Oscar Nomination-less

Gleeson is thoroughly effective in Gangs of New York, Edge of Tomorrow and The Goblet of Fire, but it is his ability to mask his true intentions that made those parts truly impressive. On the other range of the scale, his heartbreaking performance in Calvary makes him a superb drama actor.

Showcase: Calvary

Another former American crime show star, D'Onofrio has shown strong real dramatic turns ever since Full Metal Jacket, for which he should have won an Oscar. In the woefully bad The Judge, D'Onofrio's performance as the mentally and physically wounded life failure Glen Palmer is the single redeeming quality. It will be fascinating to see what he brings to Jurassic World.

Showcase: Full Metal Jacket

Whether playing a bible-bashing pastor in There Will Be Blood, a reclusive and repressed emo teenage son in Little Miss Sunshine, a racist foreman in 12 Years A Slave, or a mentally scarred kidnapping suspect in Prisoners, Paul Dano has stolen every movie he is in. At first it was an inherent delight in watching him be smacked around by the various protagonists, but his talent and delivery are what truly make him talented.

Showcase: There Will Be Blood

John Bernthal is doing some stellar character work as time goes by. His performance in Fury is absolutely superb, easily one of the best five of the year. He has also popped up and given memorable turns in The Wolf of Wall Street, and TV shows like Boston Legal.

Showcase: Fury

Young Mia Wasikowska is mesmerising in everything she does. As the eldest child in The Kids Are All Right, she was the film's most sympathetic character and also the most loveable. In just two short hours, she becomes so endearing that her moving to college affected myself as a viewer. She was also mesmerising in Maps to the Stars, a dark and twisted performance that a less bold actress would have bungled.

Showcase: The Kids Are All Right

David Wenham showed his acting chops in his spectacular but underseen Killing Time as corrupt lawyer Andrew Fraser. His performance as the emotionally wounded and unloved Faramir is also a huge credit to his acting potential.

Showcase: Killing Time (TV Series)

The sweet, bubbly Alison Pill is a delight as a motivated lesbian activist in Milk and beautifully portrays the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald in Midnight in Paris. She has a delightful positive aura around her, which was used to great effect to lower the main characters' (and the audiences!) guard in Snowpiercer.

Showcase: Milk

Brian Cox is one of the most underrated antagonistic actors in Hollywood. His performance as William Stryker in X-Men 2 drips with malevolence, and stands as one of the very best comic book villains on screen. His booming voice and huge presence also helped shape his characters as a Greek king in Troy and an acting coach in Adaptation.

Showcase: X2 - X-Men United

Always one of the most fascinating and interesting characters in the TV show Lost, I really enjoyed spotting Adewale Akkinuoye-Agjabe in The Mummy Returns, where he played the tough henchman character with superb charisma and even a little bit of humour. His performance as a gladiator in Pompeii is the single salvageable piece of acting in the entire movie.

Showcase: Lost (TV Series)

Pena is a character actor whose quality contributions to Fury and The Lincoln Lawyer only showed how underused he was in Babel and American Hustle. However, it is his loving and heart-rending performance in Crash that gets me every time.

Showcase: The Lincoln Lawyer

I would always have said Spall was talented for his small roles in The King's Speech, Harry Potter, The Last Samurai, and his voice work in Chicken Run. Seeing his mesmerising lead performance in Mr. Turner, for which he very nearly should have WON the Best Actor Oscar, only confirms those feelings.

Showcase: Mr. Turner

Sam Rockwell is without a doubt one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. With ease, he can make us love him (Seven Psychopaths), love to hate him (Iron Man 2) or just plain despise him (The Green Mile).

Showcase: The Green Mile

Burn Gorman first captured most of our attention in Game of Thrones, when he delivered one of Season 3's most delicious lines - "you are a bastard. A *beep* wildling bastard" and then reprised with role in Season 4. Although with much less rich dialogue, Gorman still dripped with malice and brought passion to the role. He also had memorable performances in The Dark Knight Rises and especially Pacific Rim. His back-and-forth with Charlie Day was one of the most memorable parts of a movie that primarily featured robots and monsters bashing each other up.

Showcase: Pacific Rim

The gorgeous Michelle Monaghan stuns audiences in everything - her bubbly and funny performance in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, her loving and loyal Julia in Mission Impossible 3, or her more mature performance as Maggie Hart in True Detective. The first time I really sat up and took notice was in Ben Affleck's masterpiece Gone Baby Gone, where she nailed every scene she was in with conviction and passion.

