Since 1998, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences--the film industry group that bestows the Academy Awards, or Oscars--has increasingly nominated and awarded actors for roles that encompass gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender characters. Prior to 1998, the highest profile actor to win for such a role was Tom Hanks, who was named Best Actor for playing a gay, HIV-positive lawyer with AIDS in the 1993 film Philadelphia. But in the past decade, actors in LGBT roles have gained visibility and accolades from their peers.
Unlike the Golden Globe Awards, which feature separate acting awards for drama and musical/comedy, the Oscars have only four acting awards: Best Actor and Actress, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress. Thus there are fewer Oscar winners than Golden Globe winners; however, the gay roles nominated for Golden Globes have generally been nominated for Oscars as well.
Nominations by Year
The best year for gay roles at the Oscars was 2005, when four were nominated and one won. Three years--2001, 2004, and 2007--had no LGBT roles nominated. In 1999 and 2002 two roles were nominated per year, with one winner each year. In 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2008, one gay role was nominated per year, though only one year (2003) featured a winner so far. The 2008 nominee, Sean Penn as Best Actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in Milk, will learn if he won on Feb. 22, 2009. Of all 13 nominations, 4 have won and one is still undecided.
Here is a complete list of nominated roles per year, with the winning roles marked with an asterisk:
1998: Ian McKellan as Best Actor in Gods and Monsters1999: Jude Law as Best Supporting Actor inThe Talented Mr. Ripley, Hilary Swank as Best Actress in Boys Don’t Cry*
2000: Javier Bardem as Best Actor in Before Night Falls
2002: Nicole Kidman as Best Actress in The Hours*, Salma Hayek as Best Actress in Frida
2003: Charlize Theron as Best Actress in Monster*
2005: Heath Ledger as Best Actor in Brokeback Mountain, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Best Actor in Capote*, Jake Gyllenhaal as Best Supporting Actor in Brokeback Mountain, Felicity Huffman as Best Actress in Transamerica
2006: Judi Dench as Best Actress in Notes on a Scandal
2008: Sean Penn as Best Actor in Milk
Breaking It Down By Gender
Of 13 nominations, six were for women and seven for men. Interestingly, a higher percentage of nominated women won (3, or 50%) than men (1, or 14.2%).
Additionally, 8 of the 13 roles were based on real people: horror film director James Whale (Gods and Monsters), murdered transgender teen Brandon Teena (Boys Don’t Cry), Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas (Before Night Falls), writer Virginia Woolf (The Hours), painter Frida Kahlo (Frida), serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Monster), writer and bon vivant Truman Capote (Capote) and political activist Harvey Milk (Milk).
Interestingly, only one of the nominated actors or actresses--Ian McKellan--is openly gay, and was nominated for playing an openly gay man, James Whale. However, he lost in the Best Actor category in 1998 to Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful.
