There’s at least one Academy voter who thinks that a Heath Ledger victory in the best supporting actor category may not be such a sure thing: Josh Brolin. In a conversation with the Baguette after the nominations were announced last month, Mr. Brolin said he believed a certain Mr. Brolin has a pretty good shot at the award for his performance in “Milk.” The Oscars, he cautioned, have a habit of throwing curveballs. “After what happened to Tilda Swinton last year, I think pretty anything can happened,” he said.

“That was a surprise,” he added. “It was. But again. Is it most deserving? Not necessarily.”

When asked what he thought of the chances of “Milk” derailing the “Slumdog Millionaire” bandwagon and winning the grand prize, Mr. Brolin said that as an Academy member who had voted for the first time last year he gained some insight into the whole voting process. “I think it’s an important film and I think that goes into people deciding what they’re going to vote for,” said Mr. Brolin, who this summer will begin working in London on Woody Allen’s latest movie, which will co-star Anthony Hopkins.
“It’s a very strange process. It’s very unlike what I thought it would be because suddenly you personalize it. You look at the body of work of the nominee. Lots of stuff go through your mind.”