Who's up for the 2016 Best Supporting Actor Oscar?

Will it finally be Sly's year? Sylvester Stallone has never won an Oscar, but reprising his role as Rocky Balboa in Creed, a film many felt was overlooked in the Best Picture category, may just do it for him. Here's a guide to the actors who might still knock him off his perch.

Christian Bale

Age: 41

Nominated for: The Big Short. In this satirical take on the 2007 financial crisis, Bale plays a hedge fund manager who earns a fortune by gambling on the collapse of the housing market.

Oscars history: The British actor took home the Best Supporting Actor statuette in 2011 for his performance in The Fighter, and was nominated in 2014 for Best Actor for his wig-assisted performance in American Hustle. Both films were directed by David O Russell.

What the critics said: For a famously committed method actor, this represents one of Bale's lighter moments, and he was praised by the Telegraph's Robbie Collin for his "fun, tic-heavy performance". He's been nominated for a Bafta, but just missed out on a Golden Globe.

In his own words: "I love playing ‘real-life’ characters in this career of dress-up that I have. This very grown-up profession that I’ve delved into."

Did you know?: He first appeared on screen in a 1983 Pac-Man cereal advertisement. He was nine years old.

Tom Hardy

Age: 38

Nominated for: The Revenant. Few actors can summon brooding, inarticulate violence as powerfully as Hardy, as proven by his menacing turn as Fitzgerald, a hard-bitten 19th century fur trapper with a grudge against Leonardo DiCaprio’s Hugh Glass.

Oscars history: This is Hardy's first Academy Award nomination.

What the critics said: Leonardo DiCaprio's bison-quaffing antics have mostly stolen the limelight from Hardy's performance, and there was some talk of scenery-chewing...

In his own words: "I was a bit naughty, I didn't do any research. I had time to grow a beard, get a wig on and go up the mountain. What you see is what you get."

Did you know?: Won The Big Breakfast's "Find Me a Supermodel" competition in 1998, when he was 21 years old.

Mark Ruffalo

Age: 48

Nominated for: Spotlight. Ruffalo’s nuanced portrayal of a dogged Boston Globe reporter made the most of his gift for rumpled naturalism in Thomas McCarthy’s investigative drama.

Oscars history: Ruffalo has previously been nominated twice for Best Supporting Actor, for Foxcatcher (2015) and The Kids Are All Right (2011).

What the critics said: Even in this supremely well-balanced ensemble drama, Ruffalo stood out. The Telegraph's Robbie Collin praised his "brilliantly calibrated physical portrayal of a born investigator – in one scene, when he arrives in a lawyer’s office, he even scrutinises the chair in the foyer before warily taking a seat." He was nominated for a Golden Globe and may yet win a Bafta.

In his own words: "Will I go [to the Oscars] or not? I don’t know yet. I’m still waiting to see. Part of me thinks this film, in a way, is getting at this very paradigm, and so I’m carrying responsibility for another kind of victimised people. And I have responsibility to the filmmakers, the journalists. That’s kind of how I’m balancing it out."

Did you know?: Ruffalo suffered from a brain tumour in 2000 which resulted in the left half of his face being paralysed for 10 months.

Mark Rylance

Age: 56

Nominated for: Bridge of Spies. In a relatively rare big-screen outing, the renowned thesp offers a mesmerising presence as a soft-spoken, inscrutable Russian spy defended by Tom Hanks in Steven Spielberg’s Cold War drama.

Oscars history: This is the first time Rylance has been nominated for an Oscar.

What the critics said: Robbie Collin wrote that Rylance's performance was "magnificent", and he's picked up Bafta and Golden Globe nominations for his work on the film.

In his own words: "I've been working for a long time, but a lot of people don't know me. I'm like a vintage car they haven't seen before."

Did you know?: On two of the occasions that Rylance has won Tony Awards, he has given his acceptance speech in the form of a poem by the American poet Louis Jenkins.

Sylvester Stallone

Age: 69

Nominated for: Creed. Four decades after he first stepped into the ring as Rocky Balboa, Stallone’s comeback performance as an older, frailer Italian Stallion has won over audiences and critics alike.

Oscars history: Stallone's two previous Oscar nominations were both for the original Rocky film (1976), where he was nominated for Best Actor and for Best Original Screenplay.

What the critics said: Stallone's return to the ring earned him glowing notices, with the Telegraph's Tim Robey praising his "compelling lack of vanity" in one of his "best performances". He also won the Best Supporting Actor prize at the Golden Globes.

In his own words: It took Creed director Ryan Coogler two years to convince Stallone to revisit the role of Rocky. "He kind of reminded me… of me, truth be told. So I finally said, 'You know what? Someone took a chance on me, once. I’m just going to throw caution to the wind and let him run with it.'"

Did you know?: His first starring role was in the softcore porn film The Party at Kitty and Stud's, for which he was paid $200.