Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

• Leonardo DiCaprio in The Blood Diamond
• Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
• Peter O'Toole in Venus
• Will Smith in Pursuit of Happyness
• Forest Whitaker in Last King of Scotland

• Penelope Cruz in Volver
• Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal
• Helen Mirren in The Queen
• Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada
• Kate Winslet in Little Children

• Adriana Barraza in Babel
• Cate Blanchett in Notes on a Scandal
• Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine
• Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls
• Rinko Kikuchi in Babel

• Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine
• Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed
• Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children
• Djimon Hounsou in The Blood Diamon
• Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls

• Babel
• Bobby
• The Departed
• Dreamgirls
• Little Miss Sunshine

• Dreamgirls didn't get as much love as I thought it would, but neither did the other Oscar frontrunner, The Departed.
• Ryan Gosling was a surprise nomination. Not because he didn't deserve, but because Half Nelson didn't make much of a splash at the box office and I figured most people wouldn't remember it.
• Abigail Breslin was also a surprise for two reasons. Firstly, Little Miss Sunshine is a comedy and these tend to be overlooked for awards. Second, Abigail Breslin is only 10 years old and voters tend to pass over young actors. (I think what happens is the voters figure they can always make up for past mistakes later, and the younger the person is the more chance they have to give then the award later in their career).
• Leonardo DiCaprio was a supporting actor in The Departed? Really?
• Bobby was the only film nominated in the Cast category to not receive an nomination in the four individual categories.

Source: Screen Actors Guild
Date posted: 2007-01-05