82nd Annual Academy Awards Thumbnails

LOS ANGELES - Here are thumbnail sketches of the acting nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards, which will be presented tonight at the Kodak Theatre.

ACTRESS
Hard to believe it was 16 years ago when Sandra Bullock rocketed to fame as the adorable passenger who winds up behind the wheel of a speeding city bus in "Speed." The same face behind the brainy beauty in "Love Potion No. 9" and the befuddled fiancee in "While You Were Sleeping" has clawed her way to the top with her attention-grabbing turn as strong-willed Southern housewife Leigh Ann Tuohy in "The Blind Side." The 45-year-old queen of the romantic comedy has suddenly been collecting plenty of hardware, already winning a Screen Actors Guild award and a Golden Globe. But she says she still didn't get her hopes up for an Oscar nod. "I didn't want to be one of those people that when it didn't come, which I was prepared for, I wouldn't be all of a sudden crushed and realized I had set everything up for this moment and didn't realize how crushed I would be."

Bullock had backed away from acting to re-evaluate her career, which she said was rejuvenated with her role in the Oscar-winning "Crash." Now that she has reached a career pinnacle as an Oscar front-runner, she said she wants to be judicious about the roles she chooses from now on. "There's some things I would still like to do, but now I feel like -- because of this honor and what I've been given these last couple months, I really have an obligation not to step back even the smallest bit."

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Helen Mirren got plenty of exercise in 2007 while hoisting award after award for her role in "The Queen," including an Oscar. She earned her way back to Oscar night this year for her work as novelist Leo Tolstoy's wife in "The Last Station." The 64-year-old British actress also has past nominations for her supporting roles in "The Madness of King George" and "Gosford Park." Mirren said she enjoyed playing the overly emotional Sofya Tolstoy -- a sharp departure from the understated Queen Elizabeth II. "I mean, I love very subtle pieces, and nothing could have been more subtle than what was required of me to do in `The Queen,' that utter repression and sublimation of everything," Mirren told The Seattle Times. "But I think that because of that, it was great to find a role that would show the extreme opposite. You can't get much further from the queen than Sofya Tolstoy."

Mirren will next appear in the thriller "The Debt" and the drama "Love Ranch," directed by her husband, Taylor Hackford.

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OK, admit that until "An Education" rolled around, you've likely never heard of Carey Mulligan, the 24-year-old British actress whose credits include only a handful of films and appearances on television shows such as "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard" and "Doctor Who." But Mulligan's turn as a school girl being courted by an older man of questionable lifestyle has given her a taste of fame that even she has been struggling to adjust to. "It's been wild and I've loved it and it's good that I've not worked whilst I've gone through it because I wouldn't have been able, you know, I wouldn't be able to split focus and do all this (Oscar-related) stuff."

Mulligan got her first break in the movie industry when she landed a small part in "Pride & Prejudice" opposite Keira Knightley and Judi Dench. She said her starring turn in "An Education" helped her land a part in the upcoming sequel "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." She will be seen again opposite Knightley later this year in "Never Let Me Go," but Mulligan said she isn't sure where her career will be taken in light of her Oscar nod. "I haven't really spoken to my agent since I got nominated, so I don't know," she quipped. "I haven't found the thing that I want to do next."

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Gabourey Sidibe struck gold with her debut acting performance as an abused teen in "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire." The 26-year-old Brooklyn native shined in her first-ever appearance on the big screen, turning in a gritty performance in a role that put in character in brutal situations and coping with unthinkable circumstances. Her performance has made her a source of inspiration to victims of abuse, and she has embraced that role. "A lot of them have told me that the first person they've ever told is me," she said. "Which is, it's a little strange, but I guess because of seeing the film, seeing me in the film, they feel as if they have a connection to Precious through me."

The daughter of a cab driver and a former teacher, Sidibe never had much interest in acting, but after earning an Oscar nomination in her rookie effort, she has been bitten by the thespian bug. "It sounds so sad to say it's given purpose to my life -- it's like I had no purpose before," she said. "I did, but I have a different purpose now. And so, yeah, I absolutely would love to continue. I want to do every kind of film. I want to do comedies, I want to do dramas, romantic films, period pieces. I want to do everything."

