By Who says that greatness comes as you age? These top 5 youngest actors with Oscars nominations will take you on by surprise for sure. Sometimes, great talent can be spotted at a very young age, and when it comes to these little actors, all it takes is a powerful heart-tugging monologue scene wrapped in a pint-sized performer. Do you agree?! It’s an undeniable fact that over many years, Hollywood has witnessed some great child actors who stole the spotlight and bagged Oscar nominations while most kids of their age were still figuring out homework and high school crushes.
These young actors, with tear-jerking and impressionable performances, showed off their amazing talent with raw and mind-blowing acting chops that got viewers to consider them for Oscar nominations at a very young age. So grab your popcorn and let’s go straight through the list of the Top 5 youngest actors with Oscar nominations, and trust us, their ages might surprise you more than their talent!
Youngest Actors With Oscar Nominations
Let’s meet the Top 5 youngest Academy Award nominees and winners! These child actors started stealing the spotlight while they were young kids juggling through bedtime stories and even before their milk teeth fell out!
Top 5 youngest Oscar winners & Nominees
Here is the list of the top 5 youngest actors with Oscar nominations who received the limelight at a very young age; starting from:
Justin Henry
Nominated For Oscars At Age: 8 Years
Nominated In: 52nd annual Academy Awards held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in L.A. on April 14, 1980, photographed by Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs.
Just eight years into his life’s script, back in 1979, Justin Henry received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Kramer vs. Kramer. The emotional depth he brought to the role assigned to him as a first-time actor didn’t go unnoticed by the audience which qualified him as the youngest Oscar nominee of all time. He also worked alongside other famous actors such as Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman while intermittently giving astonishing performances in Sixteen Candles, ER, and Brothers & Sisters.
Quvenzhané Wallis
Nominated For Oscars At Age: 5 years
Nominated In: 85th annual Academy Awards Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, At Calif., on Feb. 24, 2013. Photographed By Kevin Mazur.
She became the youngest female actress to ever receive a nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012).
Originally cast in the role when she was barely five years old, this little Quvenzhané Wallis had to lie about her age because that’s how young she was to get nominated for the Oscars.
The minimum age considered by the casting directors during the nominations was nine years. Wallis was just 5 at the time she got nominated for an Oscar in 2013. Amazing, isn’t it?
If you want to find out the winner of the latest Oscar winners, click here Oscars 2025 Winners list.
Elliot Page
Nominated For Oscars At Age: 10 Years
Nominated In: 80th annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in L.A. on Feb. 24, 2008.
This young guy was already a rising star at the tender age of 10 years. Elliot Page was nominated for Oscars as the youngest actor with Oscar nominations for the hit Canadian children’s 1997 TV movie “Pit Pony” in 2000.
Elliot played the famous part of Juno at 20 years of age and was again nominated for an Oscar. His other famous works also include movies like “Inception, The Umbrella Academy,” and Close to You”.
He kept shining even off the screens in 2020 when she came out as transgender, which inspired people by actively expressing his original gender identity and supporting his community.
Tatum O’Neal
Nominated For Oscars At Age: 10 Years
With her age barely in double digits, Tatum O’Neal was the youngest Oscar winner ever at age 10 for her role in Paper Moon. She starred opposite her real-life dad, Ryan O’Neal in the movie Paper Moon.
Tatum O’Neal suffered a life-threatening stroke in 2020 from a drug overdose. Her 2004 autobiography reveals childhood abuse, addiction struggles, and her complex relationship with her father, who denied the allegations she made.
Talk about keeping it in the family! Tatum later charmed audiences with her other starry performances in The Bad News Bears and International Velvet. Nonetheless, Tatum O’Neal truly transitioned from being a child actress to a charming, seasoned actress whom we know now.
Mary Badham
Nominated For Oscars At Age: 10 Years
Nominated In: 35th annual Academy Awards held at Civic Center in Santa Monica, Calif., on April 12, 1963, as the Best Actor winner.
Mary Badham became one of the youngest actors with Oscar nominations at just 10 years of age. Mary Badham became an iconic star by playing the role of Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Her Best Supporting Actress nomination came to her despite having zero prior acting credits; now that’s called some raw talent!
After a brief acting career, she took a long break after the age of 40 but later returned to support the Broadway adaptation of her legendary film. She was the finest young actor to get nominated for the Oscars.
Youngest Actors With Oscar Nominations: Fun Facts
Following are some interesting fun facts in the form of Q&A related to the youngest actors with Oscar nominations:
Who Is the Youngest Actor Nominated for an Oscar?
Justin Henry was the Youngest Actor Nominated for an Oscar for playing the role of little Billy in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) at the age of 8. He became the youngest Oscar-acting nominee in history, and guess what? He still holds that record today!
Who Was the 9-Year-Old Nominated for an Oscar?
Quvenzhané Wallis made a remarkable Hollywood career by becoming the first person born in the 21st century to earn an Oscar nomination at just 9 years old. She became the youngest-ever Best Actress nominee!
Who Is The Youngest Oscar Winner Ever?
Tatum O’Neal is the youngest Oscar winner ever at 10 years of age for acting as the best supportive actress in the movie Paper Moon, earning herself an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This made her the youngest Oscar winner in the history of the Academy Awards.
So, this is our message to all the young dreamers who aspire to become actors someday ‘Oscar Dreams Are Truly Possible!’ These small stars with big dreams are the living proof that talent doesn’t need decades to shine and age cannot stop an Oscar worthy performance! These young stars didn’t just play roles, they rewrote cinematic history. Their Oscar journeys remind us that greatness doesn’t come with age limits.
Find out the 97th Academy Awards Nominees, who were no less than the the winners in audience’s eyes.
