Oscar nominations: British trio up for awards

Published on Tuesday 2 February 2010 13:54

THREE British stars have been nominated in the best actor and actress categories for this year's Academy Awards.

• Colin Firth is up for his first Oscar (AFP/Getty Images)

Colin Frith has been nominated for his role as a gay academic mourning the death of his partner in A Single Man. The film was directed by Tom Ford Gucci's leading fashion designer.

Up-and-coming star Carey Mulligan, 24, is up for best actress with her role in An Education, the film based on the memoirs of jounalist Lynn Barber.

Also up for best actess is previous Academy Award winner Dame Helen Mirren, who is up for a second Oscar for her performence as writer Leo Tolstoy's wife in The Last station.

An Education is nominated for best picture, alongside 3D sci-fi epic Avatar, Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker, South Africa-set blockbuster District 9, emotional drama Precious and Up In The Air, the George Clooney film about a professional whose job it is to travel around America firing colleagues.

Made for a fraction of the budget of Avatar, The Hurt Locker, a tense movie about an elite bomb disposal team, has won widespread critical acclaim and triumphed at the Directors Guild of America awards.

In The Loop – the movie spin-off of the BBC's hit political comedy The Thick of It – is up for the adapted screenplay Oscar.

Avatar and The Hurt Locker are leading the nominations with nine apiece.

Firth, 49, who recently had a singing role in Mamma Mia!, said of his nomination: "I thought I was managing my expectations, but on hearing the news I discovered new and unfamiliar vocal tones. Perhaps I should do another musical."

The nominees for the 82nd Oscars:

Best actor

Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)

George Clooney (Up In The Air)

Colin Firth (A Single Man)

Morgan Freeman (Invictus)

Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Best supporting actor

Matt Damon (Invictus)

Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)

Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)

Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)

Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Best actress

Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)

Helen Mirren (The Last Station)

Carey Mulligan (An Education)

Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)

Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)

Best supporting actress

Penelope Cruz (Nine)

Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air)

Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)

Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air)

Mo'Nique (Precious)

Best adapted screenplay

District 9 – Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

An Education – Nick Hornby

In The Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

Precious – Geoffrey Fletcher

Up In The Air – Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best original screenplay

The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal

Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino

The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman

A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Up – Bob Peterson, Pete Docter (story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy)

Best film

Avatar

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious

A Serious Man

Up

Up In The Air

Best director

Avatar – James Cameron

The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow

Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino

Precious– Sapphire Lee Daniels

Up In The Air – Jason Reitman