Oscar winners Cillian Murphy (‘Oppenheimer’) and Emma Stone (‘Poor Things’) nearly break screen time record

Matthew Stewart
·4 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Since 1940, the record for highest average screen time between same-year lead acting Oscar winners has been held by Robert Donat (“Goodbye, Mr. Chips”) and Vivien Leigh (“Gone with the Wind”), whose mean of one hour, 54 minutes, and 43 seconds will likely never be surpassed. Nonetheless, there is a brand new pair in second place, as 2024 Best Actor and Actress champs Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”) and Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) came within 10 minutes of dethroning the long-reigning duo. Indeed, both together and separately, their especially lengthy performances inspired several brushes with Oscars screen time history.

Murphy was specifically awarded for one hour, 53 minutes, and 10 seconds of acting work, while Stone clocked in slightly lower at one hour, 37 minutes, and 19 seconds. Understandably, each far outpaced all of their fellow nominees, respectively landing 27 and 22 minutes above their lineups’ averages. Their own average of one hour, 45 minutes, and 15 seconds makes them only the second pair of lead victors to exceed 100 minutes.

More from GoldDerby

The only other instance of a set of lead winners having more combined screen time than Murphy and Stone (3:30:29) involved the 1969 trio consisting of Cliff Robertson (“Charly”) and dual female champs Katharine Hepburn (“The Lion in Winter”) and Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl”). By almost collectively reaching four and a half hours (nearly 40 minutes more than Donat and Leigh), they hit an average of one hour, 28 minutes, and 43 seconds – initially the second and now 10th highest ever.

Those who just moved to third place in the lead average ranking are 2008’s Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”) and Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”) with their mean of one hour, 39 minutes, and seven seconds. Rounding out the current top five are 1983’s Ben Kingsley (“Gandhi”) and Meryl Streep (“Sophie’s Choice”) at 1:38:03 and 2020’s Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) and Renée Zellweger (“Judy”) at 1:35:37.

When Stone won her first Best Actress Oscar for “La La Land” in 2017, she and her male counterpart, Casey Affleck (“Manchester by the Sea”), hit an average of one hour, 30 minutes, and 22 seconds, which now ranks as the ninth highest after originally placing sixth. Her second triumphant performance is 16 minutes and 39 seconds larger than her first and stands as the fourth longest Best Actress-winning turn of all time, behind those of Leigh (2:23:32), Streisand (2:01:02), and Streep (1:41:14). It is also the fifth in a row to exceed 80 minutes, as only 27 have ever done.

In his own category, Murphy ranks third in terms of screen time behind only Charlton Heston (“Ben-Hur,” 1960; 2:01:23) and Day-Lewis (1:57:00). His performance is also the 10th longest ever nominated for Best Actor and puts him in 17th place among all lead contenders, whereas Stone ranks 71st overall. This marks the 51st instance – and first since 2020 – of a Best Actor winner physically clocking in higher than a corresponding Best Actress recipient.

Given their films’ respective running times of 180 and 141 minutes, Murphy and Stone’s screen time percentages aren’t as impressively lofty as their physical totals. Their average of 65.76% is the 24th highest for a set of lead victors, while he ranks 40th in his category at 62.75% and she places 30th at 68.77%. Because of them, the all-time average size of an Oscar-winning lead performance has increased by 22 seconds and 0.09%.

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

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.