Receiving one acting Oscar nomination in a year is rare enough. But a much smaller group of performers managed to land two acting nominations in the same Oscar season, either in lead and supporting categories for different roles, or in one extraordinary case, for the very same performance.
The Academy’s acting rules allow only one nomination per performance, and a performer cannot receive two nominations in the same acting category in the same year. That is why this list remains one of the most exclusive statistical oddities in Oscar history.
- The first actor ever nominated twice in the same year.
- The only performer nominated twice for the same role.
- Oscar winners who doubled up in lead and supporting races.
- The most recent actor to achieve the feat.
1. Fay Bainter
Fay Bainter became the first performer ever nominated for two acting Oscars in the same year at the 11th Academy Awards. She was nominated for Best Actress for White Banners and Best Supporting Actress for Jezebel.
She won the supporting award for Jezebel, making history as the first double-nominated acting winner in Oscar history.
2. Teresa Wright
At the 15th Academy Awards, Teresa Wright received two acting nominations in the same year: Best Supporting Actress for Mrs. Miniver and Best Actress for The Pride of the Yankees.
She won the supporting Oscar for Mrs. Miniver, continuing the early pattern of double nominees taking home one award while losing the other.
3. Barry Fitzgerald
Barry Fitzgerald remains the only performer ever nominated twice for the same performance. For Going My Way, he was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.
He won Best Supporting Actor, and the controversy led the Academy to change its rules so that the same performance could never again compete in two acting categories.
4. Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange achieved the feat at the 55th Academy Awards, earning Best Actress for Frances and Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie.
She won for Tootsie, while Frances confirmed her reputation as one of the most respected dramatic actresses of her generation.
5. Sigourney Weaver
At the 61st Academy Awards, Sigourney Weaver received two acting nominations in one year: Best Actress for Gorillas in the Mist and Best Supporting Actress for Working Girl.
Although she lost both races, her double nomination showed the extraordinary range she had built, from biographical drama to sharp workplace comedy.
6. Al Pacino
Al Pacino doubled up at the 65th Academy Awards with Best Actor for Scent of a Woman and Best Supporting Actor for Glengarry Glen Ross.
He finally won his long-awaited Oscar for Scent of a Woman, making his double nomination year one of the most memorable redemption stories in Academy history.
7. Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter was nominated twice at the 66th Academy Awards: Best Actress for The Piano and Best Supporting Actress for The Firm.
She won Best Actress for The Piano, capping off a remarkable year in which she excelled in both an intensely emotional period drama and a mainstream legal thriller.
8. Emma Thompson
At the same 66th Academy Awards, Emma Thompson also pulled off a double nomination, receiving Best Actress for The Remains of the Day and Best Supporting Actress for In the Name of the Father.
Although she did not win either acting race that year, the achievement underlined her place among the elite British performers of her era.
9. Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore received two nominations at the 75th Academy Awards: Best Actress for Far from Heaven and Best Supporting Actress for The Hours.
She did not win either Oscar that year, but the double recognition reflected just how dominant she was in early-2000s prestige cinema.
10. Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx became one of the few actors to earn two nominations in one year at the 77th Academy Awards, for Best Actor in Ray and Best Supporting Actor in Collateral.
He won Best Actor for his transformative portrayal of Ray Charles, while his supporting nomination showed the range of his breakout movie year.
11. Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett doubled up at the 80th Academy Awards with Best Actress for Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Best Supporting Actress for I'm Not There.
She lost both races, but her nominations highlighted her unusual ability to move effortlessly between historical drama and daring experimental work.
12. Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is the most recent actor to receive two acting nominations in the same year. At the 92nd Academy Awards, she was nominated for Best Actress for Marriage Story and Best Supporting Actress for Jojo Rabbit.
It was especially notable because they were her first-ever Oscar nominations, and she received both at once.
Being nominated twice in the same acting year is one of the rarest distinctions in Academy Awards history. It means a performer was so dominant in a single season that the Academy could not limit their recognition to just one role.
From Fay Bainter’s trailblazing double nod to Scarlett Johansson’s modern-era breakthrough, these performers occupy one of the most unusual and prestigious corners of Oscar history.
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