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There's no denying that the Academy loves Meryl Streep, who has her 16th overall nominations this year for her role as the queen of cuisine, Julia Child, in "Julie & Julia." It's her 13th nomination as best actress, along with three supporting-actress nods. But the 60-year-old Streep hasn't actually won an Oscar since "Sophie's Choice" in 1982. Her only other win was a supporting-actress prize for "Kramer vs. Kramer" in 1979. With her pitch-perfect turn as Child, Streep could provide some Oscar-night competition for front-runner Sandra Bullock.

The New Jersey native sank her teeth into the role of Child. "It was absolutely beautiful," Streep told the Daily Telegraph, describing the film's script. "Julia's approach to her day was one of energy and appetite and a blanket determination not to let troubles get you down. It's a great quality and she really had it." At 60, Streep is snubbing the idea that great roles simply don't go to older female performers. But she confessed in a recent interview that she is still surprised when she actually lands a role. "I think I'm a valuable commodity to a project," she told Salon.com. "But I'm always shocked that there's an interesting, full-fledged, ambitiously wrought role for somebody like me."

ACTOR
Jeff Bridges has been cleaning up during this awards season with his role as hard-drinking country singer Bad Blake in "Crazy Heart." With Golden Globe and SAG awards already on his mantle, he's an easy favorite to claim the Oscar, which would be his first in five tries. He was nominated as best actor for "Starman" and supporting actor for "The Last Picture Show," "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" and "The Contender." But despite being an Oscar veteran, he said the experience still takes some adjustment. "You'd think as long as I've been doing this, I'd be more prepared for this. Every time I watch that red carpet and those lights, it seems to get more and more crazy. I'm not prepared for any of it, really."

Bridges, 60, comes from a famed acting family -- father Lloyd and brother Beau -- and threw himself into the role of Bad Blake, including doing his own singing. "He doesn't mean to be a bad guy, you know, I think he's irresponsible, certainly, and that's just the path that life has, that he's taken." Bridges said he would like to go on a concert tour, but he will be busy making "True Grit" for the Coen brothers, the writing/directing team who made Bridges a cult-film legend for his role as The Dude in "The Big Lebowski."

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This is the second best-actor nomination for Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney, who wooed supporting-actress nominee Vera Farmiga as confirmed bachelor Ryan Bingham in "Up in the Air." The 48-year-old star was nominated for "Michael Clayton" and he won a supporting-actor Oscar for "Syriana." He also earned directing and screenplay nominations for "Good Night, and Good Luck." For "Up in the Air," the film faced the challenge of portraying a main character who fires people for a living, and trying to attract an American audience in the midst of a recession and large-scale job losses. The film includes snippets of real laid-off workers describing their circumstances. "That's the centerpiece of the film, is the economy and people really, really hurting, out of work," Clooney said. "That was something that actors certainly couldn't do."

Although the film had Oscar buzz from the day it was released, Clooney joked that he doesn't usually think about it. "I had some tremendous Oscar buzz for `Batman & Robin,' and I was, as you can imagine, disappointed. So I don't really pay much attention." Clooney will be seen later this year in "The American," portraying an assassin who vows that a hit in Italy will be his last.

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English actor Colin Firth grabbed the attention of women everywhere as the love interest of Rene Zellweger in "Bridget Jones Diary" and "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason." So perhaps it will surprise many of those women that he earned an Oscar nomination for portraying a gay university professor in "A Single Man." Firth quipped that since the film was being directed by fashion designer Tom Ford, he was hoping it would be a big "style-fest." "Unfortunately I showed up and had to do a lot of acting," he said.

Firth, 49, said he embraced the role of George, who is still torn with grief over the death of his lover and is planning to commit suicide. "I found it absolutely gripping, the prospect, because of all the improbabilities," he said. ".. The story really couldn't be further from the more frivolous elements of the fashion world. And the fact that he (Ford) chose me was irresistible to my vanity." Firth will be appearing this year with Patricia Clarkson and Orlando Bloom in the Southern drama "Main Street" and portrays King George VI in the historical tale "The King's Speech."

