Photo:Frazer Harrison/Getty; VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty; Tommaso Boddi/Variety via Getty
Frazer Harrison/Getty; VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty; Tommaso Boddi/Variety via Getty
LGBTQ representation will be strong at Sunday’s2024 Oscars.
At the 96th Academy Awards, six nominees across all four acting categories are representing the multifaceted lives of LGBTQ individuals.
Below, see all the actors recognized at this year’s Oscars for playing LGBTQ characters.
01of 06Annette Bening as Diana Nyad in ‘Nyad’Annette Bening as Diana Nyad in ‘Nyad’.Liz Parkinson/NetflixBening, 65, plays long-distance swimmerDiana Nyadin a biopic depicting her attempts to swim the Florida Straits. Nyad, who is an out lesbian, has written four books, including a 2016 memoir titledFind a Waythat detailed her reasoning for unretiring to have a fifth try at the odyssey.“Annette was always the one for the role of Diana, and she was fearless in putting in the work to embody the character,” director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyitold PEOPLE. “She trained for over a year to get the swimming right, and I remember that when she did that first stroke on camera, the entire crew was holding their breath in excitement.“Competing for Best Actress, Bening seeks her first Academy Award out of five nominations.
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Annette Bening as Diana Nyad in ‘Nyad’
Annette Bening as Diana Nyad in ‘Nyad’.Liz Parkinson/Netflix
Liz Parkinson/Netflix
Bening, 65, plays long-distance swimmerDiana Nyadin a biopic depicting her attempts to swim the Florida Straits. Nyad, who is an out lesbian, has written four books, including a 2016 memoir titledFind a Waythat detailed her reasoning for unretiring to have a fifth try at the odyssey.
“Annette was always the one for the role of Diana, and she was fearless in putting in the work to embody the character,” director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyitold PEOPLE. “She trained for over a year to get the swimming right, and I remember that when she did that first stroke on camera, the entire crew was holding their breath in excitement.”
Competing for Best Actress, Bening seeks her first Academy Award out of five nominations.
02of 06Sterling K. Brown as Clifford “Cliff” Ellison in ‘American Fiction’Sterling K. Brown as Cliff Ellison in ‘American Fiction’.Claire Folger/MGM/EverettAmerican Fiction’sBrown, 47, portrays the newly out brother ofJeffrey Wright’s Monk Ellison. At the outset of the film, viewers meet Cliff, a surgeon who recently divorced his wife after she found him in bed with a man. Throughout the comedy-drama, Cliff navigates the next era of his life, one of frequent drug use and hook-up culture.Speaking toVanity Fair, Brown said he found the character relatable, being a black sheep of the Ellison family. He explained, “I’m sure most of us feel this from time to time, like you are on the outside looking in — that everybody sort of understands each other, but they don’t quite understand you.”Brown is a first-time nominee at the Academy Awards, up for Best Supporting Actor at the ceremony.
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Sterling K. Brown as Clifford “Cliff” Ellison in ‘American Fiction’
Sterling K. Brown as Cliff Ellison in ‘American Fiction’.Claire Folger/MGM/Everett
Claire Folger/MGM/Everett
American Fiction’sBrown, 47, portrays the newly out brother ofJeffrey Wright’s Monk Ellison. At the outset of the film, viewers meet Cliff, a surgeon who recently divorced his wife after she found him in bed with a man. Throughout the comedy-drama, Cliff navigates the next era of his life, one of frequent drug use and hook-up culture.
Speaking toVanity Fair, Brown said he found the character relatable, being a black sheep of the Ellison family. He explained, “I’m sure most of us feel this from time to time, like you are on the outside looking in — that everybody sort of understands each other, but they don’t quite understand you.”
Brown is a first-time nominee at the Academy Awards, up for Best Supporting Actor at the ceremony.
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Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in ‘Maestro’
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in ‘Maestro’.Jason McDonald/Netflix
Jason McDonald/Netflix
While creating the film, Cooper stayed in contact with Bernstein and Montealegre’s three children, Jamie, 71, Alexander, 68, and Nina, 62, to ensure that their father’s story would be told properly.
“The way he embraced us as he went along in this project — he was so open-hearted,” Jamietold PEOPLE. “We wound up feeling like we could trust him.”
Cooper could win his first Academy Award out of 12 total nominations. He is also competing for Best Picture asMaestro’s producer and Best Original Screenplay.
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Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin in ‘Rustin’
Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin in ‘Rustin’.NETFLIX
NETFLIX
TheEuphoriaactor, who is also openly gay, explained toNetflix’s Queuethat he felt he “was the only one who could play” the trailblazer. He told the filmmaking team, “I have everything that I need, and all the tools to lend, to give this man his full humanity, his humor, his sexuality, his joy. I have no fear stepping into any of his spaces.”
Domingo is nominated for Best Actor at this year’s Oscars. If he emerges victorious, he would become the first Afro-Latino actor to win the Best Actor award..
05of 06Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll in ‘Nyad’Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll in ‘Nyad’.Kimberley French/NetflixInNyad,Jodie Foster, 61, takes on the role of Nyad’s coach and longtime friendBonnie Stoll. Like Nyad, Stoll openly identifies as lesbian.While preparing for the role, Foster — whocame outat the 2013Golden Globes— befriended Stoll ahead of filming. “I can’t sit still for the most part. Jodie came over. We sat outside for three hours straight. I never even thought about standing up. You know, ‘What’s your favorite food?’ ‘Oh, me too!’ That kind of thing,”recalledStoll to PEOPLE.The Oscar winner is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Her last victory came in 1992, where she won her second Best Actress award forSilence of the Lambsand became one of two people to win multiple Oscars before turning 30.
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Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll in ‘Nyad’
Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll in ‘Nyad’.Kimberley French/Netflix
Kimberley French/Netflix
InNyad,Jodie Foster, 61, takes on the role of Nyad’s coach and longtime friendBonnie Stoll. Like Nyad, Stoll openly identifies as lesbian.
While preparing for the role, Foster — whocame outat the 2013Golden Globes— befriended Stoll ahead of filming. “I can’t sit still for the most part. Jodie came over. We sat outside for three hours straight. I never even thought about standing up. You know, ‘What’s your favorite food?’ ‘Oh, me too!’ That kind of thing,”recalledStoll to PEOPLE.
The Oscar winner is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Her last victory came in 1992, where she won her second Best Actress award forSilence of the Lambsand became one of two people to win multiple Oscars before turning 30.
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Sandra Hüller as Sandra Voyter in ‘Anatomy of a Fall’
Sandra Hüller as Sandra Voyter in ‘Anatomy of a Fall’.Madman Films
Madman Films
Of the protagonist, director Triet, 45, said toCNNthat Voyter is “so ungraspable, elusive.”
“She doesn’t apologize for herself for anything. She has guts, she’s not the perfect victim, she’s not crying all the time. In the courtroom I wanted her to cry quite a lot and [Sandra Hüller] was like, “No, I don’t want to do that,” Triet recalled.
With the role, Hüller received her first nod at the Academy Awards, nominated for Best Actress.
source: people.com
