Annette Bening: Built for longevity

Illustration of Annette Bening in a swimsuit looking like her title character in "Nyad."

By Carla Meyer

Feb. 20, 2024 6 AM PT

Annette Bening, 65, nominated for a lead Oscar for her performance as marathon swimmer Diana Nyad in “Nyad,” has shown she is in it for the long haul.

110

Distance in miles of Nyad’s 2013 age-, exhaustion- and shark-defying swim between Cuba and Florida, as depicted in “Nyad.”

396

months between Bening’s first Oscar nomination in 1991 in supporting for “The Grifters,” and her latest and fifth total nomination. The “Nyad” nomination also marks the …

2nd

... time Bening — married to actor-director Warren Beatty for more than three decades — was nominated for a performance as a lesbian character, after “The Kids Are All Right” (2010).

1991

Bening dropped out of “Batman Returns” (Michelle Pfeiffer famously took over the Catwoman role) due to pregnancy, prompting speculation her newly white-hot career might lose momentum. But …

2000

... Bening was back in the Oscar race nine years later with a lead nomination for “American Beauty.”

5

“Beauty” won five Oscars and nearly swept the major categories. Bening, despite winning a SAG Award and a BAFTA, lost to Hilary Swank (“Boys Don’t Cry”).