The Oscars love a biopic ... and the actors in them

By Gary Goldstein

Nov. 27, 2023 5:30 AM PT

Illustration of Cillian Murphy, Adam Driver, Joaquin Phoenix, Colman Domingo and Bradley Cooper near scenes from their films

When it comes to acting awards, the Oscar seems to hold a special place for performers playing true-life figures. Though some have inevitably fallen under the radar or missed the cut, academy history is filled with gold for those who have deftly embodied some of the world’s most notable, famous and sometimes infamous people.

Take a look at the last 10 years alone: In 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019, the lead actor category saw four of its five eligible slots go to the stars of biographical films. During this same period, the lead actor statue was awarded for the depiction of a real character six times — including Matthew McConaughey for playing AIDS activist Ron Woodroof in 2013’s “The Dallas Buyers Club” and more recently with Will Smith’s turn as tennis coach Richard Williams in 2021’s “King Richard.”

This year, all five slots for the lead actor Oscar could conceivably go to acclaimed biopic stars such as Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”), Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”), Colman Domingo (“Rustin”), Adam Driver (“Ferrari”), Joaquin Phoenix (“Napoleon”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) or Kingsley Ben-Adir (“Bob Marley: One Love”).

Let’s drill down on five of these potential nominees and see how they may stack up to some of their lauded predecessors.

Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in 'Maestro.'

Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”): The four-time acting nominee would seem a shoo-in for his portrayal of brilliant and tempestuous musician, composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. This despite the early flap about the ample prosthetic nose he sports in the role. But Cooper, who also directed and co-wrote (with Josh Singer), would hardly be the first lead actor contender to alter his schnoz for the sake of verisimilitude.

Others include such Oscar recipients as Robert De Niro (for playing Jake LaMotta) in 1980’s “Raging Bull,” Sean Penn (as Harvey Milk) in 2008’s “Milk” and Gary Oldman (Winston Churchill) in 2017’s “Darkest Hour.”

Then there are those who’ve won lead actor awards for playing a musical icon: James Cagney (as George M. Cohan) in 1942’s “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” Jamie Foxx (Ray Charles) in 2004’s “Ray” and Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury) in 2018’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Lead actor winners who’ve also directed themselves include Laurence Olivier in 1948’s “Hamlet” and Roberto Benigni in 1998’s “Life Is Beautiful.”

A man in a suit and fedora holds a pipe while standing in the desert.

Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”): This would be the first Oscar nod for Murphy, who stars as the “father of the atomic bomb,” renowned American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The film’s mega-hit status, along with the cachet of its writer-director, Christopher Nolan (his films have amassed 36 Oscar nominations and 11 wins), could prove pluses for the much-praised Irishman. But he wouldn’t be the first Irish or British performer to win lead actor for playing a prominent American.

That would be Oscar champ Daniel Day-Lewis, who managed this feat twice: for 2007’s “There Will Be Blood” (his Daniel Plainview was partly based on oil tycoon Edward Doheny) and for portraying the 16th U.S. president in 2012’s “Lincoln.”

Other lead actor nominees who share this distinction include Anthony Hopkins for 1995’s “Nixon,” Michael Fassbender in 2015’s “Steve Jobs,” Christian Bale (playing Dick Cheney) in 2018’s “Vice,” Gary Oldman (as Herman J. Mankiewicz) for 2020’s “Mank” and Andrew Garfield (Jonathan Larson) in 2021’s “Tick, Tick … Boom!”

For the record:

5:17 p.m. Dec. 4, 2023This article says that Walter Pidgeon won an Oscar for playing Pierre Curie in “Madame Curie.” He was nominated but did not win.

Actors who won Oscars for playing actual scientists include Paul Muni in 1936’s “The Story of Louis Pasteur,” Walter Pidgeon as Pierre Curie in 1943’s “Madame Curie” and Eddie Redmayne (as Stephen Hawking) in 2014’s “The Theory of Everything.”

Two men in suits stand amid a March on Washington crowd in a scene from "Rustin."

Colman Domingo (“Rustin”): Despite earning serious awards buzz for his superb turn in 2020’s screen version of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” an Oscar nod eluded Domingo. But this time out should prove the charm for Domingo’s breakout portrait of gay, mid-20th-century civil rights activist — and close advisor to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — Bayard Rustin in the film “Rustin.”

A win would put Domingo in good company. The lead actor Oscar has gone to such stars as Ben Kingsley (1982’s “Gandhi”), Sean Penn (“Milk”) and Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”) for portraying real-life social justice advocates.

Oscar-nominated films that have featured King include the documentaries “King: A Filmed Record ... Montgomery to Memphis” (1969), “4 Little Girls” (1997), and the 2014 biodrama “Selma,” in which Domingo also appeared.

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari on set in Modena, Italy.

Adam Driver (“Ferrari”): The twice-nominated actor (“BlacKkKlansman,” “Marriage Story”) might well hit the Oscar track for the third time for his transformative turn as Italian race car-driver-turned-auto-entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari in this biopic from director Michael Mann (written by the late Troy Kennedy Martin).

Although Driver missed a nomination for the last real-life Italian he played, fashion heir Maurizio Gucci in 2021’s “House of Gucci,” a win for “Ferrari” would place him alongside two other American actors who each collected an Oscar for depicting an Italian-born (albeit fictional) character: Marlon Brando (as Vito Corleone in 1972’s “The Godfather”) and Robert De Niro (as the younger Vito Corleone in 1974’s “The Godfather Part II”).

Is Michael Mann an actor’s good luck charm? His films have brought lead Oscar nominations to two performers for playing true-life figures: Russell Crowe (as Jeffrey Wigand in 1999’s “The Insider”) and Will Smith (Muhammad Ali in 2001’s “Ali”). In addition, Mann’s 2004 crime drama “Collateral” earned Jamie Foxx a supporting nod for his (fictional) role as embroiled cab driver Max Durocher.

Napoleon rides at the head of his army in a scene from "Napoleon."

Joaquin Phoenix (“Napoleon”): 2020’s lead actor Oscar winner for his terrifyingly creepy turn in “Joker” — and a previous nominee for 2000’s “Gladiator,” 2005’s “Walk the Line” and 2012’s “The Master” — could be in the awards battle again for portraying French army commander Napoleon Bonaparte in the biopic directed by Ridley Scott (who last directed Phoenix in “Gladiator”).

There’s an erstwhile tradition of actors winning Oscars for roles based on or inspired by actual military leaders. They include the academy’s first lead actor recipient, Emil Jannings, for 1928’s “The Last Command,” followed by Gary Cooper (1941’s “Sergeant York”), Dean Jagger (1949’s “Twelve O’Clock High”), Anthony Quinn (1952’s “Viva Zapata!”) and George C. Scott (1970’s “Patton”). Will Phoenix find himself a latter-day member of this intrepid group?

That four-time Oscar nominee Scott has seen cast members from films he’s directed, including “Thelma and Louise,” “Gladiator,” “American Gangster,” “The Martian” and “All the Money in the World,” nominated a total of seven times, could also bode well for Phoenix.

As for non-Gallic actors who won Oscars playing true-life Frenchmen, Phoenix could join a circle that includes Muni (“The Story of Louis Pasteur”), Joseph Schildkraut (1937’s “The Life of Emile Zola”), José Ferrer (1950’s “Cyrano de Bergerac”) and Anthony Quinn (1956’s “Lust for Life”).

The Oscars love actors in biopics. And this year there will be plenty to choose from

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