King Richard receives six Academy Award nominations 

The biographical drama focusing on Richard Williams and his journey on what it took to mold two of the greatest athletes, Serena and Venus has been a hit with the critics all season long. Just last month, King Richard received four nominations at the Golden Globes and Will Smith picked up his first Golden Globe in the Best Actor—Motion Picture Drama category.

With the prestigious Academy Awards just over a month away, the nominations for all categories were released on Tuesday and King Richard experienced more success. The film garnished six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song and last but certainly not least, a Best Actor nomination for Will Smith.

This marks Smith's third and fourth Oscar nomination and he will look to take home his first win. It's also his first nomination in 15 years.

"This is a moment we won’t forget," the King Richard Film's Twitter account wrote.

Smith felt compelled to dive head first into this role because of the iconic 1995 interview with Venus. An interviewer was determined to break 14-year-old Venus' confidence and although she didn't bite, Richard intervened and put an end to the interviewer's folly. Ever since watching the video he held the utmost respect for Richard and loved seeing a Black father protecting his daughters.

"I fell in love with Richard Williams—that was 20 something years ago and when the opportunity to be a part of this came up that was the first thing that I remembered. I knew I wanted to show a father protecting a daughter like that to the world," Smith said during the global press conference for the film last year.

The 53-year-old actor will once again face tough competition in the Best Actor category with Denzel Washington running against him for his role in The Tragedy of Macbeth. Washington's 2022 nomination extends his record for the most Oscar-nominated Black actor of all time with 10. The record holder prevailed over Smith in the same category back in 2002 for his part in Training Day. Both of Smiths' previous nominations came from playing real-life figures—Muhammad Ali in 2002 and Chris Gardner in 2007's The Pursuit of Happyness.

No matter the results of Oscar night, the film dedicated to showing the power of family and turning the impossible into reality within the sport has soared far past simple success. Serena woke up to the news and headed straight to Instagram to celebrate the cast and crew. It was an emotional morning for the 23-time Grand Slam champion to say the least.

"From Compton to Wimbledon to Academy awards. Everyone can dream. And your dream can come true," she wrote.