Number of Black Best Actor Oscars Nominees Could Be Unprecedented in 2014

If entertainment industry insiders' predictions turn out to be true they'll also be host to an unprecedented number of black nominees in the best actor in a leading role category.

By Jorge Rivas May 20, 2013

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will host its 86th Oscars Academy Awards ceremony next year. If entertainment industry insiders’ predictions turn out to be true they’ll also be host to an unprecedented number of black nominees in the best actor in a leading role category.

We haven’t had more than one black nominee for Best Actor since 2006, when Forest Whitaker took the Oscar home for his role in "The Last King of Scotland" and Will Smith was nominated for his role in "The Pursuit of Happyness." It also happened once before when Denzel Washington ("Training Day") and Smith (Ali) were nominated in 2001.

But the 2014 Oscars may mark the first time in history when more than two black actors are nominated in top acting category for males.

Kyle Buchanan at Vulture points out Harvey Weinstein’s Weinstein Co. will be releasing three films with Oscar potential that will feature black leads. Vulture has more details:

[Whitaker is] back in the mix this year for the Weinstein-produced The Butler, an era-spanning drama from director Lee Daniels (Precious) that casts Whitaker as a butler who served several presidents while butting heads with his fiery activist son (David Oyelowo). And then there’s Fruitvale Station, a Sundance hit that also bowed this week at Cannes. Based on a true story, the film stars Michael B. Jordan as Oscar Grant, a young man killed in a controversial, racially tinged 2009 shooting.