Kathy Bates earns Oscar nod for Atlanta-filmed “Richard Jewell”

She played Bobi Jewell, mother of the late hero
Kathy Bates as Bobi Jewell in "Richard Jewell," a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo: Claire Folger/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Kathy Bates as Bobi Jewell in "Richard Jewell," a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo: Claire Folger/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Kathy Bates has been nominated for a best supporting actress Academy Award for her role as Bobi Jewell in the Atlanta-filmed drama "Richard Jewell."

Bates’ performance also earned her a Golden Globes award nomination; Laura Dern won. Here are the other actresses nominated for Oscars in this category:

The locally filmed Marvel blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” is nominated in the visual effects category. Here are the other nominated films:

Another local tie to this year's Academy Awards contenders: Don Sylvester, nominated for sound editing for "Ford v Ferrari," is a DeKalb County who went to Lakeside High School and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1975. He talked with writer Felicia Feaster for this story in the AJC.

“Ford v Ferrari” is up for best-picture honors along with these films:

It’s also up for film editing. Here is the full list of sound editing nominations:

During red carpet interviews at the 2019 Hollywood premiere of “Richard Jewell,” Bates talked about the friendship she and Bobi Jewell developed while working on the movie.

“Bobi baked me a pound cake, because it was my birthday when I got there. She’s a real pistol,” Bates said, according to footage provided by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. “I know this means the world to her for the world to know that Richard is a hero.”

Richard Jewell was working as a security guard during the 1996 Olympics. His quick thinking saved countless lives the night a bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park, but within days the FBI came to focus on him as a suspect.

“All hell broke loose,” Bobi Jewell said of that time, according to an interview clip provided by Warner Bros. “The telephones kept ringing and ringing. The news media took over. I think at one time there were 200 reporters, television cameras, policemen.”

Richard Jewell was cleared after 88 days. He later married and was working as a police officer when he died in 2007 at age 44.

Confessed serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph is serving multiple life sentences.