Christopher Plummer has received his third Oscar nomination for his performance as J. Paul Getty in “All the Money in World” as a last-minute replacement for Kevin Spacey, becoming the oldest acting Oscar nominee ever at 88.
Director Ridley Scott persuaded Plummer in early November to join the project following sexual harassment and assault allegations against Spacey. Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams, and Timothy Hutton re-shot scenes later that month with Plummer, and Scott was able to re-edit the film in time for a Christmas Day release.
Sony released its first trailer with Plummer as Getty on Nov. 29, nine days after Scott started the re-shoots.
In becoming the oldest person to receive an acting Oscar nomination, Plummer eclipses the mark set in 1998 by Gloria Stuart for “Titanic,” who was 87 at the time she was nominated. Emmanuelle Riva was 85 when she was nominated for “Amour.” Plummer already holds the record as the oldest winner of an acting Oscar, set in 2012 when he won the best supporting actor award for “Beginners” at the age of 82.
“All the Money in the World” is the story of the 1973 kidnapping in Italy of John Paul Getty III — the rebellious teenage grandson of oil billionaire John Paul Getty, who was reluctant to pay the $17 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
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Plummer faces Willem Dafoe for the “The Florida Project,” Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” and Richard Jenkins “The Shape of Water.” Plummer was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category, but lost to Rockwell.
“I am absolutely thrilled to have received this nomination by the Academy,” Plummer said in a statement. “It was quite unexpected but incredibly gratifying. Everything has happened so quickly of late that I am still a trifled stunned but excited by it all.”
Plummer received his first Oscar nomination in 2010 in the supporting actor category for his portrayal of Leo Tolstoy in “The Last Station.”
