Poll: Will Mark Wahlberg pull off another Oscar surprise?

Oscar pundits have a habit of underestimating Mark Wahlberg. Just four years ago, nobody took him seriously as a derby contender when "The Departed" jockeyed for best picture. All eyes were on his costars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson, but both got skunked. Wahlberg was the only star of Oscar's best picture champ to get an acting nomination. He lost that race, but was nonetheless voted best supporting actor of 2006 by the National Society of Film Critics.

Now it looksas if Oscar gurus are dismissing him again. Only one of the 10 pundits at The Envelope's Buzzmeter and five of the 23 pundits polled by Gold Derby believe Wahlberg will be nominated for lead actor Tuesday when Academy Award nominations are unveiled. What do you think? He was nominated at the Golden Globes, where he lost to Colin Firth ("The King's Speech"). He took home a nice consolation prize, however. He's a producer of "Boardwalk Empire," which won for Best TV drama series. He was overlooked by the Screen Actors Guild in the lead actor bout for "The Fighter," but he's nominated along with his costars for SAG's ensemble award, which they COULD win.

— Tom O'Neil

Photo: "The Wrestler" (Paramount)

Comments

[Dancingbear]

The Best Actor race is pretty tight this year. If the Academy want to go for sympathy, lifetime achievement route then Robert Duvall could end up in the 5th slot. If the Academy wants to honor a nom for a critically praised performance, then Javier Bardem may end up in the 5th slot. Walhberg still has a chance since The Fighter will pick up Best pic, supporting actor & actress nods. One actor who's performance I found so one-note, robotic and cold was Jesse Eisenberg's. He might get bumped. So the predicts will go either way:

Colin Firth
Jeff Bridges
Jesse Eisenberg
James Franco
Mark Wahlberg

or

Colin Firth
Jeff Bridges
Javier Bardem
Robert Duvall
Mark Wahlberg
Ryan Gosling