Entertainment

Taron Egerton and Florence Pugh among Brits in running for Oscar nods

The nominations will be unveiled via livestream from Los Angeles.
The nominations will be unveiled via livestream from Los Angeles. The nominations will be unveiled via livestream from Los Angeles.

Taron Egerton, Florence Pugh and Sir Elton John are among the British stars hoping to land an Oscar nomination on Monday.

Rocketman star Egerton is tipped to land a best actor nod for his turn in the musical biopic, just days after scoring a Bafta nomination and winning a Golden Globe.

He is likely to be joined in the category by Joaquin Phoenix for Joker, Adam Driver for Marriage Story, Leonardo DiCaprio for Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood and Antonio Banderas for Pain And Glory, although The Two Popes star Jonathan Pryce and Le Mans ’66 star Christian Bale are also thought to be contenders.

Oscars: British nominations for acting
Oscars: British nominations for acting (PA Graphics) (PA Graphics/PA)

Rocketman, about the early life and career of Sir Elton, could also land the singing superstar a nomination for his original song (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again.

Midsommar star Pugh is heavily backed to land a supporting actress nomination for playing Amy March in Greta Gerwig’s big screen adaptation of Little Women, while Irish actress Saoirse Ronan could land her fourth Oscar nomination with a best actress nod for her turn as sister Jo.

Little Women Photocall – London
Little Women Photocall – London Saoirse Ronan plays Jo in Little Women (Lia Toby/PA)

Other best actress contenders are thought to include Renee Zellweger for Judy, Charlize Theron for Bombshell, Scarlett Johansson for Marriage Story and Awkwafina for The Farewell but British actress Cynthia Erivo could also land a spot for her turn as Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet.

Gerwig is also a contender for an Oscar nomination and would become the only woman in the history of the ceremony to be nominated twice for best director.

Little Women Photocall – London
Little Women Photocall – London Greta Gerwig (Isabel Infantes/PA)

She was previously nominated for Lady Bird in 2018, becoming the fifth female director ever to be recognised in the category.

Only one woman has ever won the prize – Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker in 2010.

Another filmmaker likely to appear in the best director category is Sir Sam Mendes, who recently won a Golden Globe for his war epic 1917 and has already been nominated for a Bafta.

Other potential contenders include Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood, Martin Scorsese for The Irishman and Bong Joon-ho for Parasite, but they could face competition from Todd Phillips for Joker, Noah Baumbach for Marriage Story, Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit and Pedro Almodovar for Pain And Glory.

The Oscars will be hoping to avoid the controversy that faced Bafta last week when it unveiled an all-white group of acting nominees and an all-male director shortlist.

The hashtag #BaftasSoWhite quickly started trending, which was reminiscent of the #OscarsSoWhite furore that has previously faced the Academy.

The Oscar nominations will be announced by Issa Rae and John Cho via a livestream and the gongs will be handed out at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 9.