Best Actor 2018

My top choices in the order I would place them on my Academy ballot if I were allowed to vote. In other words, this is my top five, but I acknowledge that this list is already influenced by awards buzz. They are not in order of my preference. Instead, the actors whom I think would theoretically benefit the most from my vote are at the top.

CHARLIE PLUMMER, Lean on Pete

TOMASZ KOT, Zimna Wojna (Cold War)

STEPHAN JAMES, If Beale Street Could Talk

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, You Were Never Really Here

BRADLEY COOPER, A Star Is Born

Also loved:
Zain Al Rafeea, Capernaum (کفرناحوم‎)
Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Sam Claflin, Journey's End
Joe Cole, A Prayer before Dawn
Ryan Gosling, First Man
Lucas Hedges, Boy Erased
Tim Kalkhof, Der Kuchenmacher (The Cakemaker) (האופה-מברלין)
Meinhard Neumann, Western
Victor Polster, Girl
Yoo Ah-in Burning (버닝)

Apologies to:
Sam Claflin (Adrift), Lorenzo Ferro (The Angel), Jake Gyllenhaal (Wildlife), McCaul Lombardi (Sollers Point), and Matthias Schoenaerts (Racer and the Jailbird), whose films I have not yet seen.

Related:
My Best Actor picks from past years (2004-2017)
My Best Actress picks from 2018
My Best Supporting Actress picks from 2018
My Best Supporting Actor picks from 2018