Penelope Cruz, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, et al. Receive Academy Award Nominations

Anne Hathaway joined Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ President Tom Sherak at a press conference held this morning at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills to announce the nominees for the 82nd annual Academy Awards. The awards will be presented in a ceremony on March 7 in Los Angeles. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will co-host the event, which will be broadcast live on ABC-TV.

Stage and screen stars Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), and Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia), along with Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) have been nominated for Best Actress. Theater veterans Colin Firth (A Single Man) and Morgan Freeman (Invictus) have been nominated for Best Actor alongside Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).

Nominated for Supporting Actress are Penelope Cruz for her performance in the movie musical Nine and Maggie Gyllenhaal for her performance in Crazy Heart, as well as Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), and Mo’Nique (Precious). Best Supporting Actor nominations have gone to stage veterans Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Christopher Plummer (The Last Station) and Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), as well as Matt Damon (Invictus)and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds).

Other nominations have gone to Maury Yeston, who received a nomination for Original Song for “Take It All” from Nine. The movie also garnered nominations for Colleen Atwood for Best Costume Design and John Myhre and Gordon Sim for Best Art Direction.

The nominations for Best Picture have gone to Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, and Up in the Air.

For further information, visit: www.oscars.org.