Top Dozen List: Saoirse Ronan & The Youngest Best Actress Nominees
Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 6:44PM 
Saoirse Ronan, who does such a beautiful job carrying Brooklyn, the film about falling in love with and in a new world, is only 21 years old. Should she be Oscar-nominated in two months time she'll be among the 10 youngest ever so honored in that category. She's the same age now as Marlee Matlin was when she competed for Children of a Lesser God; Matlin won and still holds the title of Youngest Best Actress Winner of all time.
Most 21 year-old Oscar nominees are newbies but not Saoirse. She was nominated at 13 for her role as the tattle-tale sister in Atonement. "I saw it with my own eyes!" But should Saoirse be nominated again, she won't break a record of first to two nominations. That record has belonged to Angela Lansbury for over 70 years when she accomplished it by the age of 20.
For fun and movie-history purposes let's look at the...
YOUNGEST BEST ACTRESS NOMINEES OF ALL TIME
The immediate reveal of note is that 70% of the top ten have emerged in just the past twenty years. How much younger can this list get?
01 Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) was 9 (though years younger than that when she filmed it)
02 Keisha Castle Hughes, Whale Rider (2003) was 13.
Several more young starlets after the jump...
03 Jennifer Lawrence, Winters Bone (2010) was 20
04 Isabelle Adjani, The Story of Adele H (1975) was 20
also the youngest ever that deserved to win though that's The Story of Opinions, Mine (2015)
05 Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice (2005) was 20 going on 21
06 Ellen Page, Juno (2007) was about to turn 21
07 Marlee Matlin, Children of a Lesser God (1986) was 21 *WINNER*
Holds the record for youngest winner in this category which not a single actress has come close to breaking in the 29 years since.
08 Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook (2012) was 22 *WINNER*
It's fascinating that she won concurrently with the actress originally slated for her role, Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), even if she didn't deserve the gold
09 Elizabeth Hartman, A Patch of Blue (1965) was 22
10 Kate Winslet, Titanic (1997) was 22 and 4 months
11 Janet Gaynor, Seventh Heaven/Sunrise/Street Angel (1927/1928) was just a few days older than Winslet and held the record of youngest *WINNER* for almost 60 years until Marlee Matlin arrived. She will always hold the record of *First Winner* and unless they significantly change the rules, she'll also always hold the record for *Only Winner for Multiple Films in Same Category*
12 Leslie Caron, Lili (1953) was 22½
The youngest leading actress ever nominated for a musical role.
Runner Up: [TIE] Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman (1990) and Winona Ryder, Little Women (1994) They were both 23 years and 108 days old when they were Best Actress nominated. And here's another twin moment: it was the second consecutive nomination for both as they'd been previously honored in Best Supporting Actress the year before these hits.
Runner Up Part Two: More 23 year-olds. All were nominated before their 24th birthday
Lynn Redgrave, Georgy Girl (1966); Liza Minnelli, The Sterile Cuckoo (1969); Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace (2004); Carol Kane, Hester Street (1975); Natalie Wood, Splendor in the Grass (1961); and Joan Fontaine, Rebecca (1940)
Gender Double-Standards Reminder
Only two male actors have ever been Oscar nominated for leading roles in the same age bracket as these nineteen women (who were all under 24 years of age). They were: Jackie Cooper (Skippy at age 9) and Mickey Rooney twice over (Babes in Arms and The Human Comedy at ages 19 and 23) all in the first two decades of Oscar's history. Over the decades Oscar's taste in nominated leading ladies has expanded to include both increasingly younger women and more frequent older women. But their taste in leading male performance is pretty much the same. Only in extraordinary circumstances if you're under 30. But they prefer men to be solidly middle aged.
Reader Comments (27)
Oh man, I didn't know Anne Hathaway was slated to play Jennifer Lawrence's role in Silver Linings Playbook. Shades of Hathaway's role in Rachel Getting Married, to be sure, but that role (still Hathaway's best) suggests how many more sharp edges she would've brought than Lawrence did. An intriguing what-if...
Totally agree that Isabelle Adjani deserved to be the youngest-ever Best Actress winner. It's remarkable that she was only 19 when that film was shot. She's brilliant and I wish we got to see her onscreen more often.
Correct the 2011 for Wallis since she's 2012.
if only tatum o'neal had won in the correct category...
par -- right?! that year in best actress was weird anyway (though i think Babs should have won)
Colin- The thing is, so much of that movie depended on the chemistry of the two leads and, say what you will about Lawrence (whom I adored in SLP, even if I still wouldn't have given her the Oscar), she and Bradley Cooper have chemistry in spades. I don't know if I imagine Bradley Cooper with Anne Hathaway (I didn't see Valentine's Day though, were they a couple in that one?). Also, I love Rachel Getting Married, but I don't think that was the tone that David O. Russell was going for. Silver Linings Playbook, for all its focus on mental illness, is at the end of the day a romantic comedy with gritty shadings as opposed to a gritty, naturalistic film about a family (which is what Rachel Getting Married achieves brilliantly, and for the record, I would have given Anne Hathaway the Oscar for that). I think people around here expected something from Silver Linings Playbook that it never intended to be...
