Top 3 Leading Actor Winning Performances

Carrying on the countdown to this years Academy Awards, this is my second 'Top 3' blog post. This is my top 3 performances in the Leading Actor category.

Feel free to comment saying who your top 3 would be.

3 - Anthony Hopkins in 'The Silence Of The Lambs'

At a little over 16 minutes screen time, this is one of the shortest performances ever to win the Leading Actor award. This portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter is as harrowing as they come, and despite having the short screen time, Hopkins provides an unforgettable performance which steals the show. Improvising a couple of the films key scenes, such as the disturbing hissing sound made after telling a story of eating one of his victims, Hopkins brought this character to life, and added to an already thrilling movie, no one else could've possibly played this part as well, and frightening as him.

'The Silence Of The Lambs' swept the 1992 Oscars, winning all of the 'big four' awards (Best Film, Best Leading Actor, Best Leading Actress and Best Director).

2 - Jack Nicholson in 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' 

At the 1976 ceremony, Nicholson finally won his first Oscar, after being nominated four times previously. Nicholson has been in some great films over the years, and put in some spectacular performances, such as his thrilling part in 'The Shining', but it is his role in this moving movie that is his best ever. Nicholson showed the world just how fine of an actor he is, portraying each emotion of his character flawlessly, and making you route for him despite being a criminal. It's a difficult character to portray to an audience but Nicholson seems to do it effortlessly, there is no way that this film could've been so successful with someone else in the role, Jack Nicholson provides us with many eccentric moments in the movie, but also disheartening ones, and he switches between the two perfectly. 

'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' was another film that won all of the 'big four' awards at the Oscars.

1 - Robert De Niro in 'Raging Bull'

Robert De Niro is one of the finest actors to ever grace the big screen. Since winning his first Oscar in 1975 for his role in 'The Godfather: Part II' he has gone on to provide us with stunning performances in films such as 'Taxi Driver', 'The Deer Hunter' and 'Goodfellas', but none have been quite as stunning as 'Raging Bull'.

In this biopic about the life of boxer Jake LaMotta, De Niro completely captured the essence of the film, his portrayal of LaMotta's downward spiral is absolutely mesmerising. De Niro showed his passion for the role by gaining 4 stone in weight to fully get the LaMotta look, this helped the portrayal greatly, as when you watch this fantastic film you forget that it's De Niro acting and believe that it is LaMotta on the screen. De Niro's fighting scenes are like watching a professional boxer in the ring, but it's the scenes outside of the ring that are the most breathtaking, the aggression that De Niro shows in these scenes are jaw dropping, he portrays each element of LaMotta's character with ease and all you can do is just sit in silence and watch.

Here are some Honourable Mentions, performances which almost made the top 3

Sean Penn in 'Mystic River'
Colin Firth in 'The King's Speech'
Matthew McConaughey in 'Dallas Buyers Club'
Daniel Day-Lewis in 'There Will Be Blood'
Ben Kingsley in 'Gandhi'

Please comment if you believe someone deserved to be on this list.

Also let me know who would be your top 3.