With fewer diverse films to consider, Academy voters can’t forget about ‘Mudbound’ and ‘Get Out.’
LOS ANGELES —There’s just no telling this year.
After back-to-back cycles of #OscarsSoWhite, a hashtag created in response to zero actors of color nominated in major acting categories in both 2015 and 2016, the Academy awards focused on diversifying its membership, welcoming roughly 1450 new members into its ranks in the span of two years.
Last year saw great progress, with the low-budget wonder Moonlight ultimately scooping best picture ( La Land- Envelopegate aside).
But as this year’s contenders have churned towards the official start of awards season, a worrisome reality has emerged: There are very few films led by actors of colorin the 2018 Oscar race.
So far, the best picture race belongs to predominately white-led films like the WWII epic, Dunkirk, Gary Oldman’s Winston Churchill biopic, Darkest Hour (out Nov. 22), Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks’ Pentagon Papers drama The Post (Dec. 22), Daniel Day Lewis’ fashion-forward Phantom Thread (Christmas) and the fantasy love story, The Shape of Water (Dec. 1).
“There’s a very good chance that another #OscarsSoWhite controversy will explode again this year, considering how few African-Americans have current buzz in the new Oscars race,” says Tom O’Neil, founder of awards season site GoldDerby.com. “Though there are contenders, none of them is a sure bet and none is considered to be a frontrunner.”
Instead, right now the best actor race is tightening around stars like Oldman, James Franco ( The Disaster Artist), Day-Lewis, Timothee Chalamet ( Call Me By Your Name) and Hanks, while the best actress race is circling Frances McDormand ( Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Margot Robbie ( I, Tonya), Sally Hawkins ( The Shape of Water), Saoirse Ronan ( Lady Bird) and Jessica Chastain ( Molly’s Game) .
All powerhouse performances. All white.
The barrier for entry remains high. To successfully compete for an Oscar, candidates need a qualifying release (a 2017 theater run of at least seven consecutive days, with provisos) plus strong studio backing (meaning cash, as campaigns are expensive and involve a plethora of consultants, Q&As in front of voters, swanky cocktail parties and mailers).
So which actors of color star in 2017 films which hit those marks? There’s Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel (out Nov. 17), a film which received tepid reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival but has since been re-edited and has been playing to stronger reaction.
On Friday, Mudbound debuts on Netflix starring Mary J. Blige and Carey Mulligan in the segregationist drama of a white and black family working on the same plot of land in Mississippi in the 1940s.
The Academy loves Octavia Spencer, having nominated her twice (the latter nod a surprise for Hidden Figures). This year Spencer has a solid, if small supporting role in The Shape of Water, playing her mute coworker’s (Sally Hawkins) best friend. And many hope Daniel Kaluuya – who plays the harrowingly trapped boyfriend in Jordan Peele’s racial thriller Get Out – will snag a surprise nomination.
Meanwhile, the Asian and Latino communities remain at the margins once again with limited screen time in U. S. prestige films. Still, there are strong hopes for Downsizing’s screen-stealing star Hong Chau for best supporting actress (despite some who have called her stereotypical portrayal of a Vietnamese housekeeper in Alexander Payne’s new comedy racist). And Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro seems a lock for a directing nod for The Shape of Water.
Mudbound, a film brimming with talent from Blige to Jason Mitchell, comes with one major caveat: the film’s distributor is Netflix, which, in the Oscar race, is an albatross around its neck. Many Academy members remain resistant to voting for a streaming service project that bypasses a traditional theatrical release ( Mudbound will debut in just 17 theaters on Friday while hitting Netflix simultaneously).
“Theatrical exhibition is holier than thou,” says Pete Hammond, awards columnist for Deadline.com, noting how gritted teeth would mix with applause on Oscars night should a film which shunned a major theatrical run find success at Hollywood’s highest level.
But if voters “can get over that, then Mary J. Blige has a very good odds for a best actress nomination,” he says.
Here’s the brass tacks: “When you really get down to it, it’s a question of are the Academy voters going to watch the movie? And when they do, how will it play for them?” says Anne Thompson, editor at large for film industry news site IndieWire.
A positive angle in this Oscar season is the heartening uptick in women behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Films like Lady Bird, Three Billboards and I, Tonya feature powerful women-led stories.
Dee Rees may become the first African American female director to be nominated for Mudbound. Her cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, could score a record-setting nomination as well.
“I believe (voters will) lean into women, given what they have to work with,” says Thompson.
Diversity at the Oscars “won’t be as good as last year,” she says, “but Mudbound and Jordan Peele could save the day.”
Contributing: Brian Truitt
