Who are the Oscar nominees out of character?

Viggo Mortensen, nominated for Best Actor for "Green Book," is an actor, musician, director, photographer, poet and facial hair enthusiast. He's also an outspoken anti-war critic. Even while he supported Bernie Sanders for president in 2016, Mortensen criticized his "hawkish" foreign policy. And in 2002, while promoting "Lord of the Rings," he went on Charlie Rose’s show wearing a T-shirt that read “no more blood for oil.” The producers quietly excused Mortensen from any further promotional obligations.

Former Best Actress Emma Stone got her third Oscar nomination this year, for "The Favourite," but she's been a "favourite" of Lorne Michaels and "Saturday Night Live" for years. She's hosted the show three times, showing off her singing voice as a randy cleaning lady who sings holiday songs to a Christmas candle enthusiast. "SNL" thought so much of her that they chose her for a Gilda Radner tribute at their 40th Anniversary show, where she played Roseanne Roseannadanna.

For someone who has been acting since childhood and has anchored numerous blockbusters, Best Actor nominee Christian Bale has appeared on exactly one late-night talk show in his career. That was "The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn," promoting non-Oscar winner "Reign of Fire," when he delivered a truly stunning and profane answer to the fourth of "Craig's Five Questions." Perhaps the corporate talk soured Bale on the talk-show couch life, though he'll still do morning shows, like he did when he discussed his physical transformation into Dick Cheney on "Good Morning America." 

Regina King is in a pitched battle for Best Supporting Actress after her role in "If Beale Street Could Talk." But it can't be as intense as her "Lip Sync Battle" with Lupita Nyong'o. Nyong'o's sync of Salt n' Pepa's "Whatta Man" was sultry, but King's "Fifty Shades"-inspired version of "Earned" in costume as The Weeknd showed off an impressive commitment to method lip-syncing.

As part of her Best Actress-nominated performance in "The Favourite," Olivia Colman had to do an awkward sex scene with Emma Stone. Talking to Graham Norton, she explained that to make the actors feel safer, Colman used "a big wet sponge." Colman won Best Actress at the British Independent Film Awards and had a memorable moment where she accepted a Best Supporting Actress award  from BIFA on behalf of Rachel Weisz, as Rachel Weisz.

Best Actor nominee Rami Malek took home a Golden Globe for "Bohemian Rhapsody," but along with his trophy, Malek got snubbed by Nicole Kidman as he went up to celebrate the film's other win. It's painful to watch Malek get ignored, try again and then get dissed a second time on stage, and Jimmy Kimmel made him relive the experience on his show as well. Malek said Kidman's husband, Keith Urban, was nice to him afterward, but we are going to need to see some video to confirm that.

Willem Dafoe received his second consecutive Best Actor nomination, for "At Eternity's Gate." He talked about his extensive career for Funny Or Die's IMDb Me, and his most, er, revealing anecdote involved "The Last Temptation Of Christ," where Dafoe played Jesus. And while he was filming his scenes on the cross, his loincloth slipped, and there wasn't a single Roman centurion extra who was willing to reach up and tuck him back in. 

Glenn Close got her seventh Oscar nomination for "The Wife," but she's also a two-time host of "Saturday Night Live." And while her performance in the Fatal Attraction: Support Group in her first appearance is memorably intense, our favorite Close "SNL" sketch came in her return appearance in "What's The Best Way? ," a game show where Connecticut native Close and New Hampshire's own Adam Sandler play New Englanders competing to give the best directions, most of which heavily feature Dunkin' Donuts. Check it out. It's a pissah.

Lady Gaga had her first big-screen starring role in "A Star Is Born," which got her a Best Actress nomination, but this "SNL" sketch from 2013 might as well be called "A Star Is Old." Set in 2063, a forgotten Lady Gaga has to force her building's super to hang out with her, although he has no idea she used to be a superstar. In fairness, he's more of a One Direction fan. It's a surprisingly sweet sketch and hints at the kind of acting chops Gaga would show off later.

