20 Photos of the 2020 Oscar Nominees at Their Very First Academy Awards

A look back at your favorite Oscar veterans when they were just red carpet rookies
By Andrea Wurzburger
February 06, 2020 05:33 PM

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Renée Zellweger

Zellweger is nominated this year for Best Actress after taking on the role of Judy Garland in Judy. Her first Academy Awards appearance was in 1999.

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Scarlett Johansson

Credit: Carlo Allegri/Getty

Johansson is nominated for Best Actress in both a leading and supporting role, for her work on Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit, respectively. Her first Oscar dress made everyone green with envy in 2004.

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Charlize Theron 

Credit: KMazur/WireImage

Theron, who's nominated for Best Actress for playing Megyn Kelly in Bombshell, made her Academy Awards debut in 2000, wearing a backless orange gown.

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Margot Robbie 

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Robbie, nominated this year for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Bombshell, made her debut at the Oscars after her breakout role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013.

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Laura Dern

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Dern was nominated in 1996 for her role in Rambling Rose and attended her first Oscars with actor Vincent Spano. This year, she is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Marriage Story.

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Saoirse Ronan

Then just 14 years old, Ronan — who's nominated this year for Best Actress for her role as Jo March in Little Women — made her debut at the 2008 Oscars. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her part in Atonement.

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Cynthia Erivo 

Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty

Nominated for Best Actress this year for playing the titular role of Harriet Tubman in Harriet, the talented actress made her debut just last year, at the 2019 Academy Awards.

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Kathy Bates

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Bates won for her role in Misery and posed with Daniel Day-Lewis at the 1991 awards. She is nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year for her role in Richard Jewell.

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Brad Pitt

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Pitt, nominated this year for Best Supporting Actor for his part in Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood, hit his first Oscars red carpet with then-girlfriend Juliette Lewis, in 1992.

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Tom Hanks

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Hanks and Rita Wilson would marry one year after their debut at the 1987 Academy Awards. This year, Hanks is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

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Joe Pesci

There aren't any original photos of Pesci, who was first nominated for an award in 1981 for his role in Raging Bull, but in 1991, the actor won for his performance in Goodfellas. His acceptance speech was notoriously short at the 1991 awards. He simply said, "It's my privilege. Thank you." He'll be back this year to compete for Best Supporting Actor for The Irishman.

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Bradley Cooper

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Cooper, who's nominated this year for producing Joker, attended his first Oscars in 2010.

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Leonardo DiCaprio 

Credit: Barry King/WireImage

In 1994, a young DiCaprio was nominated for his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. This year, he's up for Best Actor for his role as Rick Dalton in Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood.

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Joaquin Phoenix

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Phoenix, who's nominated this year for Best Actor for Joker, brought his mom to the awards in 2001.

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Adam Driver 

Credit: Adam Rippon/Instgram

The Best Actor nominee attended his very first Oscars just last year, in 2019. He was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his work in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman.

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Anthony Hopkins 

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Hopkins presented an award at the 1976 Academy Awards ceremony. He wouldn't be nominated until 1992, when he won for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. This year, he's nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Two Popes.

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Al Pacino

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In 1974, a young Pacino was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Michael Corleone in The Godfather. He's nominated this year for his role in The Irishman.

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Antonio Banderas

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The actor is nominated for Best Actor this year for his role in Pain and Glory. The first-time nominee attended the awards in 1992 with his first wife, Ana Leza.

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Quentin Tarantino

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Tarantino is nominated this year for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood. His first Academy Awards was an eventful one: He took home the prize (alongside Roger Avery) for Best Original Screenplay for Pulp Fiction.

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Greta Gerwig 

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Gerwig, whose film Little Women is up for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture, made her debut at the Oscars in 2018, when she was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for her film, Lady Bird.

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By Andrea Wurzburger