Following Andrea Riseborough’s nomination, Christina Ricci questions the Academy’s assessment, saying, “If it’s taken away, shame on them.”
After Andrea Riseborough received the Best Actress nomination for her work in the understated independent film To Leslie, actor Christina Ricci wrote a lengthy post on Instagram challenging the Academy’s choice to revisit this year’s selections.
“Seems hilarious that the’surprise nomination’ of a really amazing performance is being met with a probe,” Ricci said. “This means that tons of money wasn’t spent to position this actress.” So only movies and actors with the financial means to support campaigns are deserving of praise? To me, it seems snobbish, exclusive, and somewhat retro.
She claimed that the actor never plans the campaigning for the candidacy, but now her nomination will be tarnished by this.
The final line of Ricci’s message read, “If it’s taken away shame on them.”
In a statement released on Friday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences stated that it was “doing a review of the campaign protocols around this year’s candidates.”
A new era of social media and digital communication may require adjustments to the principles, the organization added.
AMPAS statement
Though the AMPAS statement makes no mention of a particular movie or anyone, many speculate that it was in response to Andrea Risebourogh’s unexpected nomination for the underappreciated drama To Leslie.
During its limited theatrical run in October, the movie brought in little over $27,000, ranking it among the lowest-grossing films to ever receive an Oscar nomination. The directors took it upon themselves to ensure that the film was submitted and placed via the Academy’s screening system, and Riseborough and Morris appealed to friends for financial support because they had almost no funding for an awards campaign.
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Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Courteney Cox, Edward Norton, Jennifer Aniston, and Minnie Driver, among others, presented screenings. Riseborough was interviewed by Leslie co-star Marc Maron for his well-known podcast WTF.
Riseborough entered the discourse in the final days before voting ended thanks to a social media campaign led by these celebrities as well as Demi Moore, Jane Fonda, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Laura Dern, Frances Fisher, and many more.
Risebourogh told Deadline shortly after the nomination was made public: “I’m astounded…. We really hadn’t been considered for anything else, so it was quite difficult to think that it may actually happen. Despite the fact that we had a lot of support, the possibility that it may actually occur felt so remote.
