is emotionally bottled up and craving connection, yet his performance is equally riveting.

And the winner is… Andrew Scott. No performance moved me as much or stuck with me as long.