June 5, 2006

Oscar Question #49207

So, I was thinking about Cate Blanchett tonight and how she's making Elizabeth - The Golden Years, obviously a sequel to the film that bestowed upon us Cate's greatest performence (so far), Elizabeth.

Now, here's my question. How many times has an actor received an Academy Award nomination for a sequel when they were also nominated for the original.

I can think of Al Pacino, but his role in The Godfather: Part II was much different to what it was when he was nominated for the original Godfather two years prior (for Part I he was Supporting, Part II he was Lead).

Other than that, I'm drawing a blank. I'm sure there are some in the early years when a lot of Oscar voting was based purely on who they liked the most. I'm trying to think of sequels that hit even remotely well with Oscar (of which there are very few I believe).

So that leaves me to ponder whether Cate Blanchett getting an Oscar nomination for The Golden Years is as slam dunk as people think. Of course the Elizabeth sequel won't be in play until next year's Oscar season, and Cate has chances for glory this year first. But it's still a puzzling little intrigue.

Anyway, because I can:

Glenn's Top 5 Great Cate Performances
1. As 'Queen Elizabeth I' in Elizabeth (1998)
2. As 'Meredith Logue' in The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)
3. As 'Katherine Hepburn' in The Aviator (2004)
4. As 'Tracy Heart' in Little Fish (2005)
5. As 'Lizzie' in Thank God He Met Lizzie (1997)


All you Cate fans should definitely check out Thank God He Met Lizzie, a great little Aussie rom-com with Richard Roxburgh and Frances O'Connor. Apparently it's called The Wedding Party in the US, which is just revolting. She won both the AFI and the FCCA award for Best Supporting Actress and she wasn't even CATE BLANCHETT at that stage. Anyway, I'm off now. Ciao.

7 comments:

Javier Aldabalde said...

Agree with the first 3. I'd replace the other two with "Veronica Guerin" and "Lord of the Rings".

Anonymous said...

I like the notice for Meredith Logue. That is a great, spot-on supporting performance.

RC said...

you know what...i'd probably have to include her role in bandit's as one of my top 5...she's crazy in that picture.

That's a good question you pose w/ the 2nd nomination/2nd win...

it's kind of wierd thing to get nominated for the same performance anyways...

Just as I do not expect Johnny Depp to get a 2nd nomination for his work in Pirates of the Caribbeans this year.

Or how Ian McKellen only got nominated for the 1st time he played the part of Gandalf. Not the 2nd or 3rd.

--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com

Glenn Dunks said...

Exactly. But the role just seems so tailor made for Oscar. And everybody (from the Academy to my arch enemy's grandmother) knows Cate was robbed of the Oscar for her original Elizabeth turn.

Mmmm.

And David, I absolutely love her in Ripley. I'm not even sure WHY exactly, I just love that performance something chronic.

And RC, Bandits would've been my #6 for sure.

adam k. said...

She'll most likely get a globe nom for the sequel (just as Depp likely will for Pirates), but the oscar nom is trickier. Being robbed for the first one will help. I think it's just a matter of the role and performance being good enough. Another thing that could happen is another perf of hers that year could overshadow it, and she could get nominated for the other one.

...and the Elizabeth sequel is called Golden Age, I believe, not Golden Years.

Glenn Dunks said...

oh okay, i was merely going off the top of my head when i wrote that. I knew it was Golden something.

And you're right. So many factors.

adam k. said...

Yeah, "the Golden Years" is just what you call your old age ; )

When I think of this sequel, I think more of the second lord of the rings, which did manage to get nominated despite all the obstacles, mainly cause...

a) it was great, and

b) the first was robbed and there was already huge backlash about it

That's my theory anyway. I think the same could go for Cate. How awesome would it be if she even won for it? Unlikely, but possible if the performance is great enough (though that may also be the year of Meryl in Dirty Tricks and Julianne in Savage Grace, which apparently is actually happening now).