Oscars 2020: Hopkins and Pryce nominated as Egerton misses out

Hopkins and Pryce as the two popes sitting togetherPeter Mountain

Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as Pope Benedict and Cardinal Bergoglio in Two Popes

Sir Anthony Hopkins could join an elite club to win a second Oscar as he and fellow Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce have been nominated for academy awards.

Hopkins has been nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar for his role as Pope Benedict in The Two Popes.

Pryce stars alongside 82-year-old Hopkins in the Netflix production and is nominated for best leading actor at the 92nd Academy Awards on 9 February.

Golden Globe winner and Rocketman star Taron Egerton is not nominated.

Pryce, 72, from Flintshire is nominated for an Oscar for the first time.

He said that the nomination made him feel "emotional" and hearing his co-star Hopkins was also nominated was "just as thrilling".

"I'm incredibly proud of this film. It's been brilliantly directed, it looks fantastic and millions are responding to it."

"I'll be having a glass of wine tonight," he told BBC Radio Wales' Gareth Lewis programme.

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Taron Egerton won a Golden Globe for playing Sir Elton John in Rocketman

Egerton had been among the favourites to win an Oscar for his portrayal of Sir Elton John after being named best actor in the Golden Globes earlier this month.

But the 30-year-old from Aberystwyth has missed out as Joker star Joaquin Phoenix and Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood lead the best actor nominations alongside Pryce.

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Five Welsh actors/actresses that have won Academy Awards:

  • Ray Milland, Best Actor, The Lost Weekend, 1945

  • Hugh Griffith, Best Supporting Actor, Ben-Hur, 1959

  • Anthony Hopkins, Best Actor, Silence of The Lambs, 1992

  • Catherine Zeta Jones, Best Supporting Actress, Chicago, 2003

  • Christian Bale, Best Supporting Actor, The Fighter, 2010

Pryce stars as Pope Francis in The Two Popes, which explores the friendship between Pope Francis and Pope Benedict around the time the papacy transferred to Francis, who has been head of the Catholic Church since 2013.

Hopkins is hoping to join Jack Nicholson, Katharine Hepburn, Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Elizabeth Taylor in an illustrious list of actors who have won two or more Oscars.

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The actor from Port Talbot is nominated for an Academy Award for a fifth time and hopes to emulate his 1992 win, when he won best actor Oscar for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

Hopkins is up against Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Al Pacino (The Irishman), Joe Pesci (The Irishman) and Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) for the best supporting actor award.

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