Best Supporting Actor

THE NOMINEES:

Josh Brolin, "Milk"

Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"

Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"

Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"

Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

WHO SHOULD WIN:

Fareed Ben-Youssef: Heath Ledger

Ledger played a strangely ebullient yet intense personality, and he did it with so much energy that he gave the production all the strength that it needed to move forward. He delivered an iconic performance in a well-trodden role.

Adam Tanaka: Robert Downey Jr.

He was absolutely hilarious in a role that was riskier and more challenging than a lot of the roles this year. To put on plackface to play a black character could have killed his career if he had done it badly.

Jun Koh: Michael Shannon

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Shannon stole the scene with his vociferous performance in a film that was otherwise weak, with a story that would have been better suited for a play adaptation than for a movie.

Isia Jasiewicz: Philip Seymour Hoffman

"Doubt" was an under-appreciated film this year. It was very effective in garnering a reaction from the audience, and Hoffman was the pivotal ingredient that made this movie so engaging.

WHO WILL WIN: Heath Ledger

Ledger's death was a tragedy. But ultimately this is just a real actor's performance: textured, layered, complex. — AT