Jodie Foster’s back, ‘Barbie’ brings novel numbers and other Oscar nomination facts and figures

By ANDREW DALTON
AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A look at notable facts, figures and curiosities from Tuesday’s nominations for the 96th Academy Awards, which saw “Oppenheimer” lead with 13 Oscar nominations, with “Poor Things” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” also running up big numbers.

FOSTERING THE OSCARS

Jodie Foster became an Academy Awards mainstay starting at age 14 with her first nomination for Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” in 1977. This year she returns with a best supporting actress nomination after an unusually long absence. Like her “Nyad” co-star Annette Bening, she got her fifth Oscar nomination for the based-on-a-true-story swimming drama from Netflix, and it’s Foster’s first in 29 years. Her last nod was for “Nell” in 1995.

She has won twice, for “The Accused” in 1989 and for “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1992. (Bening has yet to take a statuette home.) Foster has more nominations than the rest of the actors in her category combined. Emily Blunt, Danielle Brooks, America Ferrera and Da’Vine Joy Randolph are all first-timers.

Foster’s gap between nods isn’t close to a record, though. Last year, Judd Hirsch got his first nomination in 42 years, for “The Fabelmans,” breaking a record set by Henry Fonda. Helen Hayes went 39 years between her 1932 nomination for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” and her 1971 nod for “Airport.” She won both times.

The nominations for Foster and Colman Domingo — nominated for best actor for “Rustin” — also brought the rare Oscars occurrence of openly gay actors playing gay characters.

JOHN WILLIAMS DIALS IN ON DISNEY WITH ‘DESTINY’

John Williams just keeps creating staggering numbers — both musical and statistical. At 91, he becomes the oldest nominee in history with his nod for writing the original score for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” breaking his own record, set last year at 90.

Williams has been nominated a staggering 54 times — 49 for original score and five for original song, making him the most nominated living person. He’ll need a half-dozen more to surpass the late Walt Disney’s record of 59 nominations.

But despite all those chances, Williams has won just five times, and has come up empty in his last 22 nominations, not taking a trophy since the score for “Schindler’s List” in 1994.

WOMEN’S FILMS HONORED, WOMEN SNUBBED

A record three films directed by women were nominated for best picture: “Barbie” from Greta Gerwig, “Anatomy of a Fall” from Justine Triet, and “Past Lives” from Celine Song. But only one of them – Triet – was nominated for best director.

Gerwig’s snub along with Margot Robbie’s in the best actress category for playing “Barbie” were widely decried after the nominations were announced Tuesday. But each are still in the larger pool of nominees. Robbie is a producer who will get an Oscar if “Barbie” wins best picture. And Gerwig is nominated for best adapted screenplay. It’s her fourth nomination, and the fourth for her husband and co-writer Noah Baumbach, though it’s their first together.

THE SPIRIT OF SPIELBERG AND SCORES FOR SCORSESE

Steven Spielberg managed to be an Oscars presence even on a year off. Spielberg didn’t direct a movie that was eligible for an Academy Award this year, but still managed to nab a nomination as a producer of “Maestro.” He’ll get his fourth Oscar if the Bradley Cooper-directed film wins best picture.

Scorsese, meanwhile, surpassed his friend Spielberg with his 10th best director nomination. Both trail William Wyler, who was nominated 12 times and won three. And while Spielberg trails Scorsese in director nominations with nine, he tops him in wins two to one.

But Scorsese stands alone as the oldest-ever best director nominee at 81, surpassing John Huston’s nomination at 79 for “Prizzi’s Honor” in 1986.

MORE 2024 OSCAR FACTS AND FIGURES

The best actor category includes three first-time Oscar nominees: Domingo, Jeffrey Wright and Cillian Murphy. The other two nominees in the category, Paul Giamatti and Cooper, have been nominated before. It’s Giamatti’s second, and Cooper has had 12 nominations across various categories — but neither has won.

“The Zone of Interest” and “Anatomy of a Fall,” each nominated for five Oscars, are the first two films primarily in non-English languages to be nominated for best picture in the same year.

“Barbie” is the first film since “La La Land” in 2017 to have two nominees for best original song: “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” Four films in the past have had three songs nominated: “Enchanted,” “Dreamgirls,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King,” but a rule installed in 2008 now allows for only two per movie.

And speaking of best original song, no running of the recent Oscar numbers would be complete without a nod to Diane Warren. She got her 15th nomination, and seventh straight nod, for best original song this year for writing “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot.” She has yet to win the award (though she got an honorary Oscar in 2022), and with her songs coming from increasingly outside-the-Oscar-box movies, she’s unlikely to break through this year.

She’ll probably be back.

___

This story has been corrected to remove a reference to none of the four films with three nominees winning best original song.