Two films received nine nominations; Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Edward Norton stars in both films and both were produced by Fox Searchlight.
Best Actor nominees Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne both played Stephen Hawking (Cumberbatch in Hawking (2004), Redmayne in The Theory of Everything (2014) (for which he was also nominated)). Best Supporting Actor nominees Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo both played Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Norton in The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Ruffalo in The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)).
Best Actor nominee Benedict Cumberbatch and Alan Turing (the character he portrays in his Oscar-nominated performance) are actually related in real-life. According to the family history site Ancestry, the two are 17th cousins with family relations dating back to the 14th century. Both are said to be related to John Beaufort, the first Earl of Somerset, through Cumberbatch and Turing's respective paternal lines. This means that for the first time, a performer is nominated for portraying a known real-life relative since Katharine Hepburn won for her performance in The Lion in Winter (1968).
Bradley Cooper received a third consecutive Oscar nomination for American Sniper (2014). He was first nominated two years prior for Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and then for American Hustle (2013) (both directed by David O. Russell).
Meryl Streep's nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role marked her 19th acting nomination, increasing her record for most acting nominations.