The couple that gets nominated together can do the same upgrade together. With their Best Actor and Best Actress Oscar bids for “Being the Ricardos” and “Parallel Mothers,” respectively, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz became the sixth married couple to score acting nominations in the same year, and since they’re both already winners in supporting, they can now join the elite circle of performers who’ve claimed both acting prizes.
Bardem, who won Best Supporting Actor for “No Country for Old Men” (2007), would be the seventh man to win lead and supporting Oscars — and the first since Denzel Washington accomplished it 20 years ago. Washington, of course, is one of Bardem’s rivals this year, nominated for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” Cruz, who collected the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” a year after her future hubby triumphed, would be the eighth woman to pull off the sweep. The women just welcomed a new member two years ago when Renee Zellweger won Best Actress for “Judy,” 16 years after her supporting victory for “Cold Mountain.”
Here are the actors and actresses who’ve won in lead and supporting:
Actors
1. Jack Lemmon, Best Supporting Actor for “Mister Roberts” (1955) and Best Actor for “Save the Tiger” (1973)
2. Robert De Niro, Best Supporting Actor for “The Godfather Part II” (1974) and Best Actor for “Raging Bull” (1980)
3. Jack Nicholson, Best Actor for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) and “As Good as It Gets (1997), and Best Supporting Actor for “Terms of Endearment” (1983)
4. Gene Hackman, Best Actor for “The French Connection” (1971) and Best Supporting Actor for “Unforgiven” (1992)
5. Kevin Spacey, Best Supporting Actor for “The Usual Suspects” (1995) and Best Actor for “American Beauty” (1999)
6. Denzel Washington, Best Supporting Actor for “Glory” (1989) and Best Actor for “Training Day” (2001)
Actresses
1. Helen Hayes: Best Actress for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” (1931/32) and Best Supporting Actress for “Airport” (1970)
2. Ingrid Bergman: Best Actress for “Gaslight” (1944) and “Anastasia” (1956), and Best Supporting Actress for “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974)
3. Maggie Smith: Best Actress for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for “California Suite” (1978)
4. Meryl Streep: Best Supporting Actress for “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979), and Best Actress for “Sophie’s Choice” (1982) and “The Iron Lady” (2011)
5. Jessica Lange: Best Supporting Actress for “Tootsie” (1982) and Best Actress for “Blue Sky” (1994)
6. Cate Blanchett: Best Supporting Actress for “The Aviator” (2004) and Best Actress for “Blue Jasmine” (2013)
7. Renee Zellweger: Best Supporting Actress for “Cold Mountain” (2003) and Best Actress for “Judy” (2019)
Four of the six men and the last four women all prevailed in supporting first before graduating to lead, so Bardem and Cruz would fit that mold. The couple, who met on the set of 1992’s “Jamón Jamón” (her film debut) and married in 2010, have nearly identical Oscar trajectories. Now four-time nominees, they were the first Spanish actor and actress be nominated and remain the only ones to win — both on their second nominations and in supporting. Bardem’s other bids were in lead for “Before Night Falls” (2000) and “Biutiful” (2010). Cruz’s first nomination was in Best Actress for another Pedro Almodovar film, “Volver” (2006), and she has an additional supporting bid for “Nine” (2009).
To keep the symmetry going, they’re both in fifth place in our early odds. Bardem, who faces the same men as he does at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, trails frontrunner Will Smith (“King Richard”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”), Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick… Boom!”) and Washington. Cruz, who made the cut after getting snubbed by the major precursors and not even getting longlisted at BAFTA, is behind Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Bardem’s “Ricardos” wife Nicole Kidman, Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) and Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”). Despite their similar standings and Cruz’s earlier misses, she arguably has a greater chance of bagging hardware next month given how unruly the Best Actress race has been this season.
And hey, she may already have the vote of supporting-to-lead upgrader Blanchett.
cate blanchett congratulating penélope cruz on her oscar nomination! <3 pic.twitter.com/U3XtCIX1BB
— Rina (@bbblanchett) February 12, 2022
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
