The problem with an Oscar-caliber role is that for the rest of your career, people tend to think of you only as that character; not as a human person who laughs at how poorly they play boardgames like Catchphrase, possessing good dance moves and a surprisingly solid basketball shot. While we never truly get to see behind a performer's mask, it's fun when we get to catch glimpses of themselves in other roles, (looking at you, "Saturday Night Life" guests not afraid to break character), or just goofing around on shows like "Lip Sync Battle" like we all do with our friends... on the small stage during karaoke night.
So here are to the 2018 Oscar nominees who aren't afraid to be silly and fun, and their best moments.
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Common, A dancer... and then some
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Best Original Song nominee Common won a Oscar in 2015 for “Glory,” a song he co-wrote with John Legend. The two collaborators squared off on "Lip Sync Battle," where Common showed off his Jackson Five dance moves with a sweet version of “I Want You Back.” Maybe the next time we see him at the Oscars, he’ll be winning for choreography.
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Margot Robbie, Boxer (and flirt!)
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Margot Robbie got a Best Actress nomination for "I, Tonya," but that’s nothing compared to the title of Best Australian. For that, we have her appearance on “Ellen’s Australian Boxers” with Chris Hemsworth, where both answered dubious Australian trivia questions (including “Chris, what is your address?”) while dressed as kangaroos and wearing boxing gloves.
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Williem DaFoe, Funnyman
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Sure, Willem DaFoe delivered a great performance in "The Florida Project," but he’ll commit just as hard for a Funny Or Die production. In Adam McKay’s "The Procedure," DaFoe plays a man who decides to change his life by getting a brain surgery – so that he can listen to “Private Eyes” by Hall & Oates at all times. DaFoe is such a professional, he may have gotten a skull incision just for the realism.
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Meryl Streep's 21th Oscar nomination for "The Post," easily a record for actresses. And while Katharine Graham of The Washington Post is a fascinating figure, Meryl has proven that she doesn’t need amazing material to show off her chops. Or any material at all! On "Ellen," Meryl manages to make everything sound interesting, even delivering a sensual rendition of a recipe.
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Steven Spielberg , "Laser Cats 7" auteur
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Steven Spielberg got a Best Director nod for his work on The Post, but his work in the field of laser cat cinema has gone criminally unrecognized. In 2012, Spielberg appeared on Saturday Night Live as the auteur behind “Laser Cats 7.” Andy Samberg and Bill Hader do good work, but it’s really Spielberg who brings the epic tale of General Nitro and Admiral Spaceship to life. After all, who else will stop the Nazis from using laser cats for evil?
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Sam Rockwell, Frustrated PBS host
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It’s been a year of milestones for Sam Rockwell. He won a Golden Globe, two SAG awards, and got his first Best Supporting Actor nomination. And, he said the f-word on "Saturday Night Live." Clearly Rockwell gets deep into his characters even in sketches, because his frustrated teacher hosting “The Science Show” in a PBS parody blew up and shouted, “You can’t be this f---ing stupid!” Let’s hope he watches his language if he gets to make an acceptance speech.
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Laurie Metcalf, Vocal master
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Saoirse Ronan & Timothée Chalamet, Battle for Catchphrase champ
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Denzel Washington, Three-point shooter
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In "He Got Game," Denzel Washington played a memorable game of one-on-one against the NBA’s all-time three point leader, Ray Allen. So it makes sense that in Jimmy Fallon’s Random Object Shootout, he’d be paired with the NBA’s current three-point king, Steph Curry. They fire random objects at the hoop – cranberry sauce, a skateboard – and finish off with a VHS copy of "He Got Game."
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Kumail Nanjiani, Love doctor
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Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon shared a Best Original Screenplay nomination for "The Big Sick," but only Kumail got to host SNL. Their movie is a romantic comedy that’s also about Gordon’s real-life mysterious illness, but Kumail’s “Nursing Home” sketch features a different kind of romance. The seniors do have medical ailments, but many are due to the unfettered hookups of this assisted care facility.
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Octavia Spencer, Food reviewer
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"The Shape Of Water" got Octavia Spencer her third Oscar nomination, but we think she really shone in her role as a Sticky Bun trainee on SNL. Is it hard to work at Sticky Bun? Maybe you should try getting through a transaction without telling a customer, “I don’t eat here. This food is trash.”
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Saoirse Ronan and Greta Gerwig, Speed racing ghosts
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Allison Janney, Unbeaten in sexy street slang
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In "I, Tonya," the movie that gave Allison Janney a Best Supporting Actress nod, no one is smart. Which is what makes Janney’s game of “You Think You’re Smarter Than Me” against Ellen DeGeneres so dramatic. Ellen’s list of slang terms for making love is somewhat dubious, but she proves her real smarts by letting the clock run out on the game while she’s still ahead. The real Tonya Harding would approve of that chicanery.
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Gary Oldman, Dancing fool over a decade ago...
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Gary Oldman ... dancing fool today
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We can’t get enough of Gary Oldman dancing. He cavorted with a horse on his "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson," but the best dance performance was one he did in full "Darkest Hour" Winston Churchill makeup, giving ol’ Winston the dance moves of James Brown. He shall dance on the beaches, he shall dance on the landing grounds, he shall dance in the fields and in the streets. And if we’re lucky, he might dance behind the podium at the Oscars.
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Woody Harrelson, nominated for "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," has always been an outspoken advocate for marijuana, hemp, anything related to weed really (even if he himself no longer partakes). He had some fun with that image as SNL host, in a digital short called New Marijuana Policy. Woody dons a dreadlock wig and a poncho that might have come from his personal wardrobe, and triumphantly climbs a car, bong in hand, to declare he’s “Free at last!” Obviously he’s going to have the Oscar party with the best snacks.
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Jordan Peele, Bad script doctor
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Nominated as director and screenwriter for "Get Out," Jordan Peele clearly knows movies, and his Emmy win for "Key & Peele" shows that he's mastered television. Both are especially evident in his turns as “Hollywood sequel doctor” Star Magic Jackson, Junior, who comes in to brainstorm "Gremlins 2." In this classic "Key & Peele" sketch, the "Gremlins" suggestions get progressively more insane, though it turns out that all of these things really are in the actual movie. Peele has to have a world of future opportunities ahead of him, but we are hoping that he’s handed the keys to "Gremlins 3."
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Sally Hawkins, Dating master
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Sally Hawkins falls in love with a sea creature in The Shape Of Water, but the Best Actress nominee had an even bigger challenge on "The Late Late Show" – going on a date with James Corden in a monster costume. It’s called “When Your Catfish Is Actually A Fish,” and we can’t wait for what they come up with next year, when "Paddington 2" gets its rightful Best Picture nomination.
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Margot Robbie, TV reporter
Margot Robbie hosted Saturday Night Live in 2016 to promote "Suicide Squad," another film unfairly snubbed for a Best Picture nomination. Her standout sketch was an “Action 9 News Live Report” about a sinkhole, where no one can believe that she’s with her loser husband. You know who else had a loser husband? Tonya Harding.
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Daniel Kaluuya, "Blam!"
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In "Get Out" Best Actor nominee Daniel Kaluuya gives a measured, restrained performance – the opposite of what he delivers in this video for English grime MC Jme. Basically, he goes around punching out everyone who annoys him with a “Blam!” Honestly, if he’d taken this attitude a little earlier in "Get Out," he could have saved his security guard friend Rod a lot of trouble.