Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nine actors with Asian descent and/or nationality have been nominated a total of eleven times in this category, and one actor has won this award.

• 1936 – / Akim Tamiroff for The General Died at Dawn as General Yang
• 1943 – / Akim Tamiroff for For Whom the Bell Tolls as Pablo (0 of 2)
• 1957 – Sessue Hayakawa for The Bridge on the River Kwai as Colonel Saito
• 1962 – / Omar Sharif for Lawrence of Arabia as Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish
• 1966 – / Mako Iwamatsu for The Sand Pebbles as Po-Han
• 1984 – // Haing S. Ngor for The Killing Fields as Dith Pran
• 1984 – / Pat Morita for The Karate Kid as Mr. Miyagi
• 1991 – / Ben Kingsley for Bugsy as Meyer Lansky
• 2001 – / Ben Kingsley for Sexy Beast as Don Logan (0 of 2)
• 2003 – Ken Watanabe for The Last Samurai as Lord Katsumoto
• 2016 – / Dev Patel for Lion as Saroo Brierley

Eighteen black actors have been nominated a total of 22 times in this category, and six actors have won this award (with Mahershala Ali winning twice).

• 1969 – Rupert Crosse for The Reivers as Ned
• 1981 – Howard Rollins for Ragtime as Coalhouse Walker Jr.
• 1982 – Louis Gossett Jr. for An Officer and a Gentleman as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley
• 1984 – Adolph Caesar for A Soldier's Story as Sgt. Waters
• 1987 – Morgan Freeman for Street Smart as Fast Black
• 1987 – Denzel Washington for Cry Freedom as Steve Biko
• 1989 – Denzel Washington for Glory as Pvt. Trip (1 of 2)
• 1992 – Jaye Davidson for The Crying Game as Dil
• 1994 – Samuel L. Jackson for Pulp Fiction as Jules Winnfield
• 1996 – Cuba Gooding Jr. for Jerry Maguire as Rod Tidwell
• 1999 – Michael Clarke Duncan for The Green Mile as John Coffey
• 2003 – / Djimon Hounsou for In America as Mateo
• 2004 – Morgan Freeman for Million Dollar Baby as Eddie 'Scrap-Iron' Dupris (1 of 2)
• 2004 – Jamie Foxx for Collateral as Max
• 2006 – / Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond as Solomon Vandy (0 of 2)
• 2006 – Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls as James "Thunder" Early
• 2013 – Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips as Abduwali Muse
• 2016 – Mahershala Ali for Moonlight as Juan
• 2018 – Mahershala Ali for Green Book as Don Shirley (2 of 2)
• 2020 – / Daniel Kaluuya for Judas and the Black Messiah as Fred Hampton
• 2020 – Leslie Odom Jr. for One Night in Miami... as Sam Cooke
• 2020 – Lakeith Stanfield for Judas and the Black Messiah as William O'Neal

Seven actors of Hispanic/Latin American descent and/or nationality have been nominated a total of nine times in this category, and three actors have won this award (with Anthony Quinn winning twice).

• 1947 – / Thomas Gomez for Ride the Pink Horse as Pancho
• 1948 – José Ferrer for Joan of Arc as The Dauphin, Charles VII
• 1952 – Anthony Quinn for Viva Zapata! as Eufemio Zapata
• 1956 – Anthony Quinn for Lust for Life as Paul Gauguin (2 of 2)
• 1990 – / Andy García for The Godfather Part III as Vincent Corleone
• 2000 – Benicio del Toro for Traffic as Javier Rodriguez
• 2000 – / Joaquin Phoenix for Gladiator as Commodus
• 2003 – Benicio del Toro for 21 Grams as Jack Jordan (1 of 2)
• 2007 – Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men as Anton Chigurh

Two indigenous actors have been nominated in this category.

• 1970 – (Coast Salish – Indigenous Canadian) Chief Dan George for Little Big Man as Old Lodge Skins
• 1990 – (Oneida – Indigenous Canadian) Graham Greene for Dances With Wolves as Kicking Bird

Two Oceanic actors have been nominated a total of three times in this category, and one actor has won this award.

• 1998 – Geoffrey Rush for Shakespeare in Love as Philip Henslowe
• 2008 – Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight as The Joker †
• 2010 – Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech as Lionel Logue (0 of 2)

Eight LGBTQ actors have been nominated a total of ten times in this category, and three actors have won this award (with three gay actors having won).

• 1955 – Sal Mineo (Bisexual) for Rebel Without a Cause as John "Plato" Crawford
• 1956 – Anthony Perkins (Bisexual) for Friendly Persuasion as Josh Birdwell
• 1960 – Sal Mineo (Bisexual) for Exodus as Dov Landau (0 of 2)
• 1964 – John Gielgud (Gay) for Becket as King Louis VII of France
• 1972 – Joel Grey (Gay) for Cabaret as Master of Ceremonies
• 1981 – John Gielgud (Gay) for Arthur as Hobson (1 of 2)
• 1989 – Marlon Brando (Bisexual) for A Dry White Season as Ian McKenzie
• 1992 – Jaye Davidson (Gay) for The Crying Game as Dil
• 1995 – Kevin Spacey (Gay) for The Usual Suspects as Roger "Verbal" Kint
• 2001 – Ian McKellen (Gay) for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring as Gandalf

Four disabled actors have been nominated a total of five times in this category, and one actor has won this award.

• 1946 – Harold Russell (Double hand amputee) for The Best Years of Our Lives as Homer Parrish
• 1989 – Dan Aykroyd (Autism and Tourette syndrome) for Driving Miss Daisy as Boolie Werthan
• 1993 – Leonardo DiCaprio (OCD) for What's Eating Gilbert Grape as Arnie Grape
• 1997 – Anthony Hopkins (Autism) for Amistad as John Quincy Adams
• 2019 – Anthony Hopkins (Autism) for The Two Popes as Pope Benedict XVI (0 of 2)

Seven actors with non-English performances have been nominated a total of seven times in this category, and four actors have won this award (with Italian performances winning twice).

• 1970 – (British Sign Language) John Mills for Ryan's Daughter as Michael
• 1974 – (Italian) Robert De Niro for The Godfather Part II as Vito Corleone
• 1990 – (Lakota) Graham Greene for Dances With Wolves as Kicking Bird
• 2000 – (Spanish) Benicio del Toro for Traffic as Javier Rodriguez
• 2009 – // (German/French/Italian) Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds as Standartenführer Hans "The Jew Hunter" Landa
• 2013 – (Somali) Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips as Abduwali Muse
• 2020 – (American Sign Language) Paul Raci for Sound of Metal as Joe