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Morgan Freeman was basically hand-picked by Nelson Mandela to portray the South African leader in "Invictus." And with the direction of Clint Eastwood -- who helped guide Freeman to a supporting-actor Oscar in "Million Dollar Baby" -- Freeman was virtually guaranteed another nomination. His nod for "Invictus" is the 72-year-old actor's fifth Oscar nomination. He was nominated for lead roles in "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Shawshank Redemption," and a supporting role in "Street Smart." But portraying a personal hero presented a particular challenge for him. "I was only concerned about not being able to sound like him, that I wouldn't get his cadence, his rhythm. ... And afterwards, I felt yes, I had done the best (Mandela) I could be. But was I certain that I had done it justice? No. Still not."

The Tennessee native is easily one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, even at 72, scoring an average of three or four films in each of the last few years. He has a key role as a superhero's confidante in the latest series of "Batman" films, the third installment of which is expected next year. "Invictus" carried a clear social message, but Freeman told Backstage.com he doesn't get hung up on a film's teachings. "It's just like saying what is the meaning of art. You have no idea because everybody takes something different away from everything. You can look at a painting and say, `Well what do you think the artist was trying to say?' The artist wasn't trying to say anything, probably. He's just painting a scene."

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It's a bit of an understatement to say that Jeremy Renner scored the role of a lifetime when he was cast as bomb-defusing Sgt. William James in "The Hurt Locker." But the idea of an Oscar nomination never crossed his mind. "We thought we won when we were in four theaters," the 38-year-old actor said. "We won when we wrapped the movie. It was already a victory, so all this is ... and for me to be standing here now, it's bananas." Renner was a relative industry unknown, despite bouncing between film and television roles for 15 years, including a starring role as Jeffrey Dahmer in a 2002 film about the serial killer. The California native has also appeared in films such as "28 Weeks Later," "North Country" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford."

The Modesto native said he was particularly touched during a screening of the film in Washington, D.C., for current and former explosive ordnance disposal soldiers and their families. "I met a really sweet family who lost a father and, I mean, they're thanking me and they're crazy, but they feel like they have a little bit of peace and an understanding about what their dad did in EOD, and my life will forever be changed by that." Renner has already completed filming on his next movie, Ben Affleck's crime drama "The Town."

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
When Penelope Cruz came to last year's Oscar ceremony, she had two nominations, but don't think it's letdown for her to have only one this year. In fact, now that she has the experience from last year -- when she won the supporting actress Oscar for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and was nominated for her leading role in "Volver" -- she may be a little more relaxed. "When I said in my (acceptance) speech that I was praying not to faint, I really meant it," she said in an appearance on "Oprah." "My heart was going so fast, and I was just (saying) `Please, please God, help me so I don't have a panic attack. Because I was really on the limit of a panic attack."

The stunning Spanish actress, best known for her repeated collaborations with director Pedro Almodovar, scored her third Oscar nomination for her sultry dancing and singing performance in director Rob Marshall's musical "Nine." Cruz, 35, said the film marked the first time she sang professionally. "Only at home, I own a karaoke machine," she joked. "I've never had to do it professionally. I was really terrified." But Cruz said now that she's done it once, she's open to a repeat performance. "You get addicted. I would love to do a musical again." She will next been seen in the sequel to "Sex and the City."

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Her supporting-actress nod for "Up in the Air" may be the first for Vera Farmiga, but it isn't her first brush with Oscar. Farmiga played police psychologist Madolyn in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning drama "The Departed." This time around, she has a nomination of her own for playing the love interest to confirmed bachelor George Clooney in writer/director Jason Reitman's high-flying drama. The New Jersey native said she wanted to strike a careful balance in portraying Alex, who carries on an occasional on-the-road romance with Clooney, who discovers later that she is married with children. "Usually when women are portrayed in such a wanton, demanding, sexual, masculine sexual way, they come across as floozies," she said. "And the trick was the do it with grace and dignity and not judge her actions."

Farmiga, 36, said her career has been soaring since her role as a housewife fending off a cocaine addiction in 2004's "Down to the Bone." She said she is anxious to star in the upcoming "W.E.," telling the story of King Edward VIII's romance with Wallis Simpson. She calls the film, which will be directed by Madonna, "an epic love story."

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It seems almost hard to believe that this is the first Oscar nomination for Maggie Gyllenhaal, who has been sinking herself into sometimes-offbeat roles for almost 20 years. But her role as a small-town mom who falls for Jeff Bridges' hard-drinking Bad Blake in "Crazy Heart" has finally earned her some Academy attention. That was no easy task given the accolades being heaped on Bridges, who is a virtual lock to be named best actor. "We never played the scenes the same way twice," she said of her co-star. "We just responded to each other. It's what you kind of always want to do, it's what you always sort of say you do, but unless you're working with someone as brilliant and as open and as inspired as Jeff Bridges, it's not always possible."

The 32-year-old New Yorker said she got some Oscar-season advice from her brother Jake, who was nominated as best supporting actor for "Brokeback Mountain." "He said it's a lot of fun and enjoy it in that spirit, and if you make it mean too much more than that, you'll probably go astray," she said. Gyllenhaal will be seen again on the big screen this year in "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang," opposite Ralph Fiennes and Emma Thompson.

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Anna Kendrick is best known to most younger moviegoers as gossipy high-schooler Jessica Stanley in the "Twilight" film series. In "Up in the Air," she left a world of vampires and werewolves to play the sometime-foil of George Clooney, who tries to teach her the ropes of the business-travel world while she tries to teach him the ropes of healthy relationships. She said going from the tween world of "Twilight" to an Oscar contender was quite a switch. "I 've worked with predominantly young actors," she said in a recent interview. "I felt like I was trying to sit at the grown-up table and (was) trying to keep up. That pressure was definitely there." But she said working with veterans Clooney and Farmiga -- both of whom are also up for Oscars -- was an inspiring situation. "The scene I have with George and Vera where we're talking about the expectations that we have for our lives, it was so amazing to get to watch them work. I felt like I was watching Cirque du Soleil."

The 24-year-old Maine native, who was nominated for a Tony Award for "High Society," will be back for the next two installments of the "Twilight" film series and will appear with Michael Cera in the romantic comedy "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World."

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It's one thing to have a breakout role after appearances in films such as "Soul Plane," "Phat Girlz" and "Beerfest," but Mo'Nique's performance in "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire" was a major career turnaround. The comedian known for light-hearted performances burst onto the Oscar scene by portraying an abusive mother in the Oscar-nominated film. But despite the film's subject matter, Mo'Nique said the atmosphere on the set was surprisingly light-hearted. "Oh my goodness, if y'all could've been there when Mr. (Lee) Daniels said `Cut,' we were kids on a playground running through that place, listening to house music, eating crab legs," she said in an interview with Moviefone. "We just totally had a ball. People wouldn't know what movie we were filming if they saw us in between takes."

Mo'Nique is easily the Oscar front-runner, having already collected Golden Globe and SAG awards. She has been heaping praise on Daniels, the film's director, for putting the cast at ease. The atmosphere on set "was very natural because I'm a comedian and Gaby (Gabourey Sidibe) is very joyful and playful and Lee Daniels, oh my God, he's the biggest kid I've ever met," she said. The 42-year-old Maryland native is married to actor/producer Sidney Hicks.

SUPPORTING ACTOR
It's been 12 years since Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won an Oscar for penning the screenplay for "Good Will Hunting," launching their Hollywood careers. But Damon, who is nominated for playing South Africa rugby team captain Francois Pienaar in "Invictus," said he doesn't expect to have any jitters going into the ceremony -- mainly because he figures Christoph Waltz is the sure-fire winner. So he figures he can relax this time around. "I'm looking forward to it. My career's in a different place now, my life is in a different place than it was 12 years ago," he told ABC7. "I'm very happy. It's going to be a nice night."

The 39-year-old Bostonian has become a major star since "Good Will Hunting," carrying the "Bourne" action film series and playing a crucial role in the "Oceans" caper films. His latest film "Green Zone" will open Friday and he already has a half-dozen other projects in the works, including "True Grit" with Oscar favorite Jeff Bridges. But he said he was thrilled to have the chance to work with Morgan Freeman in a role Freeman was hand-chosen to play by Nelson Mandela. "To be the guy sitting across from him in some of those scenes when he's playing this role -- it's one thing to do a movie with an actor like Morgan but to do a movie where he's playing (Mandela)."

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Remember "Cheers"? Remember a young Woody Harrelson as the slightly dim-witted bartender? Well, Harrelson has come a long way, collecting his second Oscar nomination for his role as Army Capt. Tony Stone in "The Messenger." He was previously nominated as best actor for "The People Vs. Larry Flynt." The 48-year-old Texan, who isn't shy about expressing his opposition for the war in Iraq, said spending time with members of the military gave him more respect for what they do. "I really was kind of knocked out by the people that I met in the military," he said. "So I have a high regard and a lot of respect for them."

The role was quite a departure from his other high-profile performance last year, in the action-comedy "Zombieland." He joked that his zombie-killing character in that film was "just more of a variation of myself." He will return in a more comedic role this year in "Defendor," playing a man who thinks he's a superhero. With Christoph Waltz considered a favorite to win the Oscar, Harrelson doesn't have any pre-ceremony jitters. "Somebody's gonna have an accent when they accept (the Oscar), but it's not gonna be a Southern accent," Harrelson said in his trademark Texas drawl.

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This is Christopher Plummer's first Oscar nomination? That had to be the question that popped into many people's heads when he was nominated for a supporting role in "The Last Station," in which he portrayed famed novelist Leo Tolstoy. But sure enough, this is the first time Plummer, who has been churning out great performances since the 1950s (remember a little film called "The Sound of Music"?) has been invited to the big dance. But he isn't complaining. He says the thrill of acting is still an addiction for him. "Oh, it's the most fascinating job," he said in a recent interview with Dark Horizons. "I mean, it's a vocation, a hobby, a job. It's everything to me. I won't go as far as saying it's a religion but I think it's more fun than religion. It's romance and escape. And I've been escaping all my life. I love it."

The 80-year-old Canadian-born actor is perhaps best known for his role as Capt. Von Trapp in "Sound of Music," a film that Plummer has said he was never all that thrilled with. "It had nothing to do with the people involved. It was just the subject matter I always found a bit saccharine." Plummer already has two more films in the offing in the next two years -- "Beginners" with Ewan McGregor and the vampire-thriller "Priest."

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It was a particularly diverse year in film for veteran actor Stanley Tucci, who was virtually unrecognizable as creepy killer George Harvey in "The Lovely Bones," and then dotingly loyal as Julia Childs' husband Paul in "Julie & Julia." He scored his first career Oscar nomination for the creepier of the two roles. And it was a role so creepy that the 49-year-old actor nearly turned down. "I took it because I think it's an important story. I thought it was beautifully written, and I wanted to worked with (director) Pete (Jackson). And I felt I would be in good hands with Peter and" writers Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh. Still, portraying a man who murders a young girl -- and doing it so well -- could leave a lasting impression on moviegoers. "I want them to remember this performance, but I feel that I have done enough in my life that this will not be the thing that I am remembered for. It hope that it's one of them."

The New York native has had a long and varied career, which will continue with the upcoming romantic comedy "Easy A" with Patricia Clarkson and drama "Burlesque" with Kristen Bell and Eric Dane.

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Veteran Austrian actor Christoph Waltz has essentially been unknown to American movie audiences despite a more than 30-year career in film. And what does his breakthrough Hollywood role turn out to be? A Nazi. Waltz, who has already earned Golden Globe and SAG awards for his work as Col. Hans Landa in "Inglourious Basterds," said it has been a long source of frustration for German actors that the only roles they generally land are as Nazis or other evil-doers. He said he once asked a panel of American studio representatives about it. "I said, `Don't you consider us worthy of the regular parts or would you rather we didn't come at all?"' Waltz told reporters recently. "Maybe I can help with this part, despite the fact that it is a Nazi, maybe I can insist a little that this changes. I'd love to see that."

The 53-year-old Vienna native is fluent in three languages, but he said he has long been "Americanized." He credited writer/director Quentin Tarantino for giving life to his character, saying the screenplay was less a script than "dramatic poetry." Waltz will next be seen in "The Green Hornet" and is expected to appear in "Water for Elephants" with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon.