Jamie passion and passionfruit!

A real slew of nominees here showing how many directors used young and amateur actors to great effect.  There could have been more nominees as the overall level this year was one of the highest ever.

Nominees:

Ivana Baquero (Pan’s Labyrinth)

Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat)

Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray)

Presley Chweneyegae (Tsotsi)

Ines Efron (XXY)

Marc-André Grondin (C.R.A.Z.Y.)

Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)

Rinko Kikuchi (Babel)

James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland)

Annamaria Marinca (4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days)

Carice Van Houten (Zwartboek/Black Book)

Special Mentions:

Jennifer Hudson

In her first film role, she acts Beyoncé off the stage and sings you into goosebumps.  She is helped by having a great role to play but she embraces the challenge with a vengeance.

Sacha Baron Cohen

New to the big screen, if not to TV, Sacha lets loose as Borat, the Kazak journalist and creates a great comic character.

Equal Winners:

Annamaria Marinca

A tremendous performance as the good friend in 4 months, etc.  Marinca brings all her reactions and feelings to the surface with a naturalness and an authenticity that floors us.

Carice van Houten

Tipped as Holland’s new star, Carice has to do everything in Black Book from singing to nudism, action scenes and drama.  She is magnetic as the central character in this film and shows that she has got the acting chops.