Joker is leading the BAFTA nominations and is up for 11 awards in total. Photo / Supplied
Joker is leading the BAFTA nominations and is up for 11 awards in total. Photo / Supplied
The nominations for the EE British Film Awards, Britain's equivalent of the Academy Awards, were announced Tuesday - and not a single person of color is nominated in the best acting categories.
Joker, the well-reviewed but controversial film starring Joaquin Phoenix as a tortured comic book villain, leads the nominations with 11 in total. The film's accolades include a best actor nod for Phoenix, who won a Golden Globe Sunday for the role and is expected to be among the best actor nominees at the Oscars next month.
The rest of the best actor category isn't particularly surprising - Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood) and Adam Driver (Marriage Story) are both up against Phoenix - but the supporting actor list notably overlooks Eddie Murphy, who made a well-received comeback in Netflix's Dolemite Is My Name.
The BAFTA nominations also bring great news for New Zealand filmmakers Anthony McCarten (The Two Popes) and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit). Both are up for the award for best adapted screenplay.
The Two Popes and Jojo Rabbit both received nominations in the acting categories. Jonathan Pryce is up for best actor and Anthony Hopkins was nominated for best supporting actor for The Two Popes. Scarlett Johannson received a best supporting actor nod
The Two Popes Jonathan Pryor (left) as Pope Francis and Sir Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict. Both actors received BAFTA nominations for their roles. Photo / Netflix
The nominations for the upcoming ceremony, commonly referred to as the BAFTAs (after its voting body, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and often seen as a bellwether for the Oscars, sparked swift social media backlash. Film fans on both sides of the pond tweeted their outrage with the hashtag #BAFTASsowhite, a spin on the 2016 #OscarsSoWhite campaign that forced Hollywood to confront its abiding lack of representation.
Among those shut out of the leading actress category were Lupita Nyong'o, who impressed critics with her macabre turn in Jordan Peele's Us; Cynthia Erivo, whose portrayal of famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet earned her a Golden Globe nod; and - perhaps most glaringly - Awkwafina, who won a statuette Sunday for her dramatic breakout in Lulu Wang's The Farewell. (The Queens native is up for the EE Rising Star Award, which is chosen by viewer votes.)
Jennifer Lopez missed out on a nomination for her role in Hustlers. Photo / Supplied
Jennifer Lopez, meanwhile, failed to get a nomination in the supporting actress category despite already earning a Golden Globe nomination (and Oscar buzz) for her acclaimed performance in "Hustlers." The supporting actress category includes two nods for Margot Robbie (who starred in both "Bombshell" and "Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood"). Scarlett Johansson also received two nominations: a leading actress nod for "Marriage Story," and a supporting actress nod for "Jojo Rabbit."
April Reign, the activist who created the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, was among the critics who noted that several actors of color appeared prominently in promotional images for the nominations despite the lack of diversity among the actual honorees. "Don't use people of color as window dressing if they're not invited to the show," Reign tweeted.
Some of BAFTA's oversights echoed existing critiques of this year's awards season. Like the Golden Globes, the U.K. ceremony will not feature any women among its best director nominees, though "Little Women" director Greta Gerwig and the writers behind Olivia Wilde's "Booksmart" did score nods for best adapted screenplay and best original screenplay, respectively.
Since some BAFTA members are also in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the nominations prompted some to urge the Oscars not to make the same mistakes.
Diversity among nominees "does continue to be an industry-wide issue," said BAFTA's director of awards, Emma Baehr, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. "