The 2021 Oscar nominations in acting categories have made history in many ways.
A record-breaking nine actors of color earned Oscar nods on Monday, with “Minari” star Steven Yeun becoming the first Asian American ever nominated for best actor. The 37-year-old actor was born in South Korea and later moved with his parents to the U.S.
In the same category, British actor Riz Ahmed, 38, nominated for his performance in “Sound of Metal,” became the first person of Pakistani descent and the first Muslim nominated for best actor.
It’s the first time in Oscar history that two men of Asian descent are up for the best actor award during the same year.
Before now, only two actors of Asian heritage have ever been nominated in the best actor category, and neither of them were American. Russian-born Yul Brynner, who was of Mongolian descent, was nominated and won for “The King and I” in 1956, and English actor Ben Kingsley, who is half Indian, was nominated and won for “Gandhi” in 1982, and later nominated again for “House of Sand and Fog” in 2003. […]
Steven Yeun, Riz Ahmed and Viola Davis all earned Oscar nods on Monday. | Amazon Studios / Netflix
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