Annette Bening - Annette Bening Nominated For Best Actress At Oscars

Bening, who recently won a Golden Globe award for the role, is being regarded as the most likely contender to challenge Natalie Portman at next month's ceremony. Portman's performance as a New York ballerina in the psychological thriller 'Black Swan' has been critically acclaimed but some commentators believe Bening's subtle showing in the Lisa Cholodenko directed movie could be enough to scoop the award. Writer and director Cholodenko revealed how she heard about the film's nomination success, saying, "My morning was that I tried to sleep through it to act cool and could not. I kept waking up, so I finally admitted that I cared. I got up and I watched it live on IMDB."

As well as Benning's nod in the 'Best Actress' category, 'The Kids Are Alright' was nominated for 'Best Picture' and Mark Ruffalo was nominated for 'Best Supporting Actor'.