Hollywood stars nominated for Olivier Awards

Hollywood stars Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Keira Knightley and Gillian Anderson were today nominated for Laurence Olivier Awards, theatre's top accolades.

Anderson and Weisz are contesting the best actress category for their turns in A Doll's House and A Streetcar Named Desire respectively, and are up against Imelda Staunton (Entertaining Mr Sloane), Juliet Stevenson (Duet For One) and Lorraine Burroughs (The Mountaintop).

Knightley was nominated for a best supporting actress award for The Misanthrope, her West End debut.

In the best actor category, Law is shortlisted for his portrayal of the title role of Shakespeare's Hamlet, while James McAvoy, also best known for his films, is nominated for Three Days of Rain.

With six nominations apiece are Lucy Prebble's Enron, about the collapsed US energy trading company, and Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth's portrayal of less-than-idyllic life in rural England.

The Royal Court Theatre garnered the most nominations with 15, followed by the Donmar with 10 and the National Theatre with nine.

London's West End enjoyed a bumper 2009, with attendances rising 5.5 percent to 14.3 million and revenues 7.6 per cent higher than 2008 at £505 million.

Click here or on the image for the full list of nominees