The 96th Academy Awards are rolling out the red carpet for Hollywood’s biggest stars on Sunday, March 10. But did you know that many of the nominated actors have also made their mark on Broadway?
The Actor in a Leading Role category is stacked with Broadway credits. Bradley Cooper, nominated for Maestro, has been on Broadway twice. He starred in The Elephant Man in 2014 and was subsequently nominated for a Tony Award. He also starred in Three Days of Rain.
Colman Domingo, nominated for Rustin, has more than a handful of shows to his name. He was last seen on the stage as Billy Flynn in Chicago back in 2010. Other credits include Well, Passing Strange, and The Scottsboro Boys, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. He wrote the book for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and most recently produced the play Fat Ham.
Paul Giamatti, nominated for The Holdovers, made his Broadway debut nearly 30 years ago in Arcadia, back in 1995. His last role on Broadway was in 1999’s The Iceman Cometh.
Jeffrey Wright, nominated for American Fiction, has a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for 1993’s Angels in America: Perestroika. He was also nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Topdog/Underdog in 2002. Other credits include Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk and A Free Man in Color.
In the best actress category, Annette Bening, nominated for Nyad, has three Broadway credits to her name. She marked her debut in Coastal Disturbances back 1987, which earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. Thirty-two years later, she earned her second Tony Award nomination for best actress in a play for her role in All My Sons.
Like Cooper, Carey Mulligan, nominated for Maestro, also has two Broadway credits. She starred in The Seagull in 2008. Five years later, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for Skylight.
Emma Stone, nominated for Poor Things, made her Broadway debut as a replacement for Sally Bowles in 2014’s production of Cabaret. Another revival opens in April at the August Wilson Theatre.
Robert Downey Jr., nominated for Oppenheimer in the best supporting actor category, has not performed on Broadway, but he starred opposite Jane Krakowski in the 1983 Off-Broadway musical American Passion.
Robert De Niro, nominated in the same category for Killers of the Flower Moon, recently directed the musical A Bronx Tale on Broadway. His Broadway debut and only theatrical acting credit is Cuba and His Teddy Bear in 1986.
Nominated for his performance in Poor Things, Mark Ruffalo made his Broadway debut in the 2006 production of Awake and Sing! Most recently he was in the 2017 Broadway revival of The Price starring alongside Danny DeVito and Tony Shalhoub.
Danielle Brooks is nominated for The Color Purple in the best supporting actress category for her role as Sofia. She also played the same role on Broadway in the musical’s revival back in 2015, and received a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She becomes the 35th actor to portray the role on Broadway and be nominated for an Oscar in the same role, according to statistician Ben Zauzmer. Brooks most recently starred in The Piano Lesson in 2022.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, nominated for The Holdovers in the same category as Brooks, made her Broadway debut in the musical Ghost. In 2012, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical.
Here’s a full list of the 2024 Oscar nominees. The 96th Academy Awards airs on Sunday, March 10, at 7p.m. ET on ABC.
Header photos by Jason McDonald/Netflix, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures.