Nine black actors were nominated for an Oscar on Monday, setting an Oscar record for diversity in these categories. The achievement comes after years of aggressive efforts on the part of the Academy to diversify its members in the wake of fully white acting nominees for the 2015 and 2016 ceremonies. This ignominious event almost repeated itself last year, when only one Black actor, the “Harriet” star Cynthia Erivo, received a nomination (for best actress).
This year, fortunately, it was quite different. “Minari” star Steven Yeun became the first Asian American to be nominated for best actor; in the same category, “Sound of Metal” star Riz Ahmed became the first person of Pakistani descent to be nominated for an actor Oscar. And Yeun’s “Minari” co-star, Yuh-Jung Youn, a supporting actress nominee, is the first Korean person to be nominated for an actor Oscar. (Yul Brynner, who is of Mongolian descent, won the best actor for “The King and I”, 1956, and Ben Kingsley, who is half Indian, won the best actor for “Gandhi”, 1982.)
Along with Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), this is also the first time in Oscar history that the best actor category is not mostly white.
The rest of this year’s diverse list includes those nominated for best actress Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”); and nominees for best supporting actor Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”) and LaKeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”).
Marking a sad milestone, Boseman is also the first black actor to receive a posthumous Oscar nomination.
It was a decisive year for Oscar’s diversity, in addition to the acting categories as well. Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) became the first black woman nominated for best director, and with the also nominated Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young”), this is the first year in which more than one woman is nominated in this category.
With nominations for film, director, film editing and adapted script, Zhao is also the first woman to receive four nominations in a single year.
Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson became the first black women nominated for best makeup and hairstyle, by “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”.
And “Judas and the Black Messiah” is the first film with an all-black production team – Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler – to be nominated for the best film.
This year’s Oscar nominees follow a similar watershed year for the BAFTA Film Awards, which indicated its most diverse list of actors after facing its own #BAFTAsSoWhite scandal last year. As a result, BAFTA implemented 120 changes to its awards after a month-long review of its membership and voting procedures for its awards.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences implemented its own set of changes following the #OscarsSoWhite scandals in 2015 and 2016, which doubled the number of female members from 25% in 2015 to 33% in 2020, and nearly tripled racial and ethnic minority members, from 10% in 2015 to 19% in 2020.
None of these numbers, however, comes close to demographics for the general public. To further promote diversity and inclusion, AMPAS announced in September a new set of eligibility standards that will begin to be nominated for an Oscar from next year’s awards. These standards, however, apply only to the best image category.
And while this year’s list of actors for the Oscars broke diversity records, the list of nominees for the best film was much less diverse. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, “Da 5 Bloods” and “One Night in Miami” – all with predominantly Black casts – were not included in the cut for best film, despite all nominations for best ensemble at this year’s SAG Awards.
In fact, the fact that it took until 2021 for the Oscar to recognize a broadly heterogeneous range of nominees also speaks directly to the deeply held prejudices that have kept people of color out of the Oscars – and the film industry in general – for so long.
“We are seeing remarkable gains for different communities and it is important to celebrate that,” said Dr. Stacy L. Smith, of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “Voices are still lacking – for example, [‘One Night in Miami’ director] Regina King was left out of directions and few, if any, Latinx nominees were nominated this year – so there is room for the Academy to continue its efforts. We will continue to observe the nominations to ensure that a ‘first’ year does not become a ‘just’ year. “
In talking to Variety for the February cover story on black women from the awards season, Davis reflected on what award recognition means to her – including becoming, with four nominations, the most honored black actress in Oscar history.
“It’s another opportunity to open my mouth and speak a really fundamental truth about Hollywood and this business, and really America,” said Davis. “If I return to the Oscar four times in 2021 and become the most nominated black actress in history, this is proof of the absolute lack of material available to artists of color.”
Angelique Jackson contributed to this report.