People interested in the Oscars can assume who will get awarded with it and who will not. But, the fans got shocked to see Andrea Riseborough getting nominated for Best Actress by the AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Her leading role in ‘To Leslie,’ the indie drama, led her to the nominations.
Andrea Riseborough is a 41-year-old English producer and actress who has been active since 2001. She has been a part of films, television series, and theatre and got 20 awards for her acting. She performed best in Possessor, To Leslie, The Death of Stalin, Shadow Dancer, Nancy, and a few more movies.
‘To Leslie,’ released on 7 October 2022, focuses on a single mother, Leslie, who wins a lottery and spends all her money over the years. Finally, she gets left with nothing and struggles with her son to live somehow. However, ‘To Leslie’ did not get recognized enough to get straight into the Oscar nominations. Thus, the fans question its existence at the Oscars.
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Andrea Riseborough Controversy
The actors must ambitiously carry out Oscar campaigns to get nominated. The tasks for the same include private screenings, appearing on talk shows, print media, billboards, advertising buying process, and sending emails to the Academy members. It takes a lot of time and money, but Andrea did not have a major studio to get the latter one.
Andrea did not appear on the talk shows or magazine covers. Instead, Andrea’s nomination was a result of the word-of-mouth campaign. Leslie’s director, Michael Morris, and his wife, Mary McCormack, personally reached out to the Academy’s actor branch members to watch the movie and consider Andrea’s performance while voting for the nominations in case of acting.
Andrea’s peers among those members gave her massive support on social media, Critics Choice Awards, and the film’s screening in January. On the other hand, some thought that the rules of the Academy got broken.
Many critics thought that the black actors Danielle Deadwyler (for ‘Till’) and Viola Davis (for ‘The Woman King’) could not get into the nominations for the Best Actor category due to their partiality. Further, aggressive debates began over privileges in the industry.
How The Academy Handled It
The academy announced it would investigate how this year’s nominees conducted their campaigns. However, the film’s nomination will not get canceled. It promised to look for the violation of guidelines and find the changes required in the submission process according to the changing digital communication and the rise of social media. Power matters more in the industry. Thus, the Academy must consider equality and make the required changes.
Marc Maron, the co-star in ‘To Leslie,’ expressed his disapproval towards the investigation of the film’s nomination and blamed Momentum Pictures, the film’s distributor, for carrying the submission process carelessly, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
If we get deeper into the matter, we will understand that Michael and Mary did some odd things. For instance, they contacted the Academy members directly to consider the film. Mary McCormack organized the film screening only for the Academy members to boost it.
The filmmakers can send only one hardcopy mailing every Monday through Sunday and only one email (the weekly rule does not get applied to an email here). Similarly, filmmakers cannot add prohibited content to their emails. Meanwhile, Mary McCormack is neither a part of the film company nor directly related to the film. The Academy found social media the culprit and kept the Instagram account of the film, ‘To Leslie,’ under scrutiny.
Andrea Riseborough’s Reaction
The controversy began in January 2023, and Andrea reacted in February through The Hollywood Reporter. According to Andrea, she got confused and deeply affected by the controversy. She only wants the movie to reach numerous people, no matter how. Instead, she is glad that people watched her movie.
Andrea feels that she still fulfills the requirements set by her and others to get nominated. She finds the film industry partial, but she does not talk in favor of anyone as others are eligible to speak for themselves, and she is only keen to hear them. Andrea was grateful for the conversation as it was the need of the hour. However, she did not address the assumed violations of the rules.
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