Best actor Oscar battle sees double British interest

EDDIE Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch will go head to head in the race to be named best actor at this year’s Oscars.

Redmayne, whose performance as Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything has already won him a Golden Globe, is among the early favourites for the award.

As well as Cumberbatch, who played code-breaker Alan Turing in The Im i t at ion Game, Redmayne is up against Steve Carell, nominated for Foxcatcher, American Sniper’s Bradley Cooper and Birdman’s Michael Keaton for the award.

The Sherlock star, who is engaged to theatre director Sophie Hunter, from Edinburgh, said: “I am knocked for six by this. So excited and honoured to receive this recognition.”

The early odds suggest Redmayne faces stiff competition from Keaton in the race to be named Best Actor.

Redmayne’s co-star in The Theory Of Everything, Felicity Jones, and Rosamund Pike are both nominated for the leading actress gong.

Jones, who played Professor Hawking’s first wife Jane, told BBC Radio 5 Live that she could not watch the because it nerve-wracking”.

Jones and Gone Girl star Pike face competition from Reese Witherspoon, Julianne Moore and Marion Cotillard.

Keira Knightley, who stars alongside Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, is nominated for the best supporting actress award alongside Oscars veteran Meryl Streep – who is shortlisted for a 19th time. The other nominees are Patricia Arquette, Laura Dern and Emma Stone.

The nominees for supporting actor are Robert Duvall, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo and JK Simmons.

Both The Theory Of Everything and The Imitation Game are in contention to be named best film along with American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Selma and Whiplash. nominations

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