OSCARS
BEST ACTRESS
Nicole Kidman
“The Hours”
Career nominations: 2
For her role as the depressed but brilliant author Virginia Woolf, the 35-year-old Australian wore a long prosthetic nose, which not only sparked a battle between the two studios financing “The Hours,” but also has catapulted her to her second Oscar nomination. Kidman has already won a Golden Globe for her “Hours” performance, and last year merited her first Oscar nomination for “Moulin Rouge!”
Julianne Moore
“Far From Heaven”
Career nominations: 4
Moore is a double nominee -- best actress in “Far From Heaven” and supporting actress in “The Hours” -- for her work in somewhat similar roles: troubled ‘50s housewife and mother. Moore, 42, received several critics’ awards for her performance in “Far From Heaven,” including the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.; she was nominated for a Golden Globe; and she is currently in contention for a SAG Award. She previously was nominated for a best actress Oscar for “The End of the Affair” (1999) and for supporting actress for “Boogie Nights” (1997).
Renee Zellweger
“Chicago”
Career nominations: 2
The 33-year-old pouty blond proved she can sing, dance and slay as Roxie Hart in the cynical musical “Chicago.” She’s already won the Golden Globe for her warbling and picked up a SAG nomination as well. Last year, she received her first best actress nomination for the popular homage to single gals, “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
Diane Lane
“Unfaithful”
First nomination
Few movies have required that an actress indulge in erotic remembrances on a commuter train, but for her delicious on-screen efforts, Diane Lane, 38, picks up her first Academy Award nomination. In the film “Unfaithful,” Lane plays a happily married suburban mother who nonetheless falls into an affair. The National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle have already awarded her best actress of 2002. She was nominated for a Golden Globe, and is in contention for a SAG Award.
Salma Hayek
“Frida”
First nomination
The Mexican-born actress, who launched her career in the sudsy Mexican TV series “Teresa,” donned a faint mustache and high-minded passions to portray the painter Frida Khalo in the biopic “Frida,” which she also produced. With her nomination, Hayek has an opportunity to be the first Latina to win the best actress Oscar.
BEST ACTOR
Jack Nicholson
“About Schmidt”
Career nominations: 12
The 65-year-old icon of cool adopted a hefty paunch and a comb-over to play a former insurance man tooling around America in a Winnebago in the dark comedy “About Schmidt.” This is his 12th nomination (now tied with Katharine Hepburn), his eighth in the best actor category. He previously won best actor Oscars for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) and “As Good as It Gets” (1997) and supporting actor for “Terms of Endearment” (1983).
Michael Caine
“The Quiet
American”
Career nominations: 6
Sir Michael Caine, a fishmonger’s son whose Cockney accent is a point of pride, picks up his sixth nomination for his portrayal of a disillusioned British journalist stationed in Vietnam in the 1950s. The former Maurice Mickelwhite, 69, received his first best actor Oscar nomination 36 years ago for “Alfie” and won best supporting actor for “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and “The Cider-House Rules” (1999).
Daniel Day-Lewis
“Gangs of New York”
Career nominations: 3
The chameleonic British actor decided to forgo a second career as a cobbler to return to the screen as the menacing, cocksure villain -- Bill “The Butcher” Cutting -- in Martin Scorsese’s epic. The 45-year-old Day-Lewis won the best actor Academy Award 13 years ago for “My Left Foot” and was nominated for best actor for “In the Name of the Father” (1993).
Adrien Brody
“The Pianist”
First nomination
At 29, the New York City native is the youngest of this year’s best actor nominees, and temporarily was the thinnest, having lost considerable weight to play famed Polish Jewish pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman, in Roman Polanski’s Holocaust drama. Brody, whose part was all but cut out of the 1998 best picture nominee “The Thin Red Line,” received best actor honors from the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics and was nominated for a Golden Globe. He’s also a SAG nominee.
Nicolas Cage
“Adaptation”
Career nominations: 2
After bulking up physically and financially for a series of Jerry Bruckheimer extravaganzas, this previous best actor Oscar winner picks up his second nomination in the category for playing screenwriting twins Charlie and Donald Kaufman in “Adaptation.” The 39-year-old Cage won the Oscar in 1995 for his portrayal of an alcoholic refugee from Hollywood in “Leaving Las Vegas.”
