- Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by Coward Robert Ford

- Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men

- Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild

- Tommy Lee Jones - No Country for Old Men

- Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

Casey Affleck

It has been a great year for Casey Affleck, as well as becoming a father for the second time, he has put in two great performances in Jesse Jones and Gone Baby Gone that have caught the attention of the critics.The recent Golden Globes nominated Afflect for his role in Gone Baby Gone but the Scrren Actors Guild have recognised his role as Robert Ford in the Assassination of Jesse James.Jesse James is America's most famous outlaw who has been the subject of stories and myths for decades.But due to the sensationalism of the newspaper reports he became an object of admiration and awe.The Assassination of Jesse James is based on the novel by Ron Hansen and delves into the private life of Jesse James in the months leading up to the shooting.

Casey Affleck takes on the role of Robert Ford an idealistic young man who dreamed of one day riding alongside his hero.

He was labelled the 'dirty little coward' a member of Jesse's inner circle who shot Jesse in the back.

Despire not winning the Golden Globe Casey won Best Breakthrough Actor of the Year at the Hollywood Film Festival as well as earning an Oscar nomination for this role.

Javier Bardem

Spanish thespian Javier Bardem's performance as psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh in the Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men as been met with critical acclaim.

No Country For Old Men is receiving a string of rave reviews as one of the best Coen movies and a great performance by Bardem.

The story begins when Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) finds a pickup truck surrounded by dead me and a load of heroin and two million dollars in cash still in the back.

When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law in the person of aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell (Jones) can contain.

As Moss tries to evade his pursuers in particular a mysterious mastermind who flips coins for human lives (Bardem) the film simultaneously strips down the American crime drama and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible and as bloodily contemporary as this morning’s headlines.

Bardem was the first Spanish actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for his Role in Before Night Falls in 2000.

He looks set to go one better this time with a Supporting Actor Golden Globe award under his belt Bardem is the runaway favourite to take the Oscar on 24th February.

Hal Holbrook

Hal Holbrook is a surprise nomination in this category with Best Supporting Actor expected to go to William Hurt .

Freshly graduated from college with a promising future, 22 year-old Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) instead walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure.

What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people.

Was Christopher McCandless a heroic adventurer or a naïve idealist, a rebellious 1990s Thoreau or another lost American son, a fearless risk-taker or a tragic figure who wrestled with the precarious balance between man and nature?

Sean Penn's Into The Wild has been one of the most popular movie with the critics since its release and did well, in terms of nominations, at Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards.

However Hal Holbrook as Best Supporting Actor is the only major award for Into the Wild at this year's Oscars it was also overlooked at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.

Tommy Lee Jones

He may have been nominated for In the Valley of Elah at the Oscars but it is his role in No Country for Old Men that has gained him a nomination with the Screen Actors Guild.

Since his role in 2002's Men in Black II Jones has done a string of more independent movies including The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which he directed.

In his role as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell he tells of how the times are changing, sheriff's never used to wear guns.

In pursute of killer Anton Chigurh, who in turn is following Llwelyn Moss, the dissillutioned sheriff plays his part in a cat and mouse game across the state.

Tom Wilkinson

British actor Wilkinson follows in the footsteps of George Clooney and Tilda Swinton bagging a nomination for his role of Arthur Edens, who is in the middle of a breakdown.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house fixer at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York.

At the behest of the firm’s co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), Clayton, a former prosecutor from a family of cops, takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen’s dirtiest work.

Clayton cleans up clients’ messes, handling anything from hit-and-runs and damaging stories in the press to shoplifting wives and crooked politicians.

Though burned out and discontented in his job, Clayton is inextricably tied to Kenner, Bach & Ledeen; a divorce, gambling habit, and a failed business venture have left him with mounting debt.

At the agrichemical company U/North, the career of in-house counsel chief Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton’s firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion.

When Kenner, Bach & Ledeen’s top litigator, the brilliant Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), has an apparent breakdown and subsequently tries to sabotage the entire U/North case, Michael Clayton is sent to tackle this unprecedented disaster and in doing so comes face to face with the reality of who he has become.

Tip to win - Javier Bardem No Country for Old Men

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw