Oscars Best Actor 2014: 10 Leading Contenders Including Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey & More [PHOTOS]
With Oscar season in full swing, Hollywood's top actors are hoping to get a nomination for Best Actor at the upcoming Academy Awards.
Best Actor is one of the most prestigious awards at the Oscars, going to such acting legends as Jack Nicholson, Henry Fonda and, most recently, Daniel Day-Lewis. There are many contenders for this year's race, making it especially difficult to predict.
Oscar experts seem to agree that Chiwetel Ejiofor's performance in 12 Years a Slave is the leading contender to win Best Actor in 2014. Ejiofor goes through a multitude of emotions as his character Solomon is forced into slavery and suffers through years of torture.
Matthew McConaughey is looking to get his first nomination for his performance as an AIDS victim in Dallas Buyers Club. Tom Hanks, while already having won two Oscars, may get a third for his performance as the captain of a ship taken hostage by Somalian pirates in Captain Phillips.
Robert Redford may get his first acting nomination in 40 years for his performance as a man lost at sea in All is Lost. Similarly, Bruce Dern may get his first nomination in almost 40 years for his role as an elderly man trekking across the country in Nebraska.
Other contenders to get a nomination include Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station, Forest Whitaker in Lee Daniels' The Butler, Joaquin Phoenix in Her and Christian Bale in American Hustle.
Here are the primary contenders looking to get a nomination for Best Actor at the Oscars:
