Want to win friends and influence people using your intimate knowledge of this year’s Oscar nominees – and how they stack up against Academy history? Never fear: EW’s got you covered. (Caution: Nerd alert!)
- It’s unclear how many times the F-word is used in The Wolf of Wall Street. Vulture says it’s 569; Slate says it’s 544; some guy at some blog says it’s 506. In any case, it’s one of the most profanity-laced films in history and certainly the swearingest movie ever to be nominated for Best Picture. Wolf director Martin Scorsese’s own Goodfellas, with a mere 300 documented “f—“s, is the previous record holder.
- American Hustle is the 15th film to receive nods in every acting category. David O. Russell is the first director to helm two movies (back to back, no less) that have both achieved this feat. No movie has ever won all four acting awards, though A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Network (1976) got three wins apiece. Also worth noting: While quadfectas generally snag at least one acting award, only two (1942’s Mrs. Miniver and 1953’s From Here to Eternity) have ever managed a Best Picture win.
- The Oscar for Best Animated Feature was first awarded in 2002 (for films released in 2001). Pixar has released 11 films since then that have been eligible for the award. Of them, only two have failed to garner a nomination: 2011’s Cars 2, a sequel, and 2013’s Monsters University, a prequel. (The only other franchise extension Pixar released in that time is Toy Story 3, which won Best Animated Feature in 2011.)
- Producer Megan Ellison of Her and American Hustle is the first woman and only the third person ever to snag two Best Picture nominations in the same year. Previous achievers include Francis Ford Coppola for The Conversation and The Godfather Part II (the night’s big winner) in 1974, and Scott Rudin for The Social Network and True Grit in 2010.
- If Frozen composer Bobby Lopez wins an Oscar for “Let It Go, ” he’ll be the 12th person ever to achieve the prestigious EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), as well as the youngest person ever to receive all four awards (he turns 39 a week before this year’s ceremony). Lopez picked up Tonys for Avenue Q (Best Original Score) and The Book of Mormon (Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical) in 2004 and 2011, a Grammy for Book of Mormon’s original cast recording in 2012, and a pair of Daytime Emmys for his work on Wonder Pets in 2008 and 2010. (Lopez was also nominated for an Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics Primetime Emmy in 2007 for his work on Scrubs’ musical episode, but he lost the prize to “Dick in a Box” writers Justin Timberlake and the Lonely Island.)
- At 23, American Hustle’s Jennifer Lawrence is the youngest actress ever to land three acting nominations, breaking a record previously held by Teresa Wright (who was 24 when she received her third nod). If Lawrence wins Best Supporting Actress, she’ll become the third actress to win consecutive awards and the youngest person ever to win two acting awards; the current record holder is Luise Rainer, who won Best Actress for The Great Ziegfeld at age 26 and another Best Actress statuette the following year for The Good Earth. (Side note: Rainer was also the first person to win multiple Oscars, the first person to win them in consecutive years, and is still alive and kicking at age 104. Luise Rainer kind of rules.)
- Meanwhile, American Hustle star Amy Adams is the only current Best Actress nominee who hasn’t won an Oscar yet – though this is her fifth career nomination (and first Best Actress nod).
- At 84, June Squibb would be the oldest-ever Best Supporting Actress winner; at 77, Bruce Dern would be the oldest-ever Best Actor winner. Both are nominated for their work in Nebraska. Previous record holders in these categories are Peggy Ashcroft (age 77), who won for A Passage to India in 1984, and Henry Fonda (age 76), who won for On Golden Pond in 1981.
- With her latest Best Actress nod, Meryl Streep breaks her own record for most nominations ever received by an actor. Her grand total: 18. (Underachiever.) With three wins, however, she’s still not the most decorated actor in Oscar history; that’d be Katharine Hepburn, who received four Best Actress statuettes over the course of her career.
- The undisputed king of the Oscars, however, has to be composer John Williams, who just received his 49th career nomination (for the score of The Book Thief). He’s got five total wins and more Oscar nominations than any other living person, and is second only to Walt Disney for most Oscar nominations period. (Walt scored just shy of 60 nods, or 59 more than Tom Hanks received for playing him in Saving Mr. Banks.)
