Mike Leigh, "Vera Drake"
Career nominations: 5

The iconoclastic British director, 61, is this year's surprise nominee. Leigh, who forges his scripts out of weeks of improvisatory rehearsals with his actors, is nominated for his wrenching drama about a wife and mother who performs abortions in 1950s England. Leigh was also nominated for best original screenplay. He was previously nominated for best director for 1996's "Secrets & Lies."

(Photo: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)