It's funny how little news coverage there is now each time Meryl Streep breaks her own Oscar records. With her 19th nomination she's just 5 more away from DOUBLING the previous record holders (Jack Nicholson & Katharine Hepburn) whose record of 12 nominations she broke a dozen years back with Adaptation (2002), her 13th. Five would seem like a ridiculous number remaining to even mention (only roughly two dozen actresses have managed five nods in entire careers in the history of the world) but it's Meryl and she's nominated each time she makes a movie and makes them (almost) every year. Maybe she'll reach that big number before her 75th birthday in the summer of 2024?
Supporting Actress nonsense, The Arquettes, and more trivia after the jump...
"Honest Movie Posters" teehee. love the tagline.
I don't quite know how Meryl fares in the hiearchial history of actors who've appeared in the most Best Picture (anyone?) but she's starred in 5 nominees, 3 of them winning during the course of her career. Of this year's supporting actress lineup only Laura Dern has never appeared in a film nominated for Best Picture, despite being unarguably tied to David Lynch in movie culture, a man who is quite popular with the director's branch.
Another interesting stat is that three of the five women are from showbiz families: Keira Knightley's parents are an actor and a playwright, Patrica Arquette's entire large family (parents and siblings) were or are all actors of varying degrees of fame though she's the only to win multiple high profile showbiz trophies (Big sister Rosanna Arquette won a BAFTA for Desperately Seeking Susan); Laura Dern is famously the daughter of two enduring character actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd. Laura joins them in having the distinction of being Oscar nominated multiple times for acting. Meryl & Emma were not born into showbiz families.
The Arquettes back in the day (I believe this is from the early 90s?): David, Alexis, Patricia, Richmond, Rosanna
The Arquettes recently: Alexis, David, Patricia, Richmond, and Rosanna
With Patricia Arquette's near-sweep of pre-Oscar prizes both large and teeny-tiny for playing "Mom" in Boyhood (that's literally how she's billed but I believe the character is named in the film, I just can't remember it. Anyone?) there's little drama left in who might win the Oscar that night. So let's make our own drama and suspense with the following questions in the comments.
1. Who among these talented five nominees will be the first to be back in Oscar's good graces (besides Streep)? That's always hard to say. It took Keira a full 9 years to return and Laura Dern a gasp-inducing 23 despite her amazing gallery of characters!
2. Will Patricia Arquette bother to memorize a speech in time for Hollywood's High Holy Night? She's an actress. Surely she knows how to memorize.
3. Who do you think should win? Vote on the poll and read our theories about how they each got nominated on the new chart.