Emma Stone is looking to break some Oscar records.
The two-time best actress winner could etch her name even deeper into Academy Awards history if she receives double nominations for Focus Features’ “Bugonia” when Oscar nods are announced on Jan. 22.
A double bid — for best actress and as a producer in the best picture category — would place Stone, 37, in extraordinarily rare company. She would become the second-youngest person in Oscar history to reach seven career nominations, trailing only Walt Disney, who achieved the milestone at age 34 in 1936.
The honor would also allow Stone to surpass Meryl Streep as the youngest woman ever to earn seven nominations (in any categories). Streep received her seventh nod for “Ironweed” when nominations were announced on Feb. 16, 1988. She was 38 at the time.
Beyond the raw numbers, a dual citation would also carry historic weight. Stone would become the first woman ever to be nominated twice in the combined categories of best actress and picture. She previously accomplished the feat with “Poor Things” (2023), winning her second Oscar for best actress for her portrayal of Bella Baxter while also earning a best picture nomination as a producer.
Frances McDormand remains the only other woman to achieve the dual nomination, sweeping both categories for “Nomadland” (2020).
Actresses being nominated as producers of films in which they also star remains an anomaly in Oscar history, particularly when compared with their male counterparts. For example, stars like Clint Eastwood, Warren Beatty and Bradley Cooper have done it multiple times each. Outside of Stone and McDormand, the list of actresses is strikingly short.
Barbra Streisand earned a best picture nom as a producer for “The Prince of Tides” (1991), in which she also starred but failed to receive a best actress nomination. It was a similar fate for Margot Robbie when she was nominated as a producer for “Barbie” (2023) while starring in the film, and then notably snubbed in the best actress race despite the movie’s cultural impact and box office dominance. Oprah Winfrey became the first Black female producer nominated for best picture for “Selma” (2014), appearing in a supporting role as civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper.
Born Nov. 6, 1988, Stone has built one of the most formidable Academy Awards résumés of her generation. Her first nomination came in 2015 for best supporting actress for “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).” Two years later, she won her first Oscar, claiming best actress for the musical “La La Land” (2016). Stone earned another supporting actress nom for her first collaboration with director Yorgos Lanthimos on “The Favourite” (2018) before her landmark year with “Poor Things,” which brought both her second best actress win and a best picture nomination as a producer.
The all-time record she would be chasing has stood for nearly a century. Born Dec. 5, 1901, Disney received his first two nominations on Oct. 12, 1932, for the fifth Academy Awards, competing in best short subject (cartoon) for “Mickey’s Orphans” and the winning “Flowers and Trees” at age 30.
His seventh nomination came in 1936, via another pair of bids in the same category for “Who Killed Cock Robin?” and the winning “Three Orphan Kittens,” cementing his place in Oscar lore at just 34 years old.
So far this Oscar season, Emma Stone has received double bids at the Critics Choice and Golden Globe Awards for the Focus Features black comedy that also stars Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis. The actress race is competitive with many prognasticators viewing only two sure bets at the moment: Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”) and Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”). The other spots are up for grabs between Stone, Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”), Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked: For Good”), Chase Infiniti (“One Battle After Another”) and more.
“Bugonia” premiered at the Venice Film Festival before making its debut stateside at the Telluride Film Festival, receiving critical acclaim. Along with Stone, the film is also produced by Lanthimos, Ari Aster, Ed Guiney, Lars Knudsen, Jerry Kyoungboum Ko, Miky Lee and Andrew Lowe. However, official PGA credits were given to Guiney, Knudsen, Lanthimos, Lowe and Stone, which the Academy typically recognize for nominations. The official receivers of the noms won’t be revealed until nominations morning.
