Fun Shoots

For the past few years, Newsweek has done various interviews with possible Oscar nominees. Here are some of the shots from past Oscars Actors Roundtables. The Roundtables took place before Oscar nominations were announced for that particular year. These actors were asked to participate because they were all front-runners.

2007: Brad Pitt (Babel), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond), Helen Mirren (The Queen), Penelope Cruz (Volver), and Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal)

*Pitt did not receive a nomination that year

*Whitaker and Mirren won Oscars that year

2008: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Ellen Page (Juno), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart), James McAvoy (Atonement), and George Clooney (Michael Clayton)

*McAvoy and Jolie did not receive nominations that year

*Day-Lewis and Cotillard won Oscars that year

2009: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)

Not pictured: Robert Downey, Jr.(Tropic Thunder), and Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky)

*Hawkins did not receive a nomination that year

2010: Woody Harrelson (The Messanger), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Gaboruey Sidibe (Precious), Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), Carey Mulligan (An Education), and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)

*Bridges and Bullock won Oscars that year

2011: James Franco (127 Hours), Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), and Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

*Firth and Portman won Oscars that year

2012: Michael Fassbender (Shame), Charlize Theron (Young Adult), Christopher Plummer (Beginners), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), George Clooney (The Descendants), and Viola Davis (The Help)

*Fassbender, Theron, and Swinton did not receive nominations that year

*Plummer won an Oscar that year

Fun Shoots

Viola Davis looking phenomenal in the LA Times Magazine, 2012

*Here's hoping she takes home that Oscar

Fun Shoots

Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Christopher Plummer,

Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, and Viola Davis participate in

Newsweek's Oscars Roundtable, 2012

Oscar Photos

Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, and Viola Davis wave to fans at the 81st Annual Academy Awards, where all three received nominations for their work in "Doubt", 2010

Hollywood Awards (2011 films)

HOLLYWOOD DISCOVERY AWARDS

Best Short Film

Clear Blue: Eun Kyung Nam, Mattias Troelstrup,

S. Brent Martin, Lindsay Mackay

Best Feature

Fort McCoy: Andy Hirsch, Eric Stoltz, Kate Connor

HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS

Actor of the Year

George Clooney: The Descendants

Actress of the Year

Michelle Williams: My Week with Marilyn

Supporting Actor of the Year

Christopher Plummer: Beginners

Supporting Actress of the Year

Carey Mulligan: Drive and Shame

Ensemble of the Year

The Help: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer,

Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney,

Sissy Spacek, Cicely Tyson, Chris Lowell, Ahna O'Reilly,

Aunjanue Ellis, Mary Steenburgen

Animation of the Year

Rango: Gore Verbinski

NEW HOLLYWOOD AWARDS

Hollywood Breakthrough Award

Felicity Jones: Like Crazy

Actor of the Year

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: 50/50

Actress of the Year

Jessica Chastain: Take Shelter, The Help,

The Tree of Life, The Debt, Coriolanus

Spotlight Awards

Andrea Riseborough: W.E.

Anton Yelchin: Like Crazy

Shailene Woodley: The Descendants

Elle Fanning: Super 8

Amber Heard: The Rum Diary

Jean Dujardin: The Artist

Berenice Bejo: The Artist

Hollywood Career Achievement Award

Glenn Close: Albert Nobbs


Flick of the Day

Film: KNIGHT AND DAY

Director: James Mangold

Actors: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jordi Molla, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Marc Blucas, Maggie Grace

Year: 2010

Synopsis: A rogue CIA agent teams up with a civilian to stop the sale of a special energy source.

Performance of the Day

Actor: DEREK LUKE

Film: "Antwone Fisher"

Character: Antwone Fisher

Year: 2002

Derek Luke burst on the scene in 2002's riveting drama "Antwone Fisher" as a former foster child searching for the family who never knew him. Luke is outstanding and commands the screen, even while sharing it with the likes of Denzel Washington. Luke's performance is touching, poignant, and complex (especially in the scene where he meets his birth mother, played by an unrecognizable and spectacular Viola Davis). He certainly deserved the Spirit Award and National Board of Review Best Breakthrough Honor he took home the following year.

Ginger of the Week

Jessica Chastain is pretty unknown at this point in her career, but you might recognize her soon. Born and raised in Northern California, Chastain made her way to New York to attend the prestigious school of the arts, Juilliard. Her first role was in a television movie adaptation entitled "Dark Shadows". She has done bit parts in shows like "Law and Order", "ER", and "Veronica Mars". She made her film debut in 2008's "Jolene", in which she played a teenage orphan who travels across country to experience life. Up next for the beautiful ginger: "The Tree of Life" (with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn), "The Fields" (with Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Sam Worthington), and "The Help" (with Viola Davis, Sissy Spacek, and Emma Stone).