Kristen Stewart and Ariana DeBose become the first queer-identifying actors to score major Oscar acting nominations.
As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the nominees for the 2022 Oscars on Tuesday (Feb.8), the LGBTQ+ community was greeted with some good news: for the first time since Sir Ian McKellen was nominated in 2002 for Best Supporting Actor in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, an openly queer-identifying performer was nominated in an action role. Actually, two members of the Alphabet Mafia were nominated Tuesday morning: Ariana DeBose, who scored a Best Supporting Actress nod for her role of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story; and Kristen Stewart, who was nominated for Best Lead Actress for her turn as Princess Diana in the historical fiction drama, Spencer. “WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!?” Adriana,31, tweeted shortly after the nominations were announced, along with a pair of pictures. The Golden Globe winner looked beside herself in the first pic, not believing that she was up for an Oscar. The second photo showed her and her friend basking in the joy of the recognition. “Once I compose myself, I’ll have real words to say,” she wrote. “But until then…” She ended her tweet with a series of emojis that helped register her shock.
