The Oscar nominations may not have been everything people wanted, but the diversity in the acting categories had some highlights to celebrate.
Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American to be nominated for best actress for her breakout role as Mollie Burkhart in the crime thriller “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Colman Domingo became the first Afro-Latino to be nominated for best actor for his powerful performance in the civil rights drama “Rustin.” He will be joined by fellow Black nominee Jeffrey Wright for “American Fiction.” This is only the second time in Oscar history that more than one Black actor other than Will Smith or Denzel Washington has been nominated for the top prize. The first was the 2004 lineup of Don Cheadle (“Hotel Rwanda”) and eventual winner Jamie Foxx (“Ray”).
Wright's co-star Sterling K. Brown was nominated for best supporting actor for his role as Clifford “Cliff” Ellison, a recently divorced gay man. This is the first time a black lead actor has been nominated alongside a supporting actor from the same film (this has previously happened for Actor and Supporting Actress or Actress and Supporting Actress).
Domingo and best supporting actress nominee Jodie Foster (“Nyad”) also made Oscar history: It is the first time that two openly LGBTQ actors were nominated to play LGBTQ characters.
Two black women were nominated for supporting actress: Danielle Brooks for “The Color Purple” (that film's only nominee) and Da'Vine Joy Randolph for “The Holdovers.” They were joined by America Ferrera for “Barbie,” the ninth Latina actress ever nominated in the category, and the first winner since 2021, Ariana DeBose.
Debut director and screenwriter Celine Song made history when she became the first Asian woman to be nominated for best original screenplay for “Past Lives.”
Women also showed strong performances in several categories. No woman has been nominated in original screenplay since Emerald Fennell won in 2020 for Promising Young Woman. This year three authors will be honored with “Anatomy of a Fall” (Justine Triet), “May December” (Samy Burch) and “Past Lives” (Celine Song). The only woman nominated for the adapted screenplay is Greta Gerwig from “Barbie” (along with Noah Baumbach).
In original music, Laura Karpman received her first career Oscar nomination for composing the music for the Best Picture-nominated film “American Fiction,” one of five women to be honored in the category in the past 25 years.
It's not just about individual representation, but also about a refreshing mix of genre and non-English language titles. Reflecting the 93 countries represented on the ballot this year, this year was the first in which more than one film, predominantly not spoken in English, was nominated for Best Picture: “Anatomy of a Fall.” “, “Past Lives” and “The Zone of Interest”.
Four comedies — “American Fiction,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers” and “Poor Things” — are nominated for best picture and have been among the genre's highest-profile comedies in a single year since 2013 (“American Hustle,” “Her “, “Nebraska” and “The Wolf of Wall Street”). All four films were nominated for Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) at the Golden Globes.