Five Oscar Nominees You Don't Know but Should

Move over, George Clooney, Sandra Bullock and Penélope Cruz! It's time to make room for a new crop of awards hopefuls

By Marc Malkin Feb 02, 2010 11:22 PMTags
Jeremy Renner, Carey Mulligan, Christoph Waltz, Ryan Bingham, Gabourey SidibeJason LaVeris/Getty Images; AP Photo/Dan Steinberg; AP Photo/Dan Steinberg; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images; C.J. LaFrance/Getty Images

George Clooney, Sandra Bullock, Penélope Cruz and Matt Damon are just a few of the very familiar names who popped up on this year's list of Oscar nominees.

But what about some of those, well, lesser-known contenders?

Here is our list of five Oscar nominees you don't know but should…

Jeremy Renner (Actor in a Leading Role, The Hurt Locker): The hunkster California native, 39, has appeared in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with Brad Pitt and even has a Gossip Girl connection—he stars opposite Blake Lively in Ben Affleck-directed The Town.

Carey Mulligan (Actress in a Leading Role, An Education): Don't let the American accent she has in the upcoming Wall Street sequel fool you, because this 24-year-old beauty comes to us from Great Britain. She started her acting career at age 18 in the 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice and made her Broadway debut just two years later in The Seagull, thankyouverymuch. Oh, she also dates her Wall Street costar Shia LaBeouf.

Gabourey Sidibe (Actress in a Leading Role, Precious): Could ya believe playing the 16-year-old title character in the gritty drama was her big-screen debut? Well, it was. This 26-year-old from Brooklyn, N.Y., will next be seen in The Big C, the upcoming Showtime series about a woman (Laura Linney) living with cancer.

Christoph Waltz (Actor in a Supporting Role, Inglourious Basterds): It's not easy to outshine Brad Pitt on the silver screen, but the 53-year-old Austrian actor did just that—playing the Nazi Hans Landa (aka The Jew Hunter). Next up is another villain, but of the comic book superhero kind: Chudnofsky opposite Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz in The Green Hornet.

Ryan Bingham (Original Song, "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart): He's the only nonthespian on our list, but we think he's just so friggin' cute and darn talented. Conominated with music legend T-Bone Burnett, Bingham, 27, is a former rodeo bull rider turned singer-songwriter. Swoon.

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Check out our 2010 Oscars: Notable Nominees photo gallery.