Lin-Manuel Miranda is not a man lacking for accolades, but at this year’s Oscar ceremony he’ll have an opportunity to join a truly elite group of entertainers. After being nominated for the Best Original Song category for Encanto’s “Dos Oruguitas,” Miranda has only to win in order to become the youngest EGOT winner in history.
The EGOT is of course an acronym, standing for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, the four biggest stage and screen awards in U.S. entertainment. To win all four over the course of a lifetime is a very difficult feat, requiring an extremely eclectic and dynamic performer, and one who typically has some kind of musical background that allows them to cross over. The youngest EGOT winner to date (and the only double EGOT winner) is songwriter Robert Lopez, who won it at the age of 39. Miranda, meanwhile, is only 37, another indication of what an incredible career the Hamilton writer-star has already had in this industry.
All in all, 16 entertainers have achieved the EGOT over the years, from the likes of Richard Rodgers in 1962 to performers like Rita Moreno, Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks and John Legend. The last winner was Alan Menken in 2020. Other than Lopez and Legend, Miranda would be the only winner to complete the EGOT before he turned 40.
The Best Original Song category figures to be hotly contested, however. Miranda’s Encanto song—we can’t help but wonder if “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” would have been more of a powerhouse—will be up against “Be Alive” from King Richard, “Down to Joy” from Belfast, “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days, and the title track of No Time to Die. If you want our guess, we’d bet that the allure of crowning Miranda as the youngest EGOT will be too strong for Academy voters to resist.
Asked about the potential achievement, Miranda told The Wrap he was trying to avoid thinking about it. Jokingly, he said the following: “No. that way lies ruin and madness. I mean, it crosses your mind afterwards, but it can’t ever enter your mind while you’re working.”
We’ll find out if Miranda becomes the 17th EGOT on March 27 at the 94th Oscars ceremony.
