When the 94th annual Oscars nominations were announced on Tuesday morning, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Ariana DeBose and several others were among the nominees making history.
In addition to being nominated for best actor for King Richard, Smith also shares the film’s best picture nomination with producers Tim White and Trevor White, making Smith now the ninth person and second Black man (Washington was nominated in both categories for Fences) to be nominated for both acting in and producing the same film in the same year.
Meanwhile, Washington remains the Oscars’ most-nominated Black actor after receiving a best actor nomination for his performance in The Tragedy of Macbeth, his 10th overall nomination at the Academy Awards. Kenneth Branagh also now holds a record as the first person to be nominated for seven different individual Oscar categories in total throughout his career after securing nominations for best picture and best original screenplay for Belfast.
A few surprises were also in store with some of the nominations, including a class of first-time nominees being recognized. Nine first-time nominees were nominated in the lead and supporting acting categories including DeBose (West Side Story), Kristen Stewart (Spencer), Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog), Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard), Ciarán Hinds (Belfast), Troy Kotsur (CODA), Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog).
The 94th Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, March 27, in a live telecast starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC. A host has not yet been named for the ceremony.
Below, The Hollywood Reporter rounds up some of this year’s notable historical nominations.
Source: Hollywood
