He won an Oscar for playing Stephen Hawking in La teoría del todo (2014), making him one of 17 actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2015). The other sixteen actors and their respective performances are: Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Forja de hombres (1938), Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in El sargento York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in El milagro de Ana Sullivan (1962), Jason Robards for playing Ben Bradlee in Todos los hombres del presidente (1976), Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Toro salvaje (1980), Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in Quiero ser libre (1980), Jeremy Irons for playing Claus Von Bullow in El misterio Von Bulow (1990), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Pena de muerte (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine (1996), Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000), Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001), Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (La reina) (2006), Sandra Bullock for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side. Un sueño posible (2009), Melissa Leo for playing Alice Eklund-Ward in The Fighter (2010), Christian Bale for playing Dickie Eklund in The Fighter (2010) and Meryl Streep for playing Margaret Thatcher in La dama de hierro (2011).