Yet another reminder that I need to see The Story of Adele H.
When I first saw Silver Linings Playbook (which I still love unabashedly) I immediately thought it was what Love & Other Drugs *could've* been if it were done right. I'm glad Hathaway left the part because it would've felt like a retread of what she did in the previous film.
I've seen a lot of Isabelle Adjani movies lately because many of them have been getting blu-ray releases and she really is a ridiculously compelling screen presence. I couldn't believe she was only 19 in Adele H.!
A lovely reminder of some of my favourite actresses in their most iconic roles, Winslet, Knightley, Adjani, Page, Lawrence, etc.
But it's also a reminder that women are most bankable between the ages of 18-32 after that it gets harder for them to be given lead roles.
Let's hope this generation can truly change that dismal statistic.
Btw, Pride & Prejudice was released 10 years ago this month. I hope to see those same actresses working in lead roles in another 10 years.
I didn't realize that some of these women were so young! Roberts in pretty woman just screams "Adult!" To me, but wow 23! So young! Also Knightley was a surprise. Such accomplished women! Makes one feel like a turd.
So utterly inexplicable why they won't nominate young men (or boys). Plenty have deserved nominations, including one this year: Jacob Tremblay.
Oh, Elizabeth Hartman. So good in that movie, as was Shelley Winters as her mother.
I liked Silver Linings (I may be biased as i watched it with my roommate who loooks like Lawrence) I thought Lawrence was good. That woman has an energy that pushed throught the screen.
Also, Pride and Prejudice came out 10 years ago and Rosamond Pike just now got an Oscar nomination? Did we really think it would take that long?
Still sad that Evan Rachel Wood in Thirteen will never be on lists like these... Keisha Castle Who? But I suppose that best actress year was a bit of a chaotic mess.
Saorise is the new Meryl? How exciting for her. That all white THR actress roundtable is legendary for its poor taste and desperation.
I'm an Adjani's fan, as much as I think she deserved a win for Adele H, I think she deserved a win even more for her second nomination with Camille Claudel. That performance was just stunning, so was her beauty. Still the only actress to win Cesar award five times for best actress.
The first TV spot for Joy premiered with tonight's episode of Empire. It has a PG-13 rating! Really baffled how well this will translate for the industry. Hopefully Lawrence's popularity won't overshadow her competitors when its time for them to vote for nominees.
One more volunteer here for the cult of Adjani!
Adele H is one of my five favourite performances ever. Ever.
As far as I'm concerned, Matlin never happened. She's my Jessica.
Who thought 10 yrs ago Keira would be a two time nominee and a great comedic/dramatic actress to boot see The Duchess,Atonement,Begin Again.
Cute l''il Quvenzhane Wallis' nomination for her non-performance was ridiculous and makes it doubly insulting that they passed over Marion Cotillard and Rachel Weisz that year. Oh well, at least they both had already won. Keisha Castle-Hughes should have won that year, although Theron,Watts, Morton and Keaton were also excellent. I'm also a big fan of Leslie Caron in Lili, but the film is otherwise nearly unstomachable.
I know this post is about the women, and Saoirse Ronan is amazing in "Brooklyn," but I just want to say that Emory Cohen had me swooning. What a sweet, lovable guy he is in the film. Hard to believe it's the same annoying kid from "Smash."
Peggy Sue -- She's my Jessica runner-up, so i hear ya!
Tom sadly I can't blame the Hollywood Reporter for the roundtable but the actual system in Hollywood, there was hardly any good roles for women of colour in cinema this year, it's so sad! They are truly underrepresented in such a massive way.
So I don't think the diary answers this question, unless I'm missing something… if Ronan were to WIN this year, would she be younger than Marlee Matlin?
I'd forgotten just how close Lawrence came to being the youngest best actress winner ever. You say "no one has come close to breaking Matlin's record", but it seems like JLaw came insanely close, no? She was the next youngest nominee ever, and she also won. I assume you mean no one actually younger has been a real threat to win. Hence my question about Ronan.
Adam -- yes, the latter is what i meant. as for whether Saoirse is younger than Marlee. I'm not sure. I would have to add up actual days of the year. a project for later perhaps.
I don't think Jennifer Lawrence actually got close for that first nomination. The nomination was the honor. But I think it convinced the Academy to give her the win for SLP since she didn't appear to be a flash in the pan as it were.
And I am really jealous if any of you get to see Isabelle Adjani on the screen for the first time. Adele H., Camille Claudel, Queen Margot, etc. I wish more of her movies actually got released in America.
Adjani is fabulous in Adele H. but her crowning achievements still remain Possession (1981) and Queen Margot (1994), the latter of which she should've easily been nominated and won for in that especially weak field.
Keira in P&P yaaaaaassssss. Would've been my winner in my lineup of Claire Danes, Joan Allen, Q'orianka Kilcher, and either Watts/Bello/Huffman depending on my mood.
Good for Ronan if she can net a nod this year and make that accomplishment at a young age but I have my doubts about a young actress in a small non-gritty romantic drama. Maybe GG and BAFTA but I don't see it lasting all the way till late Jan.