Look Back at 22 Stars Who Earned Oscar Nominations for Playing the Same Iconic Roles

Hollywood hasn’t exactly hidden its soft spot for remakes and biopics, so it’s only natural that certain roles often find their way back onto the Academy Award ballot.

However, while some actors step into hand-me-down shoes, they manage to further break them in with enough originality to make the performance entirely their own — and to catch the Academy’s eye.

From Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning turns as Joker to Oprah Winfrey and Danielle Brooks earning nods for the same character decades apart, these stars proved that a great role is always worth an encore.

Oprah Winfrey and Danielle Brooks as Sofia

Winfrey made her acting debut as Sofia in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 movie adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple — earning a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Over three decades later, Brooks took on the same role — one she also originated on Broadway — in the 2023 film based on the musical, which Winfrey produced. History repeated itself, as Brooks, like Winfrey, also received a Best Supporting Actress nod.

Michelle Williams and Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe

The third of Michelle Williams’ five Oscar nominations to date was for her part in 2011’s My Week with Marilyn, in which she embodied the late screen siren on a week-long break from her sometimes difficult life.

In 2022, Ana de Armas became at least the 16th star to step into Marilyn Monroe’s shoes in the controversial Netflix film Blonde — a fictionalized take on the late actress’ life — and earned a 2023 Best Actress nod.

Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose as Anita

In 1962, Rita Moreno made history when she became the first Hispanic woman to win an Oscar when she won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in West Side Story.

Ariana DeBose later stepped into her dancing shoes and won in the same category for her performance in the 2021 adaptation of West Side Story. With that victory, the women became the third pair of actors to win an Oscar for their separate performances as the same character.

Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone

Marlon Brando won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1972 for his performance as the patriarch of the Corleone mafia family, Vito Corleone, in The Godfather.

Robert De Niro had his turn as young Vito in the film’s 1974 sequel, The Godfather: Part II. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Talk about an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix as Joker

Ledger and Phoenix were the second pair of actors to win an Academy Award for portraying the same character in different films. Ledger played the Joker in The Dark Knight and was posthumously awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2009 after he died of a drug overdose at the age of 28 on Jan. 22, 2008.

Phoenix transformed into the Batman villain in 2019’s Joker, earning himself the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2020. He later reprised the role in the 2024 musical Joker: Folie à Deux, costarring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, though Phoenix didn’t receive a nomination for the 2025 Oscars.

John Wayne and Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn

John Wayne and Jeff Bridges both portrayed Rooster Cogburn in True Grit — Wayne in 1968 and Bridges in 2010 — and both were nominated for Best Actor. Wayne won the Academy Award, while Bridges went home empty-handed.

Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I

Is it any surprise that a few historical figures make this round-up? What sets Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench apart is that they were nominated for playing Queen Elizabeth I in different films and also nominated in the same year!

In 1999, Blanchett was nominated for Best Actress for her performance as the monarch in Elizabeth — a role she reprised in the 2007 sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which earned her another nod in the same category — while Dench was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love. Dench went home with the Oscar.

Anthony Hopkins and Frank Langella as Richard Nixon

Anthony Hopkins played former president Richard Nixon in the 1995 film Nixon, and Frank Langella played him in 2008’s Frost/Nixon. Both men were nominated for Best Actor, though neither took home the prize.

Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Olivier as Henry V

Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Olivier were both nominated for Best Actor when they each played Henry V. Branagh took on the role in 1989 after Olivier portrayed the royal in 1944.

Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart as Rose

Though not in a different movie, Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart both played the part of Rose in James Cameron’s Titanic. Winslet assumed the role of the younger socialite aboard the sinking ship, while Stuart portrayed Rose at the end of her life. Both women were nominated — Winslet for Best Actress and Stuart for Best Supporting Actress.

Kate Winslet and Judi Dench as Iris

The 1999 Academy Awards wasn’t the first time Winslet or Dench would be nominated for playing the same character as someone else! The two starred in the 2001 biographical drama Iris, playing the titular character at different stages in the journalist’s life.

Both leading ladies were nominated the same year again — Dench for Best Actress and Winslet for Best Supporting Actress.

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