the guy playing Hawking was pure Oscar bait.
Oh absolutely. And while Redmayne clearly appeared to do a great job with the role I can never help but be reminded of when Clint Eastwood presented at the Oscars about 10 years ago or so and he commented in front of everyone that he was glad that whoever won that year wasn't just another actor getting acclaim for playing an "imbecile."
While Hawking is anything but that he's still a guy who is seriously disabled and therefore easy bait for a win.