7) Abraham Attah For Beasts of No Nation
Elba may have been the film’s favorite to win a nomination, but his co-star – and Beasts of No Nation‘s lead – Abraham Attah was arguably the most deserving of the two to secure an Oscar nomination. As child soldier Agu, Attah displays the maturity of an actor who’s been at it for decades, rather than the untrained newcomer that he actually is.
Though Attah was never a strong Best Actor contender, everything about his role suggests he should have been. If we’re nominating actors based on what the worthy material represents, as it’s strongly suspected voters did for Redmayne in The Danish Girl, then why not nominate Attah?
Not only is his role a difficult and important one, and not only is he far more soulful and natural than Redmayne in the movie, but he pulls off the feat at a mere 14-years-old (as he was at the time of filming). Surely that’s worthy of a nomination?