The 95th Academy Awards ceremony is now less than a month away. The nominations for the 2023 ceremony are out and as usual, there is a lot of chatter regarding the nominated and snubbed talents. This year it is regarding the ‘Best Actress In A Leading Role’ category. The British actress Andrea Riseborough is nominated for her film ‘To Leslie’. This has created a stir on social media leading to a huge controversy.
This year many films presented outstanding performances from female protagonists. Cate Blanchett, Michelle Yeoh, Ana De Armas, and Michelle Williams are nominated in the above category. The respective films created ripples at film festivals, early awards seasons, and social media. The biggest buzz was for the meta film ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’. However, Andrea’s ‘To Leslie’ became contentious due to the nomination accusing it of rigging the Oscar campaign. Now, the actress has spoken on the whole controversy.
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Andrea Riseborough Did Not Believe That She Got A Nomination
In the past few years, the Academy Awards have had their share of controversies. Be it the Will Smith slapgate or the ‘La La Land’ losing, the audiences have had their reservations about the authenticity of these awards ceremonies. However, the ‘To Leslie’ controversy’s nature has been like a slow-burning exposé.
The film premiered in March 2022 at the ‘South By SouthWest’ film festival along with ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’. It received positive critique, but it did not emerge as a top contender at any major award ceremony.
Andrea Risenmborough is a phenomenal actress. The industry calls her “chameleon” due to the diverse roles in her repertoire. However, she only received one nomination at the ‘Independent Spirit Awards’.
Andrea did not receive any nominations at major awards ceremonies like the Golden Globe Awards 2023 or Critics Choice Awards. Despite all the factors, she still secured a nomination snubbing two of the strongest performances like Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences started an investigation of all the Oscar campaigns without naming the film. After all the chatter, the actress has finally opened up about her reaction to the nomination and the controversy.
Riseborough, during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, talked about what she felt when she got the nomination. “There was a lot of chatter beforehand in those few days leading up to [the nomination]. But the very realistic part of me that has been doing this for 20 years didn’t think this would happen. I don’t think that you dare to allow yourself to imagine that that would happen to something that you shot in 19 days”.
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The Academy Awards Association Will Not Rescind Her Nomination
Almost after a year ‘To Leslie’ suddenly got the back of some of the top celebrities in the country. Edward Norton was the first person to tweet about the film and Andrea’s performance. Norton wrote, “the most fully committed, emotionally deep … physically harrowing performance I’ve seen in a while”. Gwyneth Paltrow also jumped on the bandwagon writing, “Andrea should win every award there is and all the ones that haven’t been invented yet”.
Charlize Theron also had a private screening of the film in November 2022. She said that ‘To Leslie’ is “one of those film experiences that are becoming extinct, unfortunately”. Other celebrities who endorsed the film like Mia Farrow, Frances Fisher, Kate Winslet, Tan France, and others had one thing in common i.e., already prepared, vague shout-outs.
The mascot behind this whole circus of PR was Andrea’s manager Jason Weinberg who sent out memos for ‘For Your Consideration’ ads after no distributor backed the film. At the end of January 2023, the Academy sent out a statement informing that they will not rescind her nomination.
Bill Kramer, the CEO of the association said, “However, we did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern. These tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly”.
The actress, in the interview, addressed the issue and said, “The film industry is abhorrently unequal in terms of opportunity. I’m mindful not to speak for the experience of other people because they are better placed to speak, and I want to listen. I am grateful for the conversation because it must be had. It has deeply impacted me”.
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