Guy Pearce stars in Memento which has been a big hit

This year's top three Spirit nominees will compete for best feature, along with the fact-based rape drama Things Behind The Sun and the live-action cartoon Waking Life.

L.I.E sees Cox - best known for his stage work and the 1986 thriller Manhunter - play Big John.

The character is a paedophile who overcomes his condition to befriend a troubled 15-year-old boy.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is based on a long-running off-Broadway show and tells the story of a German-born wannabe rock star whose sex-change operation does not go as planned.

Box office

Despite being favoured by the Spirit nominations, L.I.E and Hedwig were not big hits with audiences.

L.I.E made $1m (�693.491) at the US box office while Hedwig ended up making about $3m (�2m). But Memento was a success, making about $25m (�17m).

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is based on a stage show

The movie stars Australian actor Guy Pearce as a man struggling with short-term memory loss while trying to find his wife's murderer.

Elsewhere in the nominations, L.I.E's helmsman Michael Cuesta was put forward for best director alongside John Cameron Mitchell for Hedwig and Christopher Nolan for Memento.

Cox will compete for best male lead against Ryan Gosling from The Believer, Jake Gyllenhaal for Donnie Darko and Tom Wilkinson for In The Bedroom.

The best female lead will be between Kim Dickens from Things Behind The Sun, Molly Parker from The Centre of the World , Sissy Spacek In the Bedroom and Tilda Swinton for The Deep End.