BEST DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese
“Gangs of New York”
Career nominations: 6
Scorsese, 60, has never won a best director Oscar, although he was nominated for “Raging Bull” (1980), “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988) and “GoodFellas” (1990). He also received writing nominations for “GoodFellas” and “The Age of Innocence” (1993). Scorsese won the Golden Globe for “Gangs.”
Stephen Daldry
“The Hours”
Career nominations: 2
The British theater director picks up his second nomination for best director for his drama about three women who live at different times but are connected by the novel “Mrs. Dalloway.” He previously was nominated in this category for his first feature, “Billy Elliot” (2000).
Rob Marshall
“Chicago”
First nomination
Marshall, 42, could become the first director to win the Oscar for a musical since Bob Fosse received the Academy Award for “Cabaret” 30 years ago. “Chicago” is Marhsall’s feature film debut.
Roman Polanski
“The Pianist”
Career nominations: 4
The Polish director, 69, receives his third best director Oscar nomination for his Holocaust drama. His previous nominations were for best director for “Tess” (1980) and “Chinatown” (1974), as well as for screenplay for “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968).
Pedro Almodovar
“Talk to Her”
Career nominations: 3
Almodovar receives his first best director nomination for his Spanish-language drama about two men and the comatose women they love. The 51-year-old is also nominated for his screenplay of the film. Two years ago his film, “All About My Mother” received the Academy Award for outstanding foreign language film.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chris Cooper
“Adaptation”
First nomination
The respected character actor, 51, is nominated for his turn as an eccentric, toothless orchid thief in “Adaptation.” Cooper won the Golden Globe for his performance in the Hollywood satire.
John C. Reilly
“Chicago”
First nomination
The Chicago native, 37, picks up his first nomination for his supporting performance in the musical satire as the milquetoast husband of a headline-seeking murderess.
Christopher Walken
“Catch Me If You Can”
Career nominations: 2
The former Broadway song-and-dance man receives his second supporting actor nomination for his role as the weak-willed father of a con artist. Walken, 59, won an Academy Award 24 years ago in this category for “The Deer Hunter.”
Paul Newman
“Road to Perdition”
Career nominations: 10
The sentimental favorite for his performance as a head of an Irish American mob family, the 78-year-old Newman picks up his 10th nomination and his first in the supporting actor category. Newman received his first Oscar nomination 34 years ago for “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and won the Academy Award for best actor for “The Color of Money” (1986).
Ed Harris
“The Hours”
Career nominations: 4
The 52-year-old actor-director picks up his fourth nomination -- his third in the supporting category -- as a gay man dying of AIDS. Prior nominations include supporting actor for “Apollo 13” (1995) and “The Truman Show” (1998) and best actor for “Pollock” (2000).
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Queen Latifah
“Chicago”
First nomination
The 32-year-old performer receives her first Oscar nomination for her performance as the wily matron of a woman’s prison.
Catherine Zeta-Jones
“Chicago”
First nomination
Mrs. Michael Douglas, 33, sings and dances her way to her first nomination as the sultry murderess Velma Kelly.
Kathy Bates
“About Schmidt”
Career nominations: 3
The best actress Oscar winner of 1990 for “Misery,” Bates stripped naked for her comedic turn as a free spirit trying to seduce an unwilling Jack Nicholson. Bates was previously nominated in the supporting actress category for “Primary Colors” (1998).
Meryl Streep
“Adaptation”
Career nominations: 13
Streep, the most honored performer in Oscar history, gets her 13th nomination for her depiction of writer Susan Orlean. This is the third time Streep has been nominated for best supporting actress. She previously won in this category for “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979) and won the best actress Oscar three years later for “Sophie’s Choice.”
Julianne Moore
“The Hours”
Career nominations: 4
The 42-year-old actress evinces more muted misery as another unhappily married wife and mother in this drama. (She is also nominated this year in the best actress category for “Far From Heaven”).