Film: Closer
Previous best supporting actor wins for role: Golden Globe; New York Film Critics Circle; Orange British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs)
Previous Oscar nominations/wins: None
Character Bio: At first glance, Larry–the handsome, self-assured dermatologist–doesn’t seem lovelorn and psychologically undone by sexual betrayal. But under Owen’s mesmerizing, brutish will, Larry’s words and feelings burst forth like a volcano. When he is hounding his wife, Anna (Julia Roberts), for details about her torrid affair with another man or verbally whip-lashing the stripper Alice (Natalie Portman) to give him her real name, we are repulsed but slightly sympathetic toward Larry’s plight. Oddly, we feel his anguish. But even by sinking to the lowest of lows, he is able to rescue himself–and even win the girl.
