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Meet the five outstanding actors nominated for the 2009 Best Actor Oscar; Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Frank Langella, and Richard Jenkins. See photos and videos of the nominees and find out more about each of these talented contenders for one of acting’s most prestigious awards.

The 81st Academy Awards take place on February 22, 2009 and only one of the five goes home a winner and that was…Sean Penn! Read about him and all of the nominees below.

Sean Penn portrays Harvey Milk in Gus Van Sant’s ‘Milk’, the true story of the trailblazing activist for gay rights in San Francisco who became the first ever openly gay elected official. This is Penn’s fifth Best Actor nomination and, if he wins, his second Best Actor Oscar. He previously won the award in 2003 for his role in ‘Mystic River’ in 2003. Earlier this year he won the 2009 SAG award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. His portrayal has been widely praised by film critics and he has won numerous critics’ awards.

The Sean Penn Oscar acceptance speech video is below along with a trailer for the movie which highlights his outstanding and emotionally gripping performance.

Brad Pitt is the title character of ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story of the same name; it chronicles the life of a man who is born elderly and ages backwards. The story is set in New Orleans and begins in 1918 and ends in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina. as a guy who ages backwards. In total, the movie has 13 Oscar nominations, the most of any, (with hot contender Slumdog Millionaire second with 10 nods). The actor was received BAFTA, SAG, and Golden Globe Best Actor nods, but did not win. This is his second Academy Award nomination. Previously he received the Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod for his role in ‘Twelve Monkeys’.

Mickey Rourke stars in Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Wrestler’ delivering an edgy, powerful comeback performance as an aging, washed up wrestler. The storyline bears some similarities to his own life story as he left acting and had a brief stint as a professional boxer. His comeback performance has given him a treasure chest of awards, including the BAFTA and Golden Globe Best Actor awards. Despite standout performances in the 1980s, in ‘Angel Heart’ and other movies, this is his first Academy Award nomination.

Frank Langella gave a nuanced and heartrending portrayal of the disgraced President Richard Nixon in ‘Frost/Nixon’. The movie is directed by Ron Howard and based on the critically acclaimed stage play Peter Morgan by of the same name which chronicled the former President’s 1977 interviews with British TV journalist and presenter David Frost. Frank Langella won a Tony Award for his performance as Nixon in the Broadway production of Frost/Nixon. The veteran stage and screen actor, who first became well-known for his portrayal of Dracula both on stage and screen, is also a first time Oscar nominee at age 71.

Richard Jenkins stars in ‘The Visitor’ as a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City. It is a breakthrough for the veteran actor who has had supporting roles for more than 30 years. Although best known as the dead patriarch on HBO’s ‘Six Feet Under’, he has worked with many top directors–Clint Eastwood, Sydney Pollack, Mike Nichols, George Miller–and top actors, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Sir Ben Kingsley and others. His standout performance has received numerous nominations including the SAG awards, the Independent Spirit Awards and several film critic associations.

Check out photos and videos of all five 2009 Academy Award Best Actor nominees below.

Academy Award Best Actor Nominees

Photos: wenn.com