The 2025 Oscars will be held on March 2, and film fans are already looking forward to finding out which movies and performers will take home the awards for different categories. The Oscars this year will be hosted by Conan O’Brien, adding an extra layer of fun to the ceremony. Overall, 2024 was full of great films. There are many Oscars categories that still do not have a clear leader, and Oscars predictions have changed over time to reflect this.

However, given the numerous precursor award ceremonies that have happened thus far, certain categories, including the acting categories, are starting to become clearer. In particular, the 2025 Best Actress category is starting to seem like a race between the top two contenders, Demi Moore and Mikey Madison, based on the awards they have racked up thus far. Likewise, the Best Actor Oscar seems to be a toss-up between Timothée Chalamet and Adrien Brody. However, despite the great options to win in the acting categories this year, there is one record that simply cannot be broken.

Best Actor & Best Actress Haven’t Been Won By The Same Movie Since 1997’s As Good As It Gets

Jack Nicholson And Helen Hunt Took Home The Awards

The last time that Best Actor and Best Actress went to performances from the same movie was in 1997 for the movie As Good as It Gets. The awards were taken home by Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt for their portrayals of Melvin Udall and Carol Connelly. The film follows Nicholson’s character, Melvin, as he struggles to cope with his severe OCD, which makes him unable to interact with many people, as they find him frustrating. However, over time, Melvin is able to develop a friendship with Carol, a waitress at the diner he frequents, and Simon, his neighbor.

Along with the acting awards, As Good as It Gets was nominated for five other Academy Awards, though it did not win any of them. Interestingly, since 1997, this record has had the chance of being broken in 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. However, no singular film has seen both its lead actors win Best Actor/Actress. Instead, other combinations of acting awards, such as Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor and other combinations, have been achieved throughout this time, most recently in 2023 with Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for Oppenheimer.

Only 7 Movies Have Ever Won Best Actor & Best Actress In Oscars History

The Films Span From 1934 To 1997

Since the Oscars’ inception nearly 100 years ago, only seven movies have won both Best Actor and Actress. The first movie to do so was 1934’s It Happened One Night with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert taking home the awards. It Happened One Night was also the first movie to win the Big Five (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay). After 1934, Best Actor and Actress were won again by another Big Five winner, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975, making Jack Nicholson the only person to appear on this list twice.

The other winners of the Best Actor and Best Actress combination are 1976’s Network with Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway, 1978’s Coming Home with Jon Voight and Jane Fonda, 1981’s On Golden Pond with Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, and The Silence of the Lambs with Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster in 1991. The Silence of the Lambs is also the final of the three films to have currently won the Big Five. The scarcity of this combination happening, despite the number of opportunities there have been in the past 20 years, proves just how impressive the feat is.

The Oscars 2025 Acting Nominees Make Breaking This Streak Impossible

There Is No Overlap Between Best Actress And Best Actor

While it would certainly be exciting to see the Best Actor and Best Actress awards go to performers in the same film again, unfortunately, 2024’s films have not been given that chance. This year the Best Actor category includes the films The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Sing Sing, and The Apprentice. In contrast, Best Actress has Anora, Emilia Perez, The Substance, I’m Still Here, and Wicked. With no overlap between any of the nominations, it is impossible for this 27-year-long streak to end.

However, other awards ceremonies this year have had more overlap in the nominated actors, and the supporting categories at the Oscars contain actors from the same movies. While the Best Actor and Best Actress combination does sound the most impressive, it is still a major feat to have other combinations of nominations. In fact, the breadth of nominations that several films received this year is an accomplishment in itself, and it will be very interesting to see how many of those categories play out at the 2025 Oscars in a few weeks.