5 Oscar-Nominated Movies With Long Island Ties
It’s awards season, and as always, the Oscars have Long Island ties. This year, five nominations have direct or indirect ties to Long Island. What are they?
John Williams: Floral Park
Floral Park native John Williams, widely considered to be the greatest film scorer of all time, broke multiple records with his nomination for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Firstly, he is the oldest individual to be nominated at 91 year old. Secondly, he broke his own record of the most nominated individual in Oscars history; last year, he counted 53 nominations in total when he was nominated for The Fabelmans. Now, he has a new record of 54 nominations.
Steven Spielberg: East Hampton
Steven Spielberg moved to the Hamptons before it was cool for celebrities to do so, purchasing a house in East Hampton in 1977. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the first film in the series he neither directed nor wrote – and he’s not directly up for an Oscar – but he served as the executive producer for it.
Robert Downey Jr.: East Hampton
Robert Downey Jr. is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer. Downey Jr., who has received critical acclaim for his roles in the Marvel films, Tropic Thunder, Chaplin, and more, bought a massive estate in Montauk in 2017 – the Edward DeRose Windmill Cottage.
Robert De Niro: Montauk
Robert De Niro is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the acclaimed Western Killers of the Flower Moon. De Niro owns a beachfront property in Montauk that was left to him by his father in 1993; it had been originally built in the 1950s. De Niro had it razed in 2017 to build a new structure, but he still owns the property.
Natalie Portman: Syosset
Natalie Portman was born in Israel but raised in Syosset. She went to elementary school at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Nassau County. She also attended Syosset High School, and While she is not directly nominated for any Oscars this year, May December – a film she starred in and produced – is up for Best Original Screenplay.
These aren’t the first Oscar-nominated films with ties to Long Island, as several Oscar-winning films have actually been directly shot on Long Island: see those here.
