Hollywood North: PlayNow.com Bettors Backing Brendan Fraser to Win Best Actor at the Oscars

Fraser the betting favourite to become first Canadian to win Best Actor award

 Canadians dominated the nominations at the 95th Academy Awards and British Columbians are heading to PlayNow.com to place their bets – most notably on Brendan Fraser to become the first Canadian to claim the Best Actor award during this Sunday’s ceremony.

Fraser (1.60) – who was born in the United States to Canadian parents and grew up in Canada – is the betting favourite on PlayNow.com to win Best Actor, taking 38 per cent of the bets for his captivating performance in The Whale.

Fraser’s competition is stiff and includes Austin Butler (2.20) for his Golden Globe-winning performance in Elvis, and Colin Farrell (13.00) who received his first Oscar nomination for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin.

After three Vancouverites came home with Oscars in 2022, one more could be added to B.C.’s cabinet as Bryan Litson and his team are up for Best Visual Effects for their work on Top Gun: Maverick (13.00), taking 71 per cent of bets placed in this category.

Two Canadian directors from Ontario are also going head-to-head in the Best Animated Feature Film category. Domee Shi, a previous Oscar winner for her 2018 short-animated film Bao, is up for a film created to show the world what being Canadian means to her — Turning Red (19.00), and Chris Williams is up for his film The Sea Beast (23.00). He previously won in this category eight years ago with his 2015 movie Big Hero 6.

Toronto-born writer-director Sarah Polley is also making her mark this year with two nominations for her film, Women Talking (1.40), and currently takes 29 per cent of the bets placed in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. However, All Quiet on the Western Front (2.75) will be a tough one to beat, with nine total nominations this year and 50 per cent of bets.

Did you know? PlayNow.com is the only 100% legal online gambling website permitted in B.C., and the only one whose profits go back to the province to support healthcare, education and community programs.

Players can set weekly deposit and playing time limits to keep their play a fun experience, and connect with dedicated player-health specialists known as GameSense Advisors who can help answer gambling-related questions and provide additional supports, if needed.

*Odds listed are correct at time of posting but are subject to change at any time.