George Clooney big favourite to scoop Best Actor Oscar

George Clooney’s turn as land baron Matt King in the Alexander Payne-directed film The Descendents has made him favourite to land his first Best Actor Oscar.

The Hollywood superstar plays the part of a man who takes his daughters on a trip to Hawaiian Island Kauai to confront a real estate broker who was having an affair with his wife before she suffered a boating accident that landed her in intensive care.

Clooney is currently odds-on at 5/6 to win and add to the Best Supporting Actor award he picked up for his role in 2005’s Syriana.

However, he is far from guaranteed to win the prestigious award and faces what could be a close battle with Jean Dujardin.

The Frenchman stars in Best Picture favourite, The Artist, as a silent movie star worried about his career after the introduction of ‘talkies’.

He is second favourite at 2/1 and, with The Artist already winning plaudits across the globe, he should not be discounted.

Meanwhile, further down the betting, Leonardo DiCaprio is 3/1 to win his first Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in the film J.Edgar.

Actors staring in biopics have done well in recent years with Sean Penn and Forest Whitaker taking home the award for their portrayals of Harvey Milk and Idi Amin respectively.

In a similar vein, Brad Pitt is 8/1 to win the award for his role as Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane who rejected the traditional scouting method of selecting baseball players for a more statistical approach.

Clooney is the rightful favourite though and he looks a good bet to pick up the award on the night.