Denzel Washington Just Extended His Record as the Most-Nominated Black Actor in Oscars History

A moving moment. Will Smith became visibly choked up after his big SAG Award win and spoke about his major career motivation.

Will Smith is singing praises after picking up the Best Male Movie Actor honor at the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night (February 27).

2022 Oscars was officially released last week. And while the scope of awards season has changed pretty dramatically over the last few years, the talent and unique storytelling present in this year's pack of nominees is perhaps more impressive now than ever before. Leading the way for Oscar favorites is Netflix's which racked up12 total nominations including those in major categories like Best Picture, Best Director for Jane Campion, Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, and supporting acting nods for Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Damson Idris reflected on his early days working on FX’s Snowfall, and the words of inspiration he received from series creator John Singleton. Singleton died in 2019 at the age of 51.

2022 Oscar nominations, and Andrew Garfield was among the five talents picked in the Best Actor category. No, he didn’t get a nomination for his incredible long-game lie about returning to play Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home (even though that’d be totally deserved). Garfield is being recognized for portraying Rent playwright Jonathan Larson in Tick, Tick… Boom!, and funny enough, a bunch of other former Spider-Man actors also picked up Oscar nominations this year alongside him.

Steven Spielberg is making Oscars history with his Best Director nomination for “West Side Story”.

A lasting legacy. Chadwick Boseman was celebrated during the nominations ceremony for the 2022 Oscars nearly two years after his death.

Denzel Washington’s nomination for best actor in the Joel Cohen film The Tragedy of Macbeth marks him as the most nominated Black actor in Oscar History, with ten nominations and two wins. 

Has anyone been upset they were nominated for an Academy Award? Of course not! That’s why the reactions from the 2022 Oscars nominees were filled with joy and, of course, many thanks for their collaborators. READ MORE: 2022 Academy Award Nominations [Full List] Here’s a rundown of this year’s nominee reactions.

Angelique Jackson Following a record-breaking year for diversity at the Academy Awards, with nine actors of color nabbing nominations in 2021, the 2022 lineup featured just four actors of color: Ariana DeBose, Aunjanue Ellis, Will Smith and Denzel Washington.With this latest nomination for “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Washington extended his lead as the most-nominated Black actor at the Oscars, with a total of 10 nods and two wins. Smith earned his third best actor nomination and his first nod as a producer for “King Richard.” The sports drama landed six nominations in all, as Ellis represented the film in the supporting actress category, where she was joined by fellow first-timer “West Side Story” star DeBose, who becomes the first Afro-Latina actor (and the first openly queer woman of color) ever nominated.

last year’s record heights, the highlights include four Black actors being recognized along with LGBTQ and deaf actors, as well as female and Asian filmmakers in the Best Director race. In the Best Actor race, Will Smith is considered a major contender to become only the fifth Black actor to win the award for his performance as Serena and Venus Williams’ father Richard in the inspirational sports film “King Richard.” If he wins, he would join a list that includes the late Sidney Poitier, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, and Denzel Washington, the latter of whom also earned his ninth acting Oscar nomination this year for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” The Best Supporting Actress race also sees Smith’s “King Richard” co-star Aunjanue Ellis among the list of contenders, along with Afrolatina star Ariana DeBose for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” DeBose is also an LGBTQ actress, making it the first time ever that more than one openly queer actor has been nominated in a single year as Kristen Stewart, who identifies as bisexual, was nominated for Best Actress for her performance in “Spencer.” To date, only nine Black women have won acting Oscars, with the first being Hattie McDaniel in 1939 for “Gone With The Wind” and Regina King the most recent in 2018 for “If Beale Street Could Talk.” Eight of those winners were for supporting roles, with Halle Berry being the only Black woman to win for a leading role with “Monster’s Ball” in 2001.