Saoirse moves up the "fastest to..." Oscar ranks
Monday, January 13, 2020 at 3:26PM by Nathaniel R
Saoirse Ronan preparing to burn up the record books
With Saoirse Ronan's fourth Oscar nomination at 25 years young, the Irish child prodigy turned even more excellent movie goddess' steady rise to top of her generation is more than complete. She appears to be the first real rival to Meryl Streep's eternal Oscar dominance since people thought Kate Winslet would be some 12-15 years back.
So it's time to reshare/update one of our favourite charts that we haven't updated since 2015 (!). Herewith...
THE YOUNGEST TO EARN MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS
All Acting Categories Included
The Picture of Dorian Gray - nomination #2 for Angela Lansbury who was 20 years old!
QUICKEST TO 2: Angela Lansbury at 20 (runner up: Saoirse Ronan at 21, Sal Mineo, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kate Winslet all at 22, Mickey Rooney at 23)
QUICKEST TO 3: Jennifer Lawrence at 23 (runner up: NEW Saoirse Ronan at 23, Teresa Wright at 24, Natalie Wood at 25)
QUICKEST TO 4: Jennifer Lawrence at 25 (runner up: NEW Saoirse Ronan at 25, then Jennifer Jones at 27, Liz Taylor at 28)
Little Children - nomination #5 for Kate Winslet. She wouldn't have to wait much longer
QUICKEST TO 5: Kate Winslet at 32 (ru: Marlon Brando and Bette Davis at 33, Streep & Taylor at 34)
Both Jennifer Lawrence, if she is nominated next year, and Saoirse Ronan if she's nominated again anytime in the next 6 years will take this record from Kate Winslet.
QUICKEST TO 6: [tie] Bette Davis* & Kate Winslet at 34 (ru: Meryl Streep at 36, Norma Shearer* at 36, Deborah Kerr at 39)
Mr Skeffington - nomination #7 (or is it #8*) for Bette Davis
QUICKEST TO 7: Bette Davis at 36 (ru: Meryl Streep at 38, Jack Nicholson at 46)
QUICKEST TO 8: Meryl Streep at 39 (ru: Bette Davis* at 42, Jack Nicholson at 48)
QUICKEST TO 9: Meryl Streep at 41
(the only others: Bette Davis* at 44, Jack Nicholson at 50, Spencer Tracy at 67 posthumously, Laurence Olivier at 69, Paul Newman at 78, and Al Pacino at 79 NEW)
The Bridges of Madison County - Nomination #10 for Streep
QUICKEST TO 10: Meryl Streep at 46
(The only others: Bette Davis at 54*, Jack Nicholson at 56, Katharine Hepburn at 60, Laurence Olivier at 71)
QUICKEST TO 11: Meryl Streep at 49
(The only others: Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson both at 61)
QUICKEST TO 12: Meryl Streep at 50
(The only others: Jack Nicholson at 66, Katharine Hepburn at 74)
From here on out Meryl Streep has all the records to herself...
QUICKEST TO 13: Meryl Streep at 53 (ru: not applicable)
QUICKEST TO 14: Meryl Streep at 57 (ru: not applicable)
QUICKEST TO 15: Meryl Streep at 59 (ru: not applicable)
QUICKEST TO 16: Meryl Streep at 60 (ru: not applicable)
QUICKEST TO 17: Meryl Streep at 62 (ru: not applicable)
QUICKEST TO 18: Meryl Streep at 64 (ru: not applicable)
QUICKEST TO 19: Meryl Streep at 65 (ru: not applicable)
QUICKEST TO 20: Meryl Streep at 67 (ru: not applicable)
QUICKEST TO 21: Meryl Streep at 68 (ru: not applicable)
Norma Shearer riding to Oscar on her first... or is it second nomination for The Divorcée (1930). LOVE HER in this movie. * The Norma & Bette Anomalies
Oscar's first handful of years are filled with inconsistent stats and rulings so things get a lot messier if you count things in different ways. For example, The First Lady of MGM Norma Shearer was nominated twice in Best Actress at the 3rd Oscars (Their Own Desire, and winning for The Divorcée) and if you count that as two instead of a conjoined nomination than she ties Streep a couple of times for "fastest to" records, earning her last nomination at the age of 36 (Marie Antoinette) but was that her fifth or six nomination? Depends on how you count it. The rules were different in the first few years of Oscar in regards to multiple nominations by the same actor but they were also inconsistent / confusing. Shortly before Shearer, Janet Gaynor was cited for three roles but they were not considered separate nominations.
