While the Best Actor category nominees range from performances as a bipolar man returning to his family after a stint in a mental hospital to a reformed prisoner being hunted in France in the 1800s, Daniel Day Lewis of Lincoln is reportedly considered the heavy favorite on Sunday night.

According to ABC News, the respective award will be one of the few at the Oscars that doesn't have a clear-cut favorite.

"It feels like the moment we even heard Daniel Day Lewis was even being cast in Spielberg's Lincoln' biopic, he had it wrapped up at that point," Entertainment Weekly's senior editor Thom Geier told the site.

"Everyone seems to have bowed down before him and that transformation that he undertook for this role. So I would be shocked - think everyone would be shocked - if someone other than Daniel Day Lewis ascended the podium Sunday night," he added.

Lewis' performance as a president aiming to ratify an amendment to stop slavery at any cost in Steven Speilberg's Lincoln accomplished many accolades. The talented actor already has racked up a SAG Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.

"He has that gravitas. He plays the most beloved American president and he doesn't even look ridiculous for a second doing it," said Variety's senior film critic Justin Chang.

Interesting to note, Lewis had also been nominated for Best Actor for his parts in 2002's Gangs of New York and 1993's In the Name of the Father.

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Oscars 2013