Brad Pitt ("Babel") is starting to pop up on more and more Oscar gurus' lists in the best-actor lineup even though he's declared himself in the supporting race. If Oscar voters behave just as independently, which they sometimes do, that could cause real category chaos. Putting him in lead might prove to be a wise move and give Brad the gold he might otherwise lose in supporting. (I always wonder if that was the case with Nicole Kidman in "The Hours." If she'd stayed in supporting where Miramax wanted to put her, would she have lost to "Chicago" sexpot Catherine Zeta-Jones? Possibly, yes.) Or at least it might cause poor Peter O'Toole to pour a tall, stiff one considering Brad's current media heat. (Well, make that an extra tall, stiff one in Peter's case.) Or pushing Brad up to lead could cause him to lose the Oscar altogether, not just because his odds might be better in supporting, but because Brad could fall in between the cracks of both categories.

At the Oscars, there isn't a qualification committee that firmly declares you to be in this category or that. Voters can choose to put you in either race after being guided by your wish declared in "For Your Consideration" ads that run throughout Oscarland. Even though Keisha Castle-Hughes campaigned in the supporting race for "Whale Rider," voters pushed her up to lead. Maria Bello ("A History of Violence") ended up getting shut out completely last year when her votes split following chaos at earlier kudos. Although the New York Film Critics Circle declared her to be the year's best supporting actress, the Golden Globes put her in the lead drama lineup where she lost to Felicity Huffman ("Transamerica").

Beyond the FYC ads they see, members of the academy's acting branch get no category guidance when they vote for nominees. They do get a reminder list of possible contenders, but it's broken down by films, which are listed alphabetically. Beneath each film title, the actors are listed in the order in which their names appear in the credits. In the case of "Babel" — which will be high on the reminder list because its title begins with "B" — Brad's name appears right at the top, so that will probably encourage voters to consider him a lead star. This ballot ranking procedure explains how Keisha was bumped up to lead from supporting so easily when voters saw her name at the top of the "Whale Rider" list.

If voters choose to push Brad up to lead, he's so red hot right now as a superstar that he has a serious shot at beating frontrunner O'Toole. But does he have a better shot at winning supporting? He faces tough competition there, too. Possibilities: Ben Affleck ("Hollywoodland"), Alan Arkin or Steve Carell ("Little Miss Sunshine"), Adam Beach and Ryan Phillippe ("Flags of our Fathers"), Michael Caine ("The Prestige, "eChildren of Men"), Brian Cox ("Running with Scissors"), Jackie Earle Haley ("Little Children"), Anthony Hopkins and Laurence Fishburne ("Bobby"), Djimon Hounsou ("Blood Diamond"), Jack Nicholson and Leo DiCaprio ("The Departed"), Eddie Murphy ("Dreamgirls"), Tobey Maguire ("The Good German"), Michael Pena ("World Trade Center"), Joe Pesci ("The Good Shepherd"), Tim Robbins ("Catch a Fire"), Martin Sheen ("The Departed"), Michael Sheen, ("The Queen").

Brad was nommed for best supporting actor of 1995 for "Twelve Monkeys," but lost to Kevin Spacey ("The Usual Suspects").

(Photo: Paramount Vantage)