Directing an Actor to a Nomination - The Stats

by Ben Miller 

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman) is the third actor Spike Lee has a directed to a nomination after Danny Aiello (Do the Right Thing) and Denzel Washington (Malcolm X)

With the upcoming Academy Awards celebrating their 91st year, the Oscars have plenty of history to obsess over.  One of the less-discussed pieces of history is which directors have the most pull with the Academy's acting branch. Today's topic: directors who have guided multiple actors and actresses to nominations and/or wins. 

With this season's nominations, directors Bradley Cooper (3), Yorgos Lanthimos (3), Peter Farrelly (2), and Marielle Heller (2) all join a group of directors who've guided multiple actors to Oscar nominations. In this season's crop of films Vice's Adam McKay (4), Roma's Alfonso Cuaron (3), If Beale Street's Barry Jenkins (3), BlacKkKlansman's Spike Lee (3), Bohemian Rhapsody's Bryan Singer (2) and At Eternity's Gate's Julian Schnabel (2) all add to their previous tallies since each had previously directed either one or two actors to a nomination.

In the 91 year history of the Academy Awards, 1757 performances were directed to an Oscar nomination.  I tracked every single one of them to come up with these numbers. More notes after the jump...

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Would you rather?

Time for another round of our silly celebrity gawking. Your response is requested in the comments. WOULD YOU RATHER...

... see Paris with Céline Dion?
... get your nails did with Busy Phillips?
... reminisce about your very first job with Charlize Theron?
... feel anxious with Topher Grace?
... touch John Boyega's lips with Daisy Ridley?
... hit the slopes with Olivia Munn?
... go to a photo exhibit with Agnes Varda?
... enjoy a waterfall with Zac Efron and his brother?
... visit Madame Tussaud's with Priyanka Chopra?
... learn to cook with Mary Steenburgen?
... or reunite with the cast of My Best Friend's Wedding?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide

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Links: Binoche in Berlin, Pfeiffer in Planning, and Endgame in Post-Production

• Gurus of Gold the latest charts on our Oscar predictions
• Coming Soon The Oscars are going hostless this year for the first time in decades but as it turns out they were originally going to go with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson who still hopes to do it someday
• Vanity Fair film insiders are speaking out about the Oscars intended changes. Thankfully many in the insider are as angry as we are about shunting some awards off air.

more after the jump including Avengers Endgame, Juliette Binoche in Berlin, Michelle Pfeiffer's smell, a new Pixar short, and the Gypsy remake...

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Storytime with Michelle Yeoh

♥︎ her. Wish we had kids to plop down in front of this. 

Queen Ingrith Tease

Since it's only (haha) 477 days until Maleficent 2 hits theaters, Michelle Pfeiffer gave us a sneak peek of her character Queen Ingrith on Instagram. We don't know if she's a fairy queen or just a regular queen yet but we hope a fairy queen because how many actresses can say they've played fairy royalty twice? (see also: Titania, Queen of the Fairies, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1999)