Best buds face off in top Oscar acting categories

Viola versus Meryl. George versus Brad. It’s the battle of the best buds in this year’s top acting categories at the Academy Awards, airing tomorrow night. Who will trump the other? Let's break it down and see where these fine actors stand.

LADIES FIRST

How Viola knows Meryl: Both starred in the 2008 film “Doubt,” which earned each of them numerous award nominations. But before that, Streep was always an idol of Davis’. These days, Streep doesn’t simply recognize Davis as a fan, but as an equal. Both admire each other and their craft, so much that throughout this award season the ladies have each given shout outs to the other in acceptance speeches, and fawned over the other’s ability.

Viola Davis
Age: 46

2012 nominated role: Davis plays Aibileen Clark, the central character of “The Help.” Clark is a black maid in Mississippi during the1960s, who decides to work with an up-and-coming journalist to tell her story — along with many other maids to follow — to the world.

Previous experience: Davis is known primarily for her acting chops on the stage, but she has also had parts in such films as “Doubt,” “Antwone Fisher” and “Traffic.”

Previous award recognition: Davis has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for her role in “Doubt.” She also has been nominated three times for a Tony, and won two of those.

So far this year: Davis was nominated for all three of the big awards this year: Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG award. She took home the SAG award, but lost the Globe to Streep.

Meryl Steep
Age: 62

2012 nominated role: Streep takes on the task of portraying the longest serving Prime Minister of the U.K., Margaret Thatcher, in “The Iron Lady.”

Previous experience: Streep is received as one of the most respected actresses of her generation. She has been in over 50 films including “The Deer Hunter,” “The Bridges of Madison County,” “Mamma Mia!” and “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Previous award recognition: Streep has a record-breaking 17 Academy Award nominations and 26 Golden Globe nominations. Of those, she has won two Academy Awards for her roles in 1979’s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and 1982’s “Sophie’s Choice.” She has won eight of her Golden Globe nominations.

Streep has also won two Emmys, two SAG awards, five Grammys, one Tony, and the coveted AFI Life Achievement Award in 2004, to say the least.

So far this year: Streep has been nominated, just as Davis, for all three of the big awards. She is tied with Davis, 1-1, having taken the win at the Golden Globes.

Who will come out on top: This is a tough call. Both women transformed themselves greatly for their roles. Davis put on 25 pounds to play Aibileen, while Streep donned quite a bit of prosthetics and a fake set of teeth to encompass the iron lady.

While Streep may have the better acting chops here, I think the Academy is going to favor Davis, simply because “The Help” was a movie people actually saw. It grossed $206 million at the box office, while only $60 million was made from “The Iron Lady.” Critics, alike, also have said that Steep was the only good part of “The Iron Lady,” while the entire cast of “The Help” is what made it such a superb overall film.

MEN WILL BE MEN

How George knows Brad: Aside from both men being named People’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” — twice — the two hunky heartthrobs first starred together in 2001’s “Ocean’s Eleven” remake. This followed by two more Ocean’s movies in 2004 and 2007, respectively. To mix things up, Clooney and Pitt starred in another film together in 2008, the Coen brother’s “Burn After Reading,” that showcased the kookie side of both of them.

As Streep and Davis offer overwhelming praise for each other at this year’s award ceremonies, Clooney and Pitt have been giving each other little jabs — all respectful, of course — while at the podium. For instance, at this year’s Golden Globes, Pitt showed up with a cane after tearing his ACL. To poke fun while Clooney introduced Pitt's “Moneyball” — a Best Picture nominee — Clooney walked on stage with Pitt’s cane, stating “I have to give it back to him or he can't make it to the bar otherwise.”

George Clooney
Age: 50

2012 nominated role: Clooney portrays Matt King in Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants.” King tries to reconnect with his daughters after he find out that his wife — currently in a coma from a boating accident — has been cheating on him.

Previous experience: Clooney first started out on television with a successful run on “E.R.” He quickly made the jump to the big screen with such films as “Out of Sight” and “From Dusk till Dawn” to “The Perfect Storm” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

Clooney has also stepped in the director’s chair on numerous occasions, first with 2002’s “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” followed by three others — the most recent being “The Ides of March,” in which he also starred.

Previous award recognition: Clooney has been nominated seven times for an Academy Award, winning one of those for 2005’s “Syriana.” He also has nine Golden Globe nominations, with three of those being wins, and four SAG awards under his belt.

So far this year: Clooney has won great acclaim for his role, yet — of the big three — he has only picked up the Golden Globe win.

Brad Pitt
Age: 48

2012 nominated role: Pitt brought to life the general manager of the Oakland A’s — Billy Beane — who decided to take baseball to a whole other level by drafting players by a computer-generated analysis, rather than by the typical notions.

Previous experience: As with Clooney, Pitt also started out on TV. He quickly gained fame from a standout role in 1991‘s “Thelma & Louise.” Following, he starred in a slew of films that showcased his wide range and depth, including “Interview with the Vampire,” “Seven,” “Fight Club” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

Previous award recognition: Pitt has been nominated for three Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, five SAG awards and one Emmy for a one-episode role on “Friends.”
Yet, just as with Clooney, despite the many nominations, he has only taken home one solo award — that being a Golden Globe for “12 Monkeys.” He also was part of the “Inglourious Basterds” cast win in 2009 at the SAG awards.

So far this year: No wins for Pitt, as of yet.

Who will come out on top: Unfortunately, Pitt isn’t Clooney’s toughest competition in the Best Actor race. That honor goes to Jean Dujardin of “The Artist.” Unlike the Golden Globes, where Best Actors are separated into Comedy and Drama categories, the Academy doesn’t divvy up its categories, leaving Clooney and Dujardin to be pit (see what I did there) against each other.

"Moneyball" did well in theaters, and just as good when it was released on DVD, but, sorry to say, Pitt doesn’t have a chance really. So it looks like Clooney takes the cake here even if he loses to Dujardin in the end. But hey, at least Pitt had the pleasure of being in good company with his buddy Clooney. It’s made for an amusing awards season, and showed us just how great a true bromance can really be.