A dozen people have been nominated for two Academy Awards in acting categories in a single year, the first in 1938 and the most recent in 2019.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has two rules about multiple nominations: first, an actor or actress cannot receive multiple nominations for different performances in the same category (one nomination must be for a lead role, in the Best Actor/Best Actress category, and the other must be for a supporting role in the Best Supporting Actor/Best Supporting Actress category; and second, they cannot receive multiple nominations for the same performance.[1]
The first rule was enforced after the 3rd Academy Awards ceremony in 1930, where George Arliss, Maurice Chevalier, and Ronald Colman, received two nominations for separate roles, all for Best Actor, and Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo also received two nominations, in the Best Actress category. Arliss and Shearer won for Disraeli and The Divorcee, respectively.[2] The second rule was introduced in 1944 after Barry Fitzgerald received a Best Actor nomination and a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in Going My Way.[3]
As of 2022[update], 12 actors and actresses have been nominated for two Academy Awards in the same year. The first was Fay Bainter, who received nominations for her performances in White Banners and Jezebel at the 11th Academy Awards. The most recent occurrence was the 92nd Academy Awards when Scarlett Johansson received her first nominations, for Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit.[4] Seven of these actors and actresses received an Academy Award in one of the categories they were nominated in, but none have won two Academy Awards in the same year. Five did not receive an Academy Award in either category: Sigourney Weaver (nominations for Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl),[5] Emma Thompson (nominations for The Remains of the Day and In the Name of the Father),[6] Julianne Moore (nominations for Far from Heaven and The Hours),[7] Cate Blanchett (nominations for Elizabeth: The Golden Age and I'm Not There) and Johansson. Thompson's nominations came in 1993, when Holly Hunter also received a pair of nominations (for The Piano and The Firm).
