10 People Who Could Make History at The Oscars

With the 92nd Oscars Ceremony happening on February 9th, many critics and movie fans are buzzing about with their predictions as to who will the golden statuette in each of the 24 categories. Several Nominees can earn their places in the Oscars History books should they win.

From this year’s nominees, there are several ways in which some can make Oscars History, whether it be due to gender, the character he/she played (in the cases for all of the acting nominees), race, joining an exclusive club (see #1 and #4 below), the film’s genre, and/or number of wins, to name a few.

Now, with that being said, here are 10 People Who Could Make History at The Oscars should they win at The 92nd Oscars Ceremony this coming Sunday:

1. Cynthia Erivo:

Erivo is a double-nominee this year and she is up for Best Actress for her role as Harriet Tubman in the film Harriet and for Best Original Song for the song “Stand Up”, which is featured in the film and also co-wrote with Joshuah Brian Campbell.

With her two nominations, she became the third person ever (and consecutive) in Oscars History to be nominated for acting and an original song in the same year. The previous two people to do so were Mary J. Blige, who was up for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song for her role and song “Mighty River” in Mudbound in 2018; and Lady Gaga, who was up for Best Actress and Best Original Song for her role and song “Shallow” in A Star Is Born in 2019. Of Erivo’s predecessors, Blige lost both awards while Lady Gaga only won Best Original Song.

Should Erivo win either category or both, she will make Oscars History in a few ways. If she wins Best Actress and Best Original Song, she’d be the first to win both categories in the same year. Regardless if she takes home one or two Oscars, she’ll also achieve EGOT status. EGOT is the acronym for the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards and the designation given to people who have won all four awards. EGOT is such an exclusive club that only 15 people have achieved this status.

Not only would Erivo make Oscars History, she would also become the youngest person ever to achieve EGOT Status and the fastest to do so.

2. Joaquin Phoenix:

After winning Best Actor at The Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild, and The BAFTAS for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck/Joker in Joker, Joaquin Phoenix (on the left) is the frontrunner to take home Best Actor at The Oscars. If he wins, Phoenix will become the second actor to win an Academy Award for playing The Joker. The late Heath Ledger (on the right) won a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight at The 81st Oscars Ceremony (Ledger died of a drug overdose in January 2008, six months before The Dark Knight‘s release).

Phoenix’s victory would also make Oscars History as it would be the second time ever that two actors won an Oscar for playing the same character. The only time this feat happened was for the character of Vito Corleone, who was portrayed by Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro. Brando won Best Actor for portraying Corleone in the 1972 film The Godfather while De Niro won for Best Supporting Actor for portraying Corleone (a much younger version of the character) in the 1974 film (and the second installment of The Godfather Trilogy) The Godfather Part II.

3. Scarlett Johansson:

The actress already made Oscars History when the nominees were announced on January 13th, 2020 when she received a nomination for Best Actress for her role in Marriage Story (on the left) and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Jojo Rabbit (on the right). As a result, she became the twelfth member of an exclusive club of actors to have received nominations for two different Oscars in the acting categories in the same year.

Of the 11 other actors and actresses in this exclusive club, only seven have received an Oscar in one of the categories he/she was nominated in while four failed in win in either category. In addition, Furthermore, no one has ever won both Oscars he/she was nominated for and Johansson would make Oscars History by being the first to do so if she wins both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Categories.

4. Tom Hanks:

For The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Brad Pitt is the favorite to win for his performance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. However, should an upset occur and the winner turns out to be Tom Hanks, for his role in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Hanks will make Oscars History.

A potential win for Hanks will be the actor’s third Academy Award and he would become the seventh member of the exclusive club of actors who have won three or more Oscars. Hanks won consecutive Best Actor Oscars for his performances in the 1993 film Philadelphia and the 1994 film Forrest Gump.

5. Netflix:

With a total of 24 nominations, the streaming service leads all Hollywood Studios in nominations with 24 for the 92nd Oscars Ceremony. Two of those 24 Nominations are in Best Picture for the films Marriage Story and The Irishman. Should either film take home the night’s biggest prize, it would be the first time in Oscars history that a film distributed primarily by a streaming service won Best Picture.

6. Laura Dern:

After winning Best Supporting Actress at The Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild, and The BAFTAS for her role in Marriage Story, Laura Dern looks on track to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

In the last few years, there have been actors in Netflix Films who went on to receive Oscar Nominations, but no one has ever won. Counting Dern, seven of the 19 actors (Note: Scarlett Johansson is up for two Acting Oscars) nominated in the Acting Categories this year were in films released and distributed by Netflix. The reason why I’m singling Dern out is because of the seven, she has the best chance of winning and if she does, it will be the first time a Netflix film won an Academy Award for Acting.

7. Bong Joon-Ho:

If Bong Joon-Ho, the director of Parasite, wins Best Director at The Oscars Ceremony, he will become the first South Korean to ever win the award. However, Bong will not be the first Asian to win Best Director though as Ang Lee (who is from Taiwan) won the award twice for the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain and the 2012 film Life of Pi.

8. Quentin Tarantino:

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is nominated for 10 Oscars and Tarantino himself is up for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Throughout his entire career, Tarantino has a combined eight Oscar Nominations across all three categories and his only two wins were for Best Original Screenplay (for Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained).

Winning the Best Director Oscar would be Tarantino’s first Oscar in that category. However, the legendary filmmaker will make Oscars History if Once Upon A Time In Hollywood takes home Best Original Screenplay. It would be Tarantino’s third Best Original Screenplay victory and he will tie Woody Allen for the most wins in the category.

9. Antonio Banderas:

For his performance in Pain and Glory, Antonio Banderas earned a Best Actor Nomination, which is also his first-ever nomination. As mentioned earlier, Joaquin Phoenix is the favorite to win Best Actor. However, if an upset were to happen, I personally believe that Antonio Banderas (who is a dark horse in the category) should win Best Actor Oscar.

If Banderas wins, he will become the second male Spanish Actor to win an Oscar, but the first to do so in the Best Actor Category. Javier Bardem, the first to do so, won his Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in the 2007 film No Country For Old Men.

10. Judy Garland:

Renee Zellweger (on the left) is the favorite to win Best Actress for her stunning portrayal of the late, legendary entertainer Judy Garland (on the right) in the biopic Judy. Despite passing away at the age of 47 in 1969, Garland is still regarded as a Hollywood Legend.

However, in her 45-year career, Garland technically never won a competitive Academy Award (Garland won the now-defunct Juvenile Oscar for her role as Dorothy in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz). Garland did receive two nominations though: one for Best Actress in the 1954 film A Star is Born and one for Best Supporting Actress for the 1961 film Judgement in Nuremberg. Should Zellweger win Best Actress, Judy Garland will have “finally won” her much deserved Oscar.

From the ten people/films listed above, which ones do you believe will most likely win and make Oscars History at the ceremony? Be sure to let us know which ones down below in the comments section below!