Real-life couples who were nominated the same year at the Oscars

The Oscar Awards 2024 will take place next Sunday 10 March. A key date in the calendar of all movie buffs and fans of the Hollywood universe. A ceremony with clear protagonists, the nominees to win the statuette in the various different categories.

With so many and varied categories, and with a multitude of couples in the world, there have been a few isolated cases throughout history in which both members, husband and wife, have been nominated in the same year at the American cinema awards gala, although it is not particularly common.

Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz

The most recent husband and wife team to be nominated in the same year was Spanish couple Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, who appeared at the 2022 gala which will will be remembered primarily for Will Smith infamously striking host Chris Rock. Both actors attended the event for two different projects, but both in the category of Best Actor and Best Actress. Finally, neither of the two took home a statuette, although they can boast of already having one each: Javier for his role as Anton Chigurh in the 2007 movie: No Country for Old Men, while Penelope collected hers a year later for her performance in Woddy Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst

In that same 2022 gala, two other actors, Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst, were also nominated for their roles in the same film, The Power of the Dog. Both were nominated in the Best Supporting Actor and Actress category, but unfortunately neither ended up taking home the award.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

Similarly in 2009, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made space on their mantelpiece with hopes of picking up an Oscar each. The actor featured among 13 nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, while his wife was selected for The Exchange. Both were among the favorites, but in the end both went home empty-handed.

Frances McDormand and Joel Coen

What happened to Frances McDormand and Joel Coen is part of Hollywood history and also these awards. They were the first couple to win an Oscar each at the same gala, claiming their statuette in 1997 thanks to their unforgettable roles in the making of Fargo.

Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon

In 1996, director Tim Robbins and actress Susan Sarandon were in the race for the Oscar with both having an involvement in the same project, Death Penalty. A plot with which only the actress ended up managing to take her statuette.

Anjelica Huston and Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston were not only a couple in fiction, they were also a couple in real life. Both actors were nominated for the Oscar at the 1986 ceremony thanks to their work in the black comedy Prizzi’s Honor. A film for which only the actress won the statuette.

Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman

In 1969, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman were also nominated in separate Oscars categories for the film Rachel, Rachel - Newman’s debut as a producer. However, the critics had other thoughts - Best Picture went to John Woolf for Oliver! and Katharine Hepburn picked up the award for Best Actress.

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn had a long-standing relationship and the couple were nominated for the 1968 Oscars for their parts in, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. Only Hepburn took the statuette - sadly, the actor died just a month after filming had finished a few months before the gala.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor

A year earlier, at the 1967 ceremony, the couple formed by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were nominated for an Oscar for their work in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. A film for which only the actress ended up taking the award.

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

At the 26th edition of the awards ceremony in 1954, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner were fortunate enough to receive an Oscar nomination for two different works: Sinatra in Fred Zinnemann’s From Here to Eternity and Gardner for her role as “Honey Bear” Kelly in Mogambo. Despite both giving excellent performances, only the singer ended up taking the statuette.

The 96th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on Sunday 10 March 2024. The nominations for all 23 categories were officially announced by the the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on 23 January.

This year’s event is unusual as a total of six couples have Oscar nominations: Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach (Barbie), Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas (Oppenheimer), Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley (Barbie), Justine Triet and Arthur Harari (Anatomy of a Fall), Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik (May December) and Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess (Ninety-Five Senses).