Judi Dench Leads Veteran Oscar Nominees June Squibb And Bruce Dern

Dame Judi Dench has been nominated in the Best Actress category ahead of this year's Academy Awards for her lead role in the British film Philomena, which has also been nominated for Best Film. The nomination marks Dench's seventh Oscar nomination, having won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 1998's Shakespeare In Love.

Judi Dench Has Been Nominated For Her Seventh Oscar.

Dench, 79, heads up a promising league of talented older actors at this year's Oscars, which also includes Nebraska stars Bruce Dern, 77, and June Squibb, 84, who have been nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively.

Irrespective of age, Dench's incredible and poignant performance in Philomena means that she'll put up a strong fight against the other actresses nominated in her category, including American Hustle's Amy Adams, Blue Jasmine's Cate Blanchett, Gravity's Sandra Bullock, and August: Osage County's Meryl Streep.

Dench's Talent Could Be Enough To See Off Younger Stars At The Awards.

The actress lost out to Cate Blanchett at this week's Golden Globe awards which will almost certainly affect her odds going through to March's Oscars. Similarly, despite being nominated for five gongs, the Nebraska team went home empty-handed at the Globes.

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In the British drama, Dench plays an Irish woman who searches for her long lost son with the help of Steve Coogan's journalist after she was forced to give up her child for adoption by nuns. The sweetly comic film has earned praise worldwide which it may cement in the form of Oscars if it wins Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay too.

'Nebraska' Stars Bruce Dern & June Squibb Are Looking Strong For The Oscars.

Nebraska follows a man named Woody Grant (Dern) who wants to go to Lincoln, Nebraska to pick up the $1 million sweepstakes prize he believes he has won, much to the disapproval of his wife Kate's (Squibb) disapproval. Along with his son David (Will Forte), Woody journeys to Nebraska, stopping off in Woody's hometown.

The 86th Annual Academy Awards will be broadcast live from Hollywood's Dolby Theater on Sunday 2nd March at 7pm EST.