February 2022: Bardem and Cruz became the sixth married couple to be nominated for Academy Awards in acting categories in the same year.
Bardem was nominated for best actor for his role in “Being the Ricardos” and Cruz was nominated for best actress for her role in “Parallel Mothers.”
Other couples to have both been nominated for acting awards at the same Oscars ceremony include Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, according to Economic Times.
It is also the first time that two couples have been nominated for acting categories in the same year. Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, who got engaged in 2016, were both nominated for their performance in Jane Campion’s Netflix western “The Power of The Dog.”
Bardem spoke about their emotions the morning the nominees were announced, telling TheWrap, “It’s been a beautiful day at home. We were holding on to each other, trying to fit on the same sofa, and there were so many things to pay attention to.”
“When the time for actor came, I knew my name would be the first because [it starts with] B,” he said. “So if they don’t start saying the ‘And…’ right away, we had a problem. I heard the ‘And,’ and I said, ‘All right!’ And she celebrated more than me … They said Chastain, Colmanand she said, ‘too many Cs.’ But then, ‘Penelope Cruz,’ and that was the moment when we were like, ‘Yeahhhhh!'”
“It’s extraordinary, having that moment of sharing something so special with your wife,” the “Eat Pray Love” actor continued. “It really makes the thing way more valuable.”