Mars Blackmon is a character played by first-time Best Director nominee Spike Lee in his debut film, “She’s Gotta Have It.” Mars later became Michael Jordan’s sidekick in Nike ads directed by Lee, which ingeniously allowed Lee to trash-talk on Jordan's behalf, explaining that while you can't play like Jordan, you can buy his shoes, and also showing how he plays above the rim. He even teams up with Little Richard. The definitive ad in the years-long campaign was one that gave the anti-sell to the Air Jordan, as MJ gave no credit to his footwear for his stardom, and Mars insisted, "it's gotta be the shoes!" The next step for Spike? Working with Michael B. Jordan.

Bradley Cooper is a serious actor, as evidenced by his three previous Oscar nominations and the three more he racked up for "A Star Is Born." But you wouldn't know from his appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon," where he and Fallon couldn't stop laughing discussing his Broadway role in "The Elephant Man." The sadder the stories about John Merrick got, the more they giggled, with Cooper finally stammering, "it's not funny. This guy was horribly deformed," which got the biggest laugh of the whole interview, except when Cooper said, "My man only used his left hand!" Of course they could have removed their ridiculous visors, but that would have ruined the continuity.

Amy Adams has had six Oscar nominations, including a Best Supporting Actress nod for "Vice," but it's not fair to say she's obsessed with finally winning the award. It is fair to say that she's obsessed with karaoke, and she teamed up with Jimmy Fallon for some holiday karaoke on his show. Oscar season is great, but Christmas is truly the most wonderful time of the year.

Best Supporting Actor nominee Adam Driver always brings intensity to his roles, whether he's playing Sith lord Kylo Ren, an undercover cop in "BlacKkKlansman" or aging oilman Abraham H. Parnassus on "Saturday Night Live." Driver crushes the performance, just like he crushes a seagull beneath his cane.

Sam Elliott has one of the greatest voices in Hollywood, and finally in "A Star Is Born" it helped get him his first Oscar nomination. He had a typical tough-guy response to the news: "It's about f—king time." He's displayed the voice as the narrator in "The Big Lebowski," as a spokesman explained that beef is what's for dinner and on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," where he read lyrics from co-star Lady Gaga's song. He deserves a trophy simply for his delivery of "I'm bluffin' with my muffin."

Last year's Best Supporting Actor winner, Sam Rockwell, got another nomination this year, for "Vice," where he delivers an uncanny impression of George W. Bush. He also delivered an excellent performance in his hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live," particularly in his role in the twist-filled "ATM" sketch with Kenan Thompson. It's honestly a better commentary on race relations than the entirety of "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."

Melissa McCarthy's role in Marielle Heller's "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" as celebrity biographer-turned-forger Lee Israel is her strongest performance since she played disgraced White House press secretary Sean Spicer in an Emmy-winning "SNL" cold open. McCarthy's powerhouse performance gives Spicer the backbone and depth he never displayed in his beleaguered tenure in Trump's administration. For better or worse, he tried to help rehabilitate his reputation at the Emmys. But if you need to rehabilitate a seemingly despicable character, you can't do better than McCarthy.

Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nominees Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira, respectively, from "Roma" both appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," with an assist from Guillermo Rodriguez , Kimmel's security guard-turned-sidekick. Aparicio doesn't speak English, nor had she ever acted before "Roma," though you'd never know from her performance. So Guillermo translated, though, not the question about George Clooney's dying in space in "Gravity." 

Richard E. Grant got his first Oscar nomination for his role in "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" As he explained on James Corden's show, it's not the most important role of his career. That was his part in "Spice World," in which he played the manager of the Spice Girls. Lena Dunham loved his performance so much that she wrote for him a four-episode arc on "Girls," and he also got free concert tickets from Spice fan Adele. Nevertheless, it was inevitable he'd have a career, since he's got fire in his eyes, hunger in his bellies and great big shoes on his feet!

While Mahershala Ali won an Oscar for "Moonlight," he isn't the only champion in his family. As he explained in an appearance on "Ellen," his father was a champion on "Soul Train." And though Ali claims he didn't inherit the dancing gene, he was still willing to emulate the former First Lady and show off the "Obama two-step" on her show. His father — and Don Cornelius — would be proud.

Adam McKay got his second Best Director nomination, for "Vice," following a nomination for "The Big Short," for which he won Best Screenplay. But he's also a talented performer, which is never more evident than in his role in the Funny or Die short "Good Cop, Baby Cop." It also stars his 2-year-old daughter, Pearl, which proves even more that the three acting nominations from "Vice" that McKay can bring out a tour de force performance from anyone.