It sounds like the beginning of a comedic movie about mistaken identity: This year, there are two Ryan Binghams up for an Oscar – sort of.
George Clooney earned his fifth Oscar nod Tuesday morning, this time for Actor in a Leading Role for Up in the Air, in which he plays Ryan Bingham, a fictional corporate downsizer whose chief goal in life is to accumulate 10 million frequent-flyer miles.
And then there's the real-life singer/songwriter Ryan Bingham, a 28-year old New Mexico native who nabbed an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for co-writing the theme song for Crazy Heart.
"It's like a big cloudy fog in my brain right now," Bingham, told PEOPLE Tuesday morning after learning that "The Weary Kind," which he co-wrote with T-Bone Burnett, scored a nomination. "I was asleep and just put on a pot of coffee and getting into it, but I'm feeling pretty good."
Bingham, who grew up in a broken home and struggled to make ends meet (he was a rodeo bull rider for years), says he's humbled by the recognition. "To get a nomination just makes me think about when I was on the road for years and all the people who said I was never going to amount to anything," he said. "So it's a good feeling!"
Having already won a Golden Globe for best song, Bingham says he has planned a strategy on Oscar night if he wins – to simply stay in his seat.
"I got to meet Jeremy Renner at the Golden Globes, and me and him were at the bar. I was supposed to accept the award when they called [my] name but I missed getting the award because I was at the bar. So I've learned that I have to stay in my seat!"
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