Why Everyone’s Arguing About Andrea Riseborough’s Best Actress Oscar Nomination

LOS ANGELES — Nothing—not Tom Cruise’s dismissive attitude, nor Austin Butler’s lingering intonation of Elvis Presley—has generated more buzz around the Oscars this year than British actress Andrea Riseborough’s Best Actress nomination.

Riseborough received a surprise nomination for her role as an alcoholic Texas single mother in the obscure indie drama To Leslie, a choice that shocked Oscar experts and has since been scrutinized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. collected $ 27,322 at the box office, “To Leslie” and “Riseborough” made a lot of noise.

The question is how Riseborough’s candidacy progressed. Although many contenders for the awards are backed by staged campaigns paid for by their film studio, Riseborough’s rise to the Oscar ranks is largely due to the grassroots efforts of To Leslie director Michael Morris and his wife, actress Mary McCormack. They encouraged the stars to watch the film and either put on a screening or praise Riseborough’s performance on social media. And many of them did.

So what’s the deal? Nepotism in Hollywood isn’t exactly new; it is more or less a way of doing things. But Riseborough’s nomination – and the resulting backlash – derailed this year’s Oscar season, with potential repercussions for the March Academy Awards and all future Oscar nominees’ applications.

For about 15 years, the 41-year-old Riseborough has appeared regularly in film, television and London theaters, but has sometimes been hard to spot due to her chameleon performances. She appeared in the Mike Leigh film Lucky (2008). She made an impression playing Riggan’s girlfriend in Birdman (2014).

She played Stalin’s daughter in The Death of Stalin (2017). In Mandy (2018), she, along with Nicolas Cage, played his character’s kidnapped girlfriend. Riseborough had several other notable credits in 2022, including David O. Russell’s Amsterdam and the role of Mrs Wormwood in Matilda the Musical. She’s been doing well-known work in independent adventure films for long enough that the Oscar vote for her may have also been partly due to her modest work.

Almost no one expected Riseborough’s belated campaign to actually land her a nomination. However, it wasn’t exactly out of left field. Riseborough’s performance at Leslie was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. But she was not expected to make the list of the most difficult categories this year. Riseborough was nominated along with Cate Blachette (“Tar”), Michelle Williams (“Fabelmans”), Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) and Michelle Yeoh (“Everywhere, Everywhere”).

“I’m amazed,” Riseborough told Deadline shortly after the nominations were announced. “It was so hard to believe that this could ever happen because we weren’t really involved in anything else. Even though we had a lot of support, the idea that this could actually happen seemed so far away.”

Two highly acclaimed roles were dropped: Viola Davis in The Woman King and Danielle Dedwyler in Till. That the most egregious insults in this category were to both black women was a matter of debate. Till director Chinonye Chukwu suggested in an Instagram post that the system had malfunctioned. “We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to protecting whiteness and perpetuating unabashed misogyny towards black women.”

Virtually every actor nominee is involved in some kind of Oscar campaign to get attention for their performance and to get voters to watch their movie. This is a game that is played. Playwright and screenwriter Jeremy O. Harris tweeted, “Don’t people realize that what the actresses have done for Andrea Riseborough is happening in private every night for months since October, for every movie/performance (with) a chance” .

There are rules that limit the types of events that can be held and even how much someone can email promotions to academy members during the voting period. Most campaigns are backed by experienced strategists and a substantial amount of money. However, those who promoted Riseborough managed to gain attention without such support. Instead, they counted on A-listers to spread the word.

Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Adams and Courteney Cox hosted screenings of the film. “You have to win everything,” Winslet told her in a virtual Q&A. Other stars such as Edward Norton, Susan Sarandon, Mira Sorvino and Rosie O’Donnell have praised her on social media. Riseborough supporters saw the campaign—no sunset billboards, no For Your Consideration ads, just deep Rolodex—an innovative way to bypass the traditional Oscar rituals. In a recently deleted post, actress Christina Ricci wrote of the backlash against Riseborough’s nomination: “So only films and actors can afford ad campaigns that deserve recognition? He seems to me elitist, exclusive and, frankly, very backward.”

There is no public evidence that Riseborough or anyone on her behalf clearly violated academy rules. The screenings and endorsements that Riseborough promoted became commonplace. Some have speculated that Riseborough may have gained support because of the strong passion of her supporters, who could have made her their top candidate.

But if the academy finds that someone has violated the rules on contact with members of the academy “directly and in a way that is outside the scope of these rules”, the board of governors of the academy “may take any corrective action or impose any sanctions, including disqualification.” to the rules of the academy. “Furthermore, any academy member who authorizes, conducts, or otherwise facilitates campaign activities that, in the opinion of the board of governors, undermines the letter or spirit of these rules may be subject to membership suspension or expulsion from the academy.”

Oscar nominations were rarely cancelled, but they did happen. In 2014, composer Bruce Broughton, who was nominated for Best Original Song, was disqualified after it was revealed that he had emailed members of the music department to draw attention to a featured song. At the time, Broughton, a former governor of the academy, was a member of the music department’s executive committee.

The Academy did not comment on Riseborough’s nomination. But on Friday, he announced that he would be reviewing campaign procedures around this year’s nominees “to make sure no rules were broken and let us know if changes to the rules might be necessary in the new era of social media and digital technology.” communication.”

“We are confident in the integrity of our nomination and voting procedures and support genuine grassroots campaigns for outstanding results,” the academies added.