A look at notable facts, figures and curiosities from Tuesday鈥檚 , which saw 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥 lead with 13 Oscar nominations, with 鈥淧oor Things鈥 and 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon鈥 also running up big numbers.
FOSTERING THE OSCARS
became an Academy Awards mainstay starting at age 14 with her first nomination for Martin Scorsese鈥檚 鈥淭axi Driver鈥 in 1977. This year she returns with a best supporting actress nomination after an unusually long absence. Like her , she got her fifth Oscar nomination for the based-on-a-true-story swimming drama from Netflix, and it鈥檚 Foster鈥檚 first in 29 years. Her last nod was for 鈥淣ell鈥 in 1995.
She has won twice, for 鈥淭he Accused鈥 in 1989 and for 鈥淭he Silence of the Lambs鈥 in 1992. (Bening has yet to take a statue home.) Foster has more nominations than the rest of the actors in her category combined. Emily Blunt, Danielle Brooks, America Ferrera and Da鈥橵ine Joy Randolph are all first-timers.
Foster鈥檚 gap between nods isn鈥檛 close to a record, though. Last year, got his first nomination in 42 years, for 鈥淭he Fabelmans,鈥 breaking a record set by Henry Fonda. Helen Hayes went 39 years between her 1932 nomination for 鈥淭he Sin of Madelon Claudet鈥 and her 1971 nod for 鈥淎irport.鈥 She won both times.
The nominations for Foster and 鈥 nominated for best actor for 鈥淩ustin鈥 鈥 also brought the rare Oscars occurrence of openly gay actors playing gay characters.
JOHN WILLIAMS DIALS IN ON DISNEY WITH 鈥楧ESTINY鈥
John Williams just keeps creating staggering numbers 鈥 both musical and statistical. At 91, he becomes the oldest nominee in history with his nod for writing the original score for 鈥淚ndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,鈥 breaking his own record, .
Williams has been nominated a staggering 54 times 鈥 49 for original score and five for original song, making him the most nominated living person. He鈥檒l need a half-dozen more to surpass the late Walt Disney鈥檚 record of 59 nominations.
But despite all those chances, Williams has won just five times, and has come up empty in his last 22 nominations, not taking a trophy since the score for 鈥淪chindler鈥檚 List鈥 in 1994.
WOMEN鈥橲 FILMS HONORED, WOMEN SNUBBED
A record three films directed by women were nominated for best picture: 鈥淏arbie鈥 from Greta Gerwig, 鈥淎natomy of a Fall鈥 from Justine Triet, and 鈥淧ast Lives鈥 from Celine Song. But only one of them 鈥 Triet 鈥 was nominated for best director.
in the best actress category for playing 鈥淏arbie鈥 were widely decried after the nominations were announced Tuesday. But each are still in the larger pool of nominees. Robbie is a producer who will get an Oscar if 鈥淏arbie鈥 wins best picture. And Gerwig is nominated for best for best adapted screenplay. It鈥檚 her fourth nomination, and the fourth for her husband and co-writer Noah Baumbach, though it鈥檚 their first together.
THE SPIRIT OF SPIELBERG AND SCORES FOR SCORSESE
managed to be an Oscars presence even on a year off. Spielberg didn鈥檛 direct a movie that was eligible for an Academy Award this year, but still managed to nab a nomination as a producer of 鈥淢aestro.鈥 He鈥檒l get his fourth Oscar if the Bradley Cooper-directed film wins best picture.
, meanwhile, surpassed his friend Spielberg with his 10th best director nomination. Both trail William Wyler, who was nominated 12 times and won three. And while Spielberg trails Scorsese in director nominations with nine, he tops him in wins two to one.
But Scorsese stands alone as the oldest-ever best director nominee at 81, surpassing John Huston鈥檚 nomination at 79 for 鈥淧rizzi鈥檚 Honor鈥 in 1986.
MORE 2024 OSCAR FACTS AND FIGURES
The best actor category includes three first-time Oscar nominees: Domingo, Jeffrey Wright and Cillian Murphy. The other two nominees in the category, Paul Giamatti and Cooper, have been nominated before. It鈥檚 Giamatti鈥檚 second, and Cooper has had 12 nominations across various categories 鈥 but neither has won.
鈥淭he Zone of Interest鈥 and 鈥淎natomy of a Fall,鈥 each nominated for five Oscars, are the first two films primarily in non-English languages to be nominated for best picture in the same year.
鈥淏arbie鈥 is the first film since 鈥淟a La Land鈥 in 2017 to have two nominees for best original song: 鈥淚鈥檓 Just Ken鈥 and 鈥淲hat Was I Made For?鈥 Four films in the past have had three songs nominated: 鈥淓nchanted,鈥 鈥淒reamgirls,鈥 鈥淏eauty and the Beast鈥 and 鈥淭he Lion King.鈥 None of them won, and a rule installed in 2008 now allows for only two per movie.
And , no running of the recent Oscar numbers would be complete without a nod to . She got her 15th nomination, and seventh straight nod, for best original song this year for writing 鈥淭he Fire Inside鈥 from 鈥淔lamin鈥 Hot.鈥 She has yet to win the award (though she got an honorary Oscar in 2022), and with her songs coming from increasingly outside-the-Oscar-box movies, she鈥檚 unlikely to break through this year.
She鈥檒l probably be back.
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