Oscars for the Same Role
This is pretty straight forward, any time the same role was nominated for more than one Oscar, whether in the same or different movies. The role can be a portrayal of a real person or fictional. Let me just explain my categories and it’ll all make sense. First we have actors that were nominated more than once for the same role in different films, then we have sets of actors that were nominated for the same role in the same film, then is sets of actor who were nominated for playing the same real person, followed by sets of actors who were nominated for playing the same fictional character. I also have one bonus category at the end.
Same Actor, Different Film:
Al Pacino as Michael Corleone- Pacino received his nominations for playing the new head of the Corleone crime family in ‘The Godfather’ & ‘The Godfather Part II.’ He recieved Best Actor & Supporting Actor nominations, respectively.
Paul Newman as Eddie Felson- Paul Newman was nominated for Best Actor in 1962 & 1987 for ‘The Hustler’ & ‘The Color of Money.’
Bing Crosby as Father Chuck O’Malley- Crosby won the Best Actor award for this role in ‘Going My Way’ and received a nomination the following year for its sequel, ‘The Bells of St. Mary’s.’
Peter O’Toole as King Henry II- O’Toole was nominated for playing the King of England in ‘Becket’ & ‘The Lion in Winter.’
Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth- Blanchett rose to prominence in the role of Queen Elizabeth in ‘Elizabeth’ and she was later nominated again for the same role in ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age.’
Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa- In 1977, Sly received a Best Actor nomination for playing the titular boxer in ‘Rocky.’ In 2015, he played the character again in ‘Creed’ and received a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
Different Actors, Same Film:
3 sets of actresses received nomination for playing a younger and older version of a character in the same film. Judi Dench & Kate Winslet as Iris Murdoch in ‘Iris,’ in which Dench received a Best Actress nomination & Winslet received a Best Supporting Actress nomination. Olivia Colman & Jessie Buckley as Leda Caruso in ‘The Lost Daughter,’ in which they received nomination for Best Actress & Supporting Actress, respectively. Kate Winslet appears again, receiving a Best Actress nomination for her role as Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic, while Gloria Stuart received a Supporting Actress nomination for playing an older version of the character.
For the next two categories, I’m just going to list the actors, characters, & movies, as well as note if they won the Oscars. There’s just a lot and I know my entries would get monotonous & repetitive.
Different Actors, Same Role (Real People):
Diana Ross & Andra Day as Billie Holiday in ‘Lady Sings the Blues’ & ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’
José Ferrer & Gérard Depardieu as Cyrano de Bergerac in ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ & ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’
Jason Robards Jr. & Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in ‘Melvin and Howard’ & ‘The Aviator’
Laurence Olivier & Kenneth Branagh as King Henry V in ‘Henry V’ & ‘Henry V’ It’s worth noting that Branagh also later received a nomination for playing Olivier in ‘My Week with Marilyn.’
Charles Laughton (won), Robert Shaw, & Richard Burton as King Henry VIII in ‘The Private Life of Henry VIII,’ ‘A Man for All Seasons,’ & ‘Anne of the Thousand Days’
Michelle Williams & Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in ‘My Week with Marilyn’ & ‘Blonde’
Raymond Massey & Daniel Day-Lewis (won) as Abraham Lincoln in ‘Abe Lincoln in Illinois’ & ‘Lincoln’
Anthony Hopkins & Frank Langella as Richard Nixon in ‘Nixon’ & ‘Frost/Nixon’
Cate Blanchett & Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I in ‘Elizabeth’ & ‘Shakespeare in Love’ As previously mentioned, Blanchett was twice nominated for the role.
Kirk Douglas & Willem Dafoe as Vincent van Gogh in ‘Lust for Life’ & ‘At Eternity’s Gate’
Different Actors, Same Role (Fictional):
Rita Moreno & Ariana DeBose (both won) as Anita in ‘West Side Story’ & ‘West Side Story’
Marlon Brando & Robert de Niro (both won) as Vito Corleone in ‘The Godfather’ & ‘The Godfather Part II’
Robert Montgomery & Warren Beatty as Joe Pendleton in ‘Here Comes Mr. Jordan’ & ‘Heaven Can Wait’
James Gleason & Jack Warden as Max ‘Pop’ Corkle in ‘Here Comes Mr. Jordan’ & ‘Heaven Can Wait’
Heath Ledger & Joaquin Phoenix (both won) as the Joker in ‘The Dark Knight’ & ‘Joker’ Its a travesty that Jared Leto wasn’t nominated for his take on the role!
Winona Ryder & Saoirse Ronan as Jo March in ‘Little Women’ & ‘Little Women’
Jeanne Eagels & Bette Davis as Leslie Crosbie in ‘The Letter & ‘The Letter’
Robert Donat (won) & Peter O’Toole as Mr. Chips in ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’ & ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’
Leslie Howard & Rex Harrison (won) as Henry Higgins in ‘Pygmalion’ & ‘My Fair Lady’
John Wayne (won) & Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn in ‘True Grit’ & ‘True Grit’
Oprah Winfrey & Danielle Brooks as Sofia in ‘The Color Purple’ & ‘The Color Purple’
Fredric March, James Mason, & Bradley Cooper as Norman/Jackson Maine in ‘A Star is Born,’ ‘A Star is Born,’ & ‘A Star is Born’
Janet Gaynor, Judy Garland, & Lady Gaga as Vicki Lester/Ally in ‘A Star is Born,’ ‘A Star is Born,’ & ‘A Star is Born’ The 3 actresses acted opposite the actors listed in the previous entry, so the leads in the 1937, 1954, & 2018 versions all got nominated, leaving only the 1976 version starring Barbra Streisand & Kris Kristofferson out.
Bonus Category!
This final category only has a single actor. That is Barry Fitzgerald. The Irish actor won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Father Fitzgibbon in ‘Going My Way’ (previously mentioned as Crosby won Best Actor). The kicker here is that somehow, someway, for some reason, Fitzgerald was simultaneously nominated for Best Actor. So he is the only actor to receive two nominations for the same role in one film. The only thing that could’ve made this more confusing is if he would’ve won both.
