Carell portrayed the millionaire John Du Pont in the film Foxcatcher, who was responsible for the murder of Olympian Dave Schultz.
While Carell is in the running with Eddie Redmayne who gave an equally stunning performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, Redmayne’s performance was more of mimicry and he had a lot more to work from. There are tons of clips out there on Hawking. Carell on the other hand, had to build the character from within, and really go out of his comfort zone (he is best known for his comedic work). Carell had to undergo a true transformation and capture the conscience of a millionaire murderer, which takes a great deal of range as an actor to achieve. Carell’s character was also based on a true story, and he needed a prosthetic nose for the role. That worked wonders a few years back for actress Nicole Kidman in The Hours, where she played Virginia Woolf.
Besides, an Oscar win for Steve Carell for “Best Actor” at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony would be a huge consolation for the Academy failing to nominate Channing Tatum in that category as well for his stellar performance as Olympic gold medalist Mark Schultz. This was easily Tatum’s best acting performance to date. He proved that he is not afraid to take risks and he gave his heart and soul in the role, and it was able to move theatergoers worldwide.
