Honorable Mentions

Cory Michael Smith, Saturday Night

Scoot McNairy, Nightbitch
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist (obvi loved this film, but had mixed feelings on his performance)
Mike Faist, Challengers
Peter Sarsgaard, September 5
Denzel Washington, Gladiator II

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There are moments in Maclin's soulful performance in which I felt that he was a bit over-the-top, a bit pushed and charactery. But it's also stuck with me - by the end, I felt like I knew that man, and the fact that he brought his personal prison-experience to this film & role is just so moving & effective. I want to applaud and reward that (plus nothing else in this category jumps out as award-worthy - though I was tempted to give this to Jeremy Strong.) The things that were great about his work were REALLY great, and I think this film and this character will stand the test of time.