Oscar Spotlight: The Actors

“Actors aren’t animals! They’re human beings!” the wise producer Leo Bloom once said, to which his partner, Max Bialystock, replied, “They are? Have you ever eaten with one?” Most of the Oscar-nominated actors this year seem like agreeable dining companions—which turns out to be an asset on the campaign trail, where instead of kissing babies, nominees must schmooze with out-of-work screenwriters over luncheons at the Chateau Marmont. For male actors especially, charm goes a long way, offscreen and on. Many of the nominated performances this year are rooted in likability; there’s no male equivalent of, say, Isabelle Huppert, nominated for “Elle,” playing a woman who seems to deflect our sympathies like a dieter waving away the dessert menu.