Witherspoon, Phoenix top Oscar poll

a poll by Hello! shows that most people expect Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix to emerge as the king and queen of the Oscars.

With the Academy Awards just around the corner, the race in on to see who will be the big winners at the March 5 ceremony, and now a poll by Hello! shows that most people expect Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix to emerge as the king and queen of the Oscars.

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The poll showed that 43 per cent of the voters expect the Walk The Line star emerge victorious, and to leave second place Heath Ledger, at 40 percent, biting the dust.

As for the other actors in the Best Actor category, Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Truman Capote won him just 9 percent of the votes. The person least expected to win the Oscar in this category is David Strathairn, who managed to get just 5 per cent in the poll, despite his much acclaimed performance in Good Night, And Good Luck.

In the Best Actress category, 33 per cent of the voters expect Joaquin Phoenix's Walk The Line co-star Reese Witherspoon to emerge as the winner.

British stars Judi Dench and Keira Knightley are second and third place choice, with 24 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

And though Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman has given a brilliant performance in Transamerica, only 13 per cent of the voters thought that she would walk away as the winner. Charlize Theron is the least expected to win in the Best Actress category with just 8 per cent of the votes.

Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain is expected to win in the Best Movie category.

The list of the expected Oscar winners as per Hello! magazine is:

Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix

Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon

Best Movie: Brokeback Mountain

Best Director: Ang Lee

Best Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz