• HOLLYWOOD: Although the majority of the Academy Award nominees in the major categories are 40 and older — in fact, supporting actress nominee Ruby Dee is 83 and supporting actor nominee Hal Holbrook is 82 — several haven’t hit their fourth decade. Of those, only Paul Thomas Anderson, 37, (pictured above) is a previous nominee in the original screenplay category (for 1997’s Boogie Nights and 1999’s Magnolia). This year, he’s a first-time nominee in the adapted screenplay, director and best picture contests for his Daniel Day-Lewis starrer, There Will Be Blood. Here’s a look at the rest of the field of younger hopefuls celebrating their first nominations:

Casey Affleck, 32

•Baby brother of Ben Affleck, who directed his sibling in last year’s Gone Baby Gone, he’s best known as one of the gang of thieves in the Ocean’s Eleven films.

Nominated for: Supporting actor (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)

Diablo Cody, 29

• Cody earned a media studies degree from the University of Iowa and came to fame after she chronicled her yearlong stint working in strip clubs and peep shows in Minneapolis in her 2006 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper.

Nominated for: Original screenplay (Juno)

Marion Cotillard, 32

•Began acting onstage in France as a child and scored her first major film success with the 1998 Luc Besson production Taxi. Her credits include A Very Long Engagement and Big Fish.

Nominated for: Actress (La Vie en Rose)

Ellen Page, 20

•The Canadian began acting at age 10, but she first garnered critical acclaim for her role in the controversial 2005 indie Hard Candy.

Nominated for: Actress (Juno)

Sarah Polley, 29

•The Canadian debuted in the 1985 Disney film One Magic Christmas. Polley made the transition from child to adult star in such films as The Sweet Hereafter.

Nominated for: Adapted screenplay (Away From Her)

Saorise Ronan, 13

•Ronan began acting on TV series in her native Ireland, and the first feature film she ever shot, Death Defying Acts, will be released this year.

Nominated for: Supporting actress (Atonement)

Amy Ryan, 39

Nominated for: Supporting actress (Gone Baby Gone)