Oscars 2024: What to know about the 5 best actress nominees

A deep dive into the five nominees for best actress at the 2024 Oscars.

ByAngeline Jane Bernabe and Carson Blackwelder GMA logo
Friday, February 23, 2024
'Oppenheimer' leads with 13 Oscar nominations, 'Barbie' snags 8
'Oppenheimer' leads with 13 Oscar nominations, 'Barbie' snags 8The Academy Awards showered nominations on Christopher Nolan's blockbuster biopic, "Oppenheimer," which came away with a leading 13 noms.

The 2024 Oscars are almost here, and we're taking a deeper look at the nominees ahead of Hollywood's biggest night.

This year Annette Bening, Lily Gladstone, Sandra Hüller, Carey Mulligan and Emma Stone are all nominated for best actress.

Stone is the only one in the group who has previously won an Oscar. Mulligan and Bening have been nominated in the past, while Gladstone and Hüller are first-time Oscar nominees.

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Read more about each best actress nominee below before the 2024 Oscars on March 10.

Emma Stone

This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Emma Stone in a scene from "Poor Things."
This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Emma Stone in a scene from "Poor Things."
(Searchlight Pictures via AP)

Stone earned her best actress nomination for her portrayal of Bella Baxter in "Poor Things."

She also co-produced the Yorgos Lanthimos-directed film, which is up for best picture.

This awards season, Stone has already taken home a slew of awards for her "Poor Things" role, including best actress in a leading role at the 2024 BAFTAs and the Golden Globe for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture (musical or comedy).

She is also up for a SAG Award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role.

Following her Oscar nomination in January, Stone told "Good Morning America" that Bella Baxter was her favorite character to play as an actress.

"I absolutely love her," she said. "I've said that many times now and I feel like it's a little bit unfair because I think the characters that I've been lucky enough to play have been the perfect character for that time in my life."

"Bella was my absolute favorite at this point in my life because she's so free, she's without judgment, self-judgment or judgment of others," she added. "She's just taking in every element of life."

Stone previously scored Oscar nominations for 2014's "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" and 2018's "The Favourite," both for supporting actress. She won her first Oscar for 2016's "La La Land," when she was up for best actress.

Carey Mulligan

This image released by Netflix shows Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre in a scene from Maestro.
This image released by Netflix shows Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre in a scene from "Maestro."
Jason McDonald/Netflix via AP

Mulligan is in the best actress race for her portrayal of Felicia Montealegre, the wife of composer Leonard Bernstein, in "Maestro."

This is her third Oscar nomination, having previously snagged best actress nods for 2009's "An Education" and 2020's "Promising Young Woman."

At the Oscars luncheon, Mulligan opened up to "GMA" about how working alongside Bradley Cooper in "Maestro" impacted her as an actress.

"Working with [Cooper] in all the ways, not just acting, but being directed by him, has totally changed how I want to work going forward," she said. "In a big way, I would say."

This awards season, Mulligan has been nominated for a Golden Globe for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture (drama) and a BAFTA Awards nomination for best actress in a leading role.

Her nomination for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role at the SAG Awards is still pending.

Annette Bening

This image released by Netflix shows Annette Bening as Diana Nyad in a scene from the film Nyad.
This image released by Netflix shows Annette Bening as Diana Nyad in a scene from the film "Nyad."
Netflix via AP

Annette Bening scored her fifth Oscar nomination in her career for her work in "Nyad."

The actress portrayed long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad in the biographical sports drama film about Nyad's multiple attempts in the early 2010s to achieve her lifelong dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida.

During an interview with "GMA" in February following her Oscar nomination, Bening said "never did I possibly imagine that I'd get to play an athlete in my 60s."

"I just loved the story and I loved her, and I was really touched by it and you only get that one time as an actor -- I mean I kind of knew what was gonna happen -- but exactly how it happened and her relationship with her Coach Bonnie [played by Jodie Foster] and all of it, I just loved it," she added.

Prior to "Nyad," Bening earned four Oscar nominations. She received her first nomination for 1990's "The Grifters" in the best supporting actress category. Since then she has been nominated for best actress for 1999's "American Beauty," 2004's "Being Julia" and 2010's "The Kids Are All Right" in addition to her nomination this year.

Bening's portrayal of Nyad has earned her a Golden Globe nomination for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture (drama). She also earned a SAG Award nomination for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role, which is still pending.

Sandra Hüller

This image released by Neon shows Sandra Hüller in a scene from Anatomy of a Fall.
This image released by Neon shows Sandra Hüller in a scene from "Anatomy of a Fall."
Neon via AP

German actress Sandra Hüller earned her first Oscar nomination this year for her performance in "Anatomy of a Fall."

Hüller plays Sandra Voyter, a woman suspected of murder after her husband's death, in the Justine Triet-directed crime thriller.

The role has Hüller several nominations this awards season, including a Golden Globe nod for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture (drama) and a BAFTA nomination for best actress in a leading role.

She is also being recognized this season for her performance in "The Zone of Interest," for which she earned an additional BAFTA Awards nomination for best actress in a supporting role.

During the Oscars luncheon, Hüller told "GMA" that she believes audiences have resonated with "Anatomy of a Fall" because "it's very personal and it's intimate."

"It comes from a place of total honesty from the couple [that] has written the script," she said. "And I think a lot of people recognize themselves in it and their own conflicts in their relationships. That's what we hear when we show the film."

Lily Gladstone

This image released by Apple TV+ shows Lily Gladstone, center, in a scene from Killers of the Flower Moon. (Apple TV+ via AP)
This image released by Apple TV+ shows Lily Gladstone, center, in a scene from "Killers of the Flower Moon." (Apple TV+ via AP)
Apple TV+ via AP

Gladstone is also a first-time Oscar nominee for her portrayal of Mollie Burkhart in "Killers of the Flower Moon," a film chronicling the series of real-life murders of the members of the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma known as the Reign of Terror.

The actress, who is of Siksikaitsitapi and NiMíiPuu heritage and uses she/they pronouns according to her Instagram bio, made history in January as the first Native American woman to be nominated for best actress.

Gladstone told ABC News she's excited for others in her community to "feel seen and represented."

This awards season, Gladstone has won the Golden Globe for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture (drama) and is up for a SAG Award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role.

The 2024 Oscars will take place at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) on March 10, airing live on ABC from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

March 10 is Oscar Sunday! Watch the 2024 Oscars live on ABC.

Red carpet coverage starts at 1 p.m. ET 10 a.m. PT with "Countdown to Oscars: On The Red Carpet Live." At 4 p.m. ET 1 p.m. PT, live coverage continues with "On The Red Carpet at the Oscars," hosted by George Pennacchio with Roshumba Williams, Leslie Lopez and Rachel Brown.

Watch all the action on the red carpet live on ABC, streaming live on OnTheRedCarpet.com and on the On the Red Carpet Facebook and YouTube pages.

The 96th Oscars, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, begins at 7 p.m. ET 4 p.m. PT, an hour earlier than past years.

The Oscars are followed by an all-new episode of "Abbott Elementary."

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