Similarly, if you count 26 year-old Bette Davis's write-in nomination for Of Human Bondage (1934) as her first nod -- it's not an "official nomination" but is still all over Oscar books / articles about Oscar history -- than she takes a miniature wrecking ball to the middle portions of the chart, taking a couple of these records listed above away from both Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep.
Reader Comments (37)
Love her but I don't think she deserves it. I hope her Oscar clip is the copyright scene at the end.
PeggySue... watch them get rid of the clips entirely to make room for more pointless montages, etc.
I think we can safely assume she’ll be nominated for Ammonite and reach 5 nominations 6 years before Kate did.
I don’t know if it’s completely true but I read on Twitter that Saoirse is the youngest actor or actress to star in 5 Best Picture nominees.
I love Ronan and all of her nominated performances. She could get up there in nominations especially since starting so young.
Meryl’s Oscar nomination run began in 1978 at the ripe old age of 29. That Meryl keeps getting noms as she ages is itself a feat in Hollywood. Usually the next “Meryl” begins to diminish once they hit their 40’s or at least that use to be the rule. Hopefully we see that changing.
I am happiest about Saoirse's nod today. Her work in Little Women has been undervalued, probably because she has been so consistently great.
Hopefully we've seen the end of Ronan playing teenagers, however charmingly she does it.
I mean, she played 13-year-old Briony Tallis and 17-year-old Lady Bird McPherson 10 years apart. And she didn't stop there with Little Women, where her character is as young as 15.
I guess these roles have paid off for her but it's a bit weird that she's barely grown up onscreen in 13 years of stardom.
Based on her current trajectory something pretty shocking would have to happen for Ronan not to grab another nomination in the next six years. I suspect that won't be the only record she breaks in that same time period!
4 Oscar nods at the age of 25. That is impressive as she has been killing it lately. Please, put her in a low-brow comedy as she definitely has the chops to be funny.
I think next year Saoirse will take quickest to 5 for supporting for Ammonite. Hopefully it’s great seeing how she staring along side Kate who currently has the title!! She also stars alongside Kate in The French Dispatch. Jennifer Lawrence also has a few movies but most are in development or pre production with on one in post production, The Untitled Lila Neugebauer Project. Hopefully the love for Ronan doesn’t fade!!
Also I loved Little Women and thought everyone except Emma Watson ( could have been any actress, I think Emma Stone dropped out of that role) was exceptional. I was so happy this morning when they said Ronan and Pugh. Sad for Gerwig for directing though.
All of Saoirse Ronan's nominations were well-earned. I'm hoping she upsets for actress over Zellweger.
If there's any consolation, it's that Gerwig's fantastic reworking on the source material got justly nominated. Her script is the most singular contribution she made to the project, so I'm happy that she has a chance to win her Oscar this year (though it should be just as easily in directing, as opposed to Todd Phillips—oy.)
Extremely happy for Ronan, what a talent. Funny that her next prestigious movie seems to be Ammonite, where she plays with Winslet.
Also, I'm pretty sure Nicholson is not third as the quickest to 7. Winslet was (at 40 years old for Steve Jobs).
I'd have already given Ronan the Oscar for Lady Bird, I just adored her in it.
I'd have given her supporting in 2007 best debut ever and then in 2015 were she wipes the floor with Larson.
Saoirse is very good but Kate Winslet is clearly a superior actress.
If I’m not wrong, Julia Roberts was 23 when she got her second nomination, so she would be tied with Mickey Rooney.
Oh, and sorry for being a pain but I think Winona Ryder was 23 on her second nomination too...
She was 23 and better than Saoirse.
I think she should be a double winner already, Brooklyn and Lady Bird.
I think it's a darned shame Teresa Wright only got three nominations in her career. She was certainly deserving of nominations for Shadow of a Doubt and The Best Years of Our Lives. Had she gotten both she could have been at five at 29.
Does anyone think Streep will ever get Oscar nominated again?