Showcase: Gone Baby Gone

Barry Pepper is one of those character actors who is always just around, he vanished for a few years and then you see him in a few things. As Dean Stanton in The Green Mile, Jackson in Saving Private Ryan and Lucky Ned Pepper in True Grit, Pepper always brings memorable characters to life out of small-on-paper roles. His most impressive work was his personification of Bobby Kennedy in the Kennedys, a truly remarkable embodiment.

Showcase: The Kennedys

Charismatic but with great dramatic and comedic chops, Anthony Mackie should have been in the Best Supporting Actor race for The Hurt Locker. He played that part with the authenticity that film needed to succeed. He has also shown himself to be a superb supporting protagonist (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) or a hateful antagonists (Million Dollar Baby).

Showcase: The Hurt Locker

Thandie Newton was just plain snubbed for an Oscar nomination for Crash, as she gave easily the most memorable performance in the film. It is good to see that BAFTA noticed, even though the Oscar's nominated Catherine Keener's horrendously bland performance in Capote instead. She has also been the most memorable Mission Impossible Girl for her alluring performance.

Showcase: Crash

Stunningly beautiful with charisma coming out of every orifice, Mena Suvari was a critical part of American Beauty, where she played Angela with confidence and vulnerability. It is a true shame she has never broken out into the same fame as Spacey or Bening.

Showcase: American Beauty

Sheridan is one of the largest reasons that I consider Mud to be essential cinema for teenage boys. Tough and protective yet naive and vulnerable, he is in many ways the average guy and that makes his performances in Mud and Joe so relatable. I look forward to his work in X-Men Apocalypse to see whether he can dodge the typecast bullet.

Showcase: Mud

Cool and collected, Ryan Phillippe can have you love or hate him in the drop of the hat. He was one of the many fantastic performances in Crash, as the young cop trying to avoid racism but in the end giving in to his fear. His performance in The Lincoln Lawyer is sublime - convincing us of his innocence, and yet having us despise him with ease.

Showcase: The Lincoln Lawyer

Skarsgard brings credibility to every performance he does, whether as a mathematics teacher in Good Will Hunting, an entrepreneur with a secret in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or a cursed pirate in Pirates of the Carribean. A veteran character actor, I can only hope one day he is able to break out into a leading role.

Showcase: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

A lovestruck and slightly tragic hero in Inglourious Basterds was Bruhl's most effective and breakout role, but it was his mesmerising personification of Niki Lauda that really stole everyone's attention. He should have contended for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. It will be very interesting to see his career choices down the line, as he was truly wasted in A Most Wanted Man.

Showcase: Rush

Mackenzie Foy was someone I had on my radar in the pile of "never do well" actors who will fail to move out of the Twilight films' shadows. However, her performance in Interstellar was so moving and so genuine that I truly hope to see her get more work in the years to come.

Showcase: Interstellar

Mulvey first came to my attention in the TV show Rush as an efficient and effective police sergeant. He has since managed to make small appearances in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 300: Rise of an Empire, in both of which he carried that dramatic presence that made him such a captivating lead. It will be fantastic to see him continue to move up in Hollywood.

Showcase: Rush (TV Series)

Meloni was always a good-enough star of CSI: SVU, but he has popped up in a few movies that have made me take notice. His performance as the ensnared detective in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For was a crucial performance to establish Eva Green's Dame. He also gave a very vulnerable and secretive performance as Shailene Woodley's father in the woeful White Bird in a Blizzard.

Showcase: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

A guy who will be a memorable part of any film you cast him in, Bill Paxton just has a way of making his dialogue crackle. See his delightful Master Sergeant in Edge of Tomorrow or his sly but pathetic pick up artist in True Lies. He can make you love him or love to hate him, or anywhere in between.

Showcase: Edge of Tomorrow

Noah Emmerich is a man who can convey a great deal. He stole the show in Little Children as a man who feels unwanted, and so he tries to create a mob to attack a pedophile just so he can be a part of something. His subtle acting/acting performance in The Truman Show is also vital to that film's context.

Showcase: Little Children

I have almost never seen less than a 10/10 performance from Oscar Isaac (the less said about The Two Faces of January the better). He takes shallow roles and injects them with so much depth that we understand his characters completely. He salvaged A Most Violent Year, he was utterly brilliant in Ex Machina as a man with a secret, and his performance in Drive is likely the best in that film.

Showcase: Ex Machina

The kind of guy who has been around forever, Joel Edgerton exploded in 2015 with a solid performance in Black Mass and as a filmmaker in The Gift. I cannot wait to see future directorial endeavours from him.

Showcase: The Gift