Australians back “Oppenheimer” to win 5 of 6 proposed Oscars categories

With the 96th Academy Awards taking place on March 11, movie-goers are being brought back to the big cinema moments of the past year.

YouGov conducted a poll on six categories, asking where Australians think the Oscar should be awarded. This poll found that Aussies backed “Oppenheimer” to win five of the six proposed awards.

This included Best Picture, with a quarter (24%) of Australians backing the Nolan film to win. Following was “Barbie” at 13%.

Men were more inclined to back the picture, with 30% thinking that “Oppenheimer” should take the award. Women, on the other hand, were more split between the biopic and the other half of Barbenheimer, “Barbie”, with each film backed by 19% and 18% of women respectively.

For Best Actor in a Leading Role, a third of Australians (33%) thought Cillian Murphy should win for his role in “Oppenheimer”. Bradley Cooper was a distant second for “Maestro” with 10%.

Emma Stone received the backing of 18% of Australians to win Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in “Poor Things”. Lily Gladstone came in as a runner up for “Killers of the Flower Moon” with 12%.

Australians also thought an Oppenheimer actor should win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, with 20% backing Robert Downey Jr to win the Oscar. Ryan Gosling came in at a close second with 18% for his work on “Barbie”.

This vote also saw a notable split between the genders, with women more inclined to back Ryan Gosling (23%) for the win over Robert Downey Jr (18%). Men strongly supported Downey Jr (23%) for the award over Gosling’s role (13%).

For Best Actress in a Supporting Role, 19% of Aussies backed Emily Blunt for her “Oppenheimer” role. 15% backed America Ferrera for “Barbie”.

Again, men prefer the Oppenheimer candidate, with 24% supporting Emily Blunt compared to “Barbie’s” America Ferrera at 11%. Comparatively, 14% of women voted for Emily Blunt, with 18% instead backing the “Barbie” actress.

Finally, for the Best Director category, 28% Australians put their vote on Christopher Nolan, again for “Oppenheimer”, followed by Martin Scorsese with 12% for “Killers of the Flower Moon”.

The Oscars is a pivotal time of years for cinema buffs, but also a great time of discovery for more casual movie-goers. 42% of Australians say they discovered a film they then went onto watch after seeing it be nominated for, or win, an Oscar.

This event is also more than a celebration of cinematic excellence, with almost a third (31%) of Australians saying that the event’s fashion and red-carpet outfits are important to their overall viewing experience.

Over a third of Australians (35%) also said they secretly wouldn’t mind some more unexpected audience participation at the ceremony, nodding back to the infamous slap between Will Smith and Chris Rock.

Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online between 22nd and 26th February 2024, with a national sample of 1,080 Australians, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, and location to be representative of all adults in Australia (18 years or older) as per the latest population estimates provided by the ABS. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.