Oscars 2022: Two couples make Oscar history – and household tension – as both partners are nominated

Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, and Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, are all nominated

Two acting couples have been nominated for Oscars ahead of the 2022 ceremony.

Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, who have been married since 2010, are nominated respectively for Best Lead Actor and Best Lead Actress.

Bardem earned the nomination for his performance in Being the Ricardos, and Cruz for her work in Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers.

Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, who became engaged in 2017, are nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively, both for Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog.

In Campion’s adaptation of Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel of the same name, Plemons stars as George Burbank, the long-suffering brother of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Phil Burbank. Dunst portrays Rose Gordon, who marries George and moves into the Burbanks’ ranch house. (Cumberbatch is up for Best Actor for the part.)

Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem attend a photocall during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival on 9 May 2018 in Cannes, France (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons arrive for the 10th annual LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on 6 November 2021 (MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Being the Ricardos, a biopic of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, stars Bardem as Arnaz and Nicole Kidman as Ball. Kidman is nominated alongside Cruz for Best Lead Actress.

Bardem told Deadline after the nominations were announced that he’s rooting for both Cruz and Kidman, and that “both did a fantastic job”.

Dunst told Variety she got to break the news of their dual nominations to Plemons as he was working when this year’s crop of nominees was unveiled.

“I called Jesse, and I was the first person to tell him, and he was a little shell shocked,” she said. “I mean, it’s just so crazy to be a couple and have our first nominations together. It’s like a storybook. You know what I mean? It’s so weird. It’s amazing.”

The 2022 Oscars will take place on 27 March.