Potential 2020 Oscar Nomination Stats: BEST ACTOR

Each year of Oscar nominations brings with it the possibility of breaking records, making history, extending history, moving people around in all-time rankings or just some fun statistics to carry us through. In this four-part series, I’ll detail some possible stats that could arise with the 2020 Oscar nominations in all four acting categories. First up, Best Actor.

If Christian Bale is nominated

-He’ll became the Welsh thespian with the most Oscar nominations at five (or tied if Hopkins is also nominated).

-He’ll be the 6th British male actor with most Oscar nominations at five, after Laurence Olivier (10), Peter O’Toole (8), Richard Burton (7) and Daniel Day-Lewis and Michael Caine (6).

-He’ll be the most nominated actor this decade, with one nomination every two years.

-He’ll be the first/second youngest living male actor with 5 nominations (depending on DiCaprio).

If Antonio Banderas is nominated:

-He’ll be the third Spanish thespian nominated at the Oscar after the golden couple of Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.

-He’ll be the second Spanish male actor to be nominated after Javier Bardem.

-He’ll be the first male actor of this decade nominated for a full non-English speaking role since 2010’s Javier Bardem.

-He’ll be the 7th performer to be nominated for a full (or almost full) Spanish speaking role after Benicio Del Toro, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira.

-He’ll be the 8th Best Leading Actor nominee ever nominated for a full non-English speaking role after Marcello Mastroianni, Giancarlo Giannini, Max Von Sydow, Gerard Depardieu, Massimo Troisi, Roberto Benigni and Javier Bardem.

If Robert De Niro is nominated:

-He’ll be tied with Denzel Washington, Marlon Brando and Peter O’Toole with 8 nominations (Al Pacino currently has 8 nominations). Only Jack Nicholson (12), Laurence Olivier (10), Paul Newman and Spencer Tracy (9) have more.

-He’ll be the 4th oldest Best Actor nominee.

If Leonardo DiCaprio is nominated:

-He’ll break his own record as the current non60s male actor with most Oscar nominations at six.

-He’ll be the second lead actor nominated in this category for a Tarantino film after 1994’s John Travolta.

If Adam Driver is nominated:

-He’ll be just the second actor born in San Diego nominated here, after Robert Duvall.

-He’ll be the fourth actor born in the 1980s to have two nominations after Jonah Hill, Eddie Redmayne and Ryan Gosling. There’s still no actor with 3 or more.

If Taron Egerton is nominated:

-He’ll be the first male actor born in Liverpool (metro area) to be nominated at the Oscars.

-He’ll be the second youngest British male acting nominee this decade, just behind 2016’s Dev Patel and 2017’s Daniel Kaluuya.

-He’ll be the third youngest British thespian nominated in lead ever, just behind 1989’s Kenneth Branagh and 2017’s Daniel Kaluuya.

If Eddie Murphy is nominated:

-He’ll be just the third Saturday Night Live alumni with multiple nominations after Joan Cusack and Robert Downey Jr.

If Joaquin Phoenix is nominated:

-He’ll be tied with Christian Bale (if he doesn’t get the nom) as the 2nd most nominated actor born in 1970s with 4.

-He’ll be tied with Anthony Quinn as the actor born in Latin American territory with most Oscar nominations with 4 (Phoenix was born in Puerto Rico).

-He’ll joined in the exclusive list of the actor who was nominated for a role previously played by another Oscar nominee/winner (Heath Ledger).

If Jonathan Pryce is nominated:

-He’ll be the first (or second simultaneously, possibly) actor nominated to play a Pope.

-He’ll be the 6th oldest nominee.

-He’ll be the oldest British nominee in this category.

If Adam Sandler is nominated:

-He’ll be the 7th Saturday Night Live alumni to be nominated at the Oscars after Joan Cusack, Dan Aykroyd, Robert Downey Jr., Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy and Kristen Wiig.