In honor of ‘Nyad,’ let’s revisit Annette Bening’s first four Oscar races

Netflix’s “Nyad” tells the remarkable true story of swimmer Diana Nyad and her quest to swim from Cuba to Florida while in her sixties. Annette Bening stars in the titular role while Jodie Foster turns in a key supporting performance as Nyad’s coach, Bonnie Stoll. “Nyad,” which is out in US theaters on Oct. 20 before heading to Netflix on November 2, could well earn Bening a fifth Oscar nomination for her title role as the impressive swimmer. But, before that, let’s take a look back at Bening’s four Oscar races to date.

Bening first found herself on the academy’s radar in 1991 for her role in “The Grifters,” Stephen Frears‘ crime thriller about a conman (John Cusack) who finds himself torn between his mother (Anjelica Huston) and girlfriend (Bening), both of whom are con-artists themselves. Bening had something of a rocky road on the way to the Oscars as she was snubbed by the Golden Globes while the SAG Awards and Critics Choice Awards hadn’t started yet (the first ceremonies of both organizations were held in 1995). She was nominated at the BAFTAs, however, for Best Supporting Actress. She lost to Kate Nelligan, who won for “Frankie and Johnny.” However, Bening did indeed manage to land an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for “The Grifters” as she, arguably, got taken along for the ride. Huston was nominated for Best Actress, Frears earned a Best Director bid, and the film also reaped a nomination for its adapted screenplay. Bening lost this race, however, to Whoopi Goldberg, who won for “Ghost.”

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Bening had to wait nine years for her next Oscar nomination. This time, it came for Best Actress in 2000 for Oscar darling “American Beauty.” This film follows Kevin Spacey as a sexually frustrated father who suffers a mid-life crisis in his suburban town as he becomes obsessed with his daughter’s best friend. Bening, meanwhile, plays Spacey’s on-screen wife, who goes through a crisis of her own involving a steamy affair. The Critics Choice Awards snubbed her but she was nominated for Best Drama Actress at the Golden Globes, although she lost to Hilary Swank for “Boys Don’t Cry.” Bening won Best Actress at the BAFTAs and the SAG Awards, meaning that she went into the Academy Awards in a straight fight with Swank for the win. Unfortunately for Bening, it was Swank who came out the victor and won Best Actress this year. But it must have been close because the academy LOVED “American Beauty,” awarding it Picture, Director (for Sam Mendes), Actor (for Spacey), Original Screenplay, and Cinematography.

Bening returned to the Best Actress lineup just five years later in 2005, when she was nominated for “Being Julia.” Here, Bening plays theater actress Julia Lambert, who works in 1930s London and becomes involved with other artists and their tales of love and revenge. Bening again had a good time at the majority of the precursors. She was nominated at the Critics Choice Awards and SAG Awards and won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy or Musical Actress. She was snubbed at the BAFTAs but this didn’t hurt her at the Oscars. She was nominated at the 2005 Academy Awards but lost to a familiar foe once again: Swank, who was the victor again for “Million Dollar Baby.” Swank had previously beaten her at the SAG Awards and Critics Choice Awards during this awards race.

Bening’s most recent Oscar nomination came in 2011 for Best Actress for “The Kids Are All Right,” which follows two children conceived by artificial insemination who try to incorporate their biological dad (Mark Ruffalo) into their family. Bening and Julianne Moore play the lesbian mothers of the two children. This was the first time that Bening secured nominations at all four major precursors: the SAG Awards, the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Awards, and the BAFTAs. Bening won at the Golden Globes for Best Comedy or Musical Actress but Natalie Portman, who won Best Drama Actress at the Globes, beat Bening at every other precursor. That repeated at the Oscars, too, as Portman won Best Actress for “Black Swan,” condemning Bening to her fourth Oscar loss.

Bening could be about to land her fourth Best Actress bid and fifth Oscar nomination overall for “Nyad.” However, she is currently outside of our five predicted nominees according to our Oscars odds chart in this category: Emma Stone (“Poor Things”), Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”), Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”), and Fantasia Barrino (“The Color Purple”). Bening is on the precipice of breaking into our predicted five nominees along with the likes of Margot Robbie (“Barbie”), Greta Lee (“Past Lives”), Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”), and Portman (“May December”). Here’s one curious narrative that could play out — if Portman and Bening are both nominated and Portman goes on to win, that would be the second time that Bening has lost Best Actress to the same actress twice (she’s already lost to Swank twice and Portman once). That is probably unlikely, however. We predict that Stone will win while Bening isn’t certain of a nomination. It seems, for this awards season, a fifth nomination would be the only type of victory Bening could get. An actual Oscar win still eludes this Hollywood titan.

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