Saoirse Ronan, who does such a beautiful job carrying Brooklyn, the film about falling in love with and in a new world, is only 21 years old. Should she be Oscar-nominated in two months time she'll be among the 10 youngest ever so honored in that category. She's the same age now as Marlee Matlin was when she competed for Children of a Lesser God; Matlin won and still holds the title of Youngest Best Actress Winner of all time.
Most 21 year-old Oscar nominees are newbies but not Saoirse. She was nominated at 13 for her role as the tattle-tale sister in Atonement. "I saw it with my own eyes!" But should Saoirse be nominated again, she won't break a record of first to two nominations. That record has belonged to Angela Lansbury for over 70 years when she accomplished it by the age of 20.
For fun and movie-history purposes let's look at the...
YOUNGEST BEST ACTRESS NOMINEES OF ALL TIME
The immediate reveal of note is that 70% of the top ten have emerged in just the past twenty years. How much younger can this list get?
01 Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) was 9 (though years younger than that when she filmed it)
02 Keisha Castle Hughes, Whale Rider (2003) was 13.
Several more young starlets after the jump...
03 Jennifer Lawrence, Winters Bone (2010) was 20
04 Isabelle Adjani, The Story of Adele H (1975) was 20
also the youngest ever that deserved to win though that's The Story of Opinions, Mine (2015)
05 Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice (2005) was 20 going on 21
06 Ellen Page, Juno (2007) was about to turn 21
07 Marlee Matlin, Children of a Lesser God (1986) was 21 *WINNER*
Holds the record for youngest winner in this category which not a single actress has come close to breaking in the 29 years since.
08 Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook (2012) was 22 *WINNER*
It's fascinating that she won concurrently with the actress originally slated for her role, Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), even if she didn't deserve the gold
09 Elizabeth Hartman, A Patch of Blue (1965) was 22
10 Kate Winslet, Titanic (1997) was 22 and 4 months
11 Janet Gaynor, Seventh Heaven/Sunrise/Street Angel (1927/1928) was just a few days older than Winslet and held the record of youngest *WINNER* for almost 60 years until Marlee Matlin arrived. She will always hold the record of *First Winner* and unless they significantly change the rules, she'll also always hold the record for *Only Winner for Multiple Films in Same Category*
12 Leslie Caron, Lili (1953) was 22½
The youngest leading actress ever nominated for a musical role.
Runner Up: [TIE] Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman (1990) and Winona Ryder, Little Women (1994) They were both 23 years and 108 days old when they were Best Actress nominated. And here's another twin moment: it was the second consecutive nomination for both as they'd been previously honored in Best Supporting Actress the year before these hits.
Runner Up Part Two: More 23 year-olds. All were nominated before their 24th birthday
Lynn Redgrave, Georgy Girl (1966); Liza Minnelli, The Sterile Cuckoo (1969); Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace (2004); Carol Kane, Hester Street (1975); Natalie Wood, Splendor in the Grass (1961); and Joan Fontaine, Rebecca (1940)
Gender Double-Standards Reminder
Only two male actors have ever been Oscar nominated for leading roles in the same age bracket as these nineteen women (who were all under 24 years of age). They were: Jackie Cooper (Skippy at age 9) and Mickey Rooney twice over (Babes in Arms and The Human Comedy at ages 19 and 23) all in the first two decades of Oscar's history. Over the decades Oscar's taste in nominated leading ladies has expanded to include both increasingly younger women and more frequent older women. But their taste in leading male performance is pretty much the same. Only in extraordinary circumstances if you're under 30. But they prefer men to be solidly middle aged.