Jodie Foster smashes multiple Oscar records with ‘Nyad’ nomination

By racking up three Best Actress Oscar notices between the ages of 26 and 32, previous teenage supporting nominee Jodie Foster (“Taxi Driver,” 1977) proved it possible to earn academy recognition more than twice during adulthood after initially charming them as a child. Now, nearly three decades later, she has improved upon that distinction by landing her fifth career bid for “Nyad,” thus entering the Best Supporting Actress arena for the first time as an adult. Since her two featured bids are separated by 47 years, she now holds the record for longest span between consecutive Oscar nominations in a single acting category.

Foster, who first caught the academy’s attention at 14, belongs to the 18% minority of child nominees who went on to contend as adults. She was preceded in that regard by 17-year-old “Rebel Without a Cause” (1956) cast mates Sal Mineo (22, “Exodus,” 1961) and Natalie Wood (23, “Splendor in the Grass,” 1962; 25, “Love with the Proper Stranger,” 1964) and has only been followed by Saoirse Ronan, who competed for Best Actress at 21 (“Brooklyn,” 2016), 23 (“Lady Bird,” 2018), and 25 (“Little Women,” 2020) after having picked up a supporting mention for “Atonement” (2008) at 13. Foster’s own lead bids – the first two of which were successful – were for “The Accused” (1989), “The Silence of the Lambs” (1992), and “Nell” (1995).

More from GoldDerby

• What to watch this weekend February 2, 2024: TV awards contenders

• Ray Richmond: 'Barbie' got manhandled in the Oscar nominations, all right, but not in the categories you think

• 'Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold' combines thrills of 'Free Solo' with climate change research in 'one of the most dangerous environments on Earth' [WATCH]

After six decades of being the only child nominee to return to his original category (Best Supporting Actor) as an adult, Mineo has now been joined by Foster – the first female achiever of that feat. When it comes to her massive single-category nominations gap, she takes the record from Judd Hirsch, who just raised the bar to 42 years in 2023 by landing a supporting bid for “The Fabelmans” after having contended as a featured “Ordinary People” cast member in 1981. At 87, he fell about three months short of supplanting Christopher Plummer (88, “All the Money in the World,” 2018) as the oldest acting Oscar nominee of all time.

Before Hirsch broke said general record, it had been held by Henry Fonda, whose Best Actor nomination for “The Grapes of Wrath” (1941) and win for “On Golden Pond” (1982) came 41 years apart. The previous supporting record of 38 years had been shared by Jack Palance (“Shane,” 1954; “City Slickers,” 1992) and Robert De Niro (“The Godfather Part II,” 1975; “Silver Linings Playbook,” 2013), who respectively triumphed on their second and first outings. In her own category alone, Foster surpasses Glenn Close, whose mentions for “The Natural” (1985) and “Hillbilly Elegy” (2021) were separated by 36 years.

Foster was the seventh youngest performer to ever compete for an Oscar at the time of her “Taxi Driver” nomination and would currently rank as the third youngest winner – after Tatum O’Neal (10, “Paper Moon,” 1974) and Anna Paquin (11, “The Piano,” 1994) – if she hadn’t lost to Beatrice Straight (“Network”). Having turned 61 last November, she now falls within the oldest 13% of all Best Supporting Actress nominees and could become the category’s 11th oldest champion.

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

SIGN UP for Gold Derby newsletters and updates

Best of GoldDerby

• James Wilson ('The Zone of Interest' producer) explains finding the right filming location at Auschwitz [Exclusive Video Interview]

• Vincent René-Lortie ('Invincible' director) on his 1st Oscar nomination: 'We cried, we screamed, we jumped into each other's arms' [Exclusive Video Interview]

• 'Poor Things' composer Jerskin Fendrix on creating unique film score: 'A flirty coyness to the whole process' [Exclusive Video Interview]

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.