Saoirse needs to continue getting nominated all the time once she hits 30/40 to be considered a Meryl Streep rival. But she'll probably start taking a lot of time between nods once she wins. We all know what happened to Winslet. Since her win 10 years ago, she has received only one nomination. An actress who used to be a perennial in her twenties and early 30s, spent the biggest half of her 30s and her early 40s away from the Oscars.
I love her. Her acting in Brooklyn remains a work of pure excellence and sensitivity.
What’s even crazier is that she was on the cusp for The Lovely Bones getting BAFTA and BFCA nods so she could have theoretically have had 5 nods at this point. Wow.
I am all for Saoirse getting that record-breaking fifth nomination before wildly overrated Jennifer Lawrence can do it. The latter’s inclusion on this list is absurd...I wouldn’t have nominated her for anything post-Winter’s Bone.
@brandz as long as she keeps making movies
Longevity is key here. I think before Saoirse can match Streep's record, it may either be Cate or Kate who will come close. It's hard to keep up the momentum after a while due to opportunities, age, etc.The streak will stop somewhere followed by a lull and then a surge in popularity and re-invention if you're lucky/talented/marketable. I see more of Cate Blanchett being able to turn tricks in that third phase.
This is probably the weakest best actress list in years. There's no one that I'm rooting for. Lupita should been winning all these trophies (gg, oscar, bafta, etc).Sigh!
Saoirse is winning an Oscar before she turns 30. Should have won for Lady Bird though.
I am happy for Saoirse. The only thing I notice now is that women over 30 have a really limited shelf life at the top. So they may get famous younger but being in their 30's seems like the new being in their 40's. And none of the women over 40 are doing that great.
Brandz- of course! As soon as filming for The Prom is done I would not be surprised if we get news on upcoming projects to be filmed next year.
Queen Saoirse def get her 5th nod before she's 31, setting a new record!!
Who knows, maybe she will surprise n win the Bafta n Oscar over Renee?!! 😁
Trivia: This is her 5th Bafta nods!! She shld've won for Brooklyn back then!
quickest to 7 you need to correct it. It’s Kate winslet on 3 rd place
On her 5 th nom winslet was 31 2006
On her 6th winslet was 33 2008
On her 7th she was 40 2015
Please correct the ages and the info on the 5 and 6 nom
Saoirse Ronan won me over with How I Live Now. I found her a little grating in Atonement (admittedly, the character's work, not hers entirely), but after watching her march her way to George Mackay's Edmond and tell him she was going to stay in England with him and the rest of their family, and watching her deliver pretty standard lines in the most amazingly genuine and matter-of-fact manner...
She made me believe Daisy was real, and I fell in love.
And then Brooklyn happened, and she's been nothing short of glorious since then. In fact, her performance in Brooklyn may be one of my favorites of the past decade.
She won't win, but her nomination made me really happy. A true ray of light amidst the dreary blandness of the gray.
What’s crazy about how quickly she’s gotten to four nominations is that it could have been even more. She was a legit contender for The Lovely Bones and also gained some mild awards traction for Hanna (her most underrated performance) and Queen of Scots.
Also rare that someone’s best performances are the ones they’re actually nominated for, as hers are. I think we’ll all look back years from now and wonder how she didn’t win for Lady Bird, but I’m hopeful she will get her Oscar soon (maybe she might even get BAFTA this year and make this race interesting). Her major problem in terms of winning an Oscar is the same Amy Adams has always had. She’s so solid and naturalistic and never overdoes it, the types of performances that Oscar rarely awards with the statue, especially for women.
Also like Amy, the overdue narrative really doesn’t start to take shape unless there’s a specific performance people felt you should have won for. And while I think they both should have won by now, popular opinion didn’t necessarily favor either of them in any of their Oscar races. It wasn’t until the Arrival snub that people really started to pay attention to have overdue Amy is. When will that moment come for Ronan?
A not very interesting opinion said with overflowing bitterness. Welcome back the real Peggy Sue. Oof Nathaniel at least with imposters you get kindness and substance. IJS.
True fadhil. I’m more sure of Ronan ending her career a multiple Oscar winner than Zellweger, so take that as a measure of certainty.
ajnrules, agree, can’t believe they turned off the Teresa tap just before her two best performances quickly flowed out.
Julia Roberts also got her second nomination with 23.
You seem to have forgotten you predicted Lawrence to be Streep’s rival. And she still could, she has taken a break but can get back on Oscar films if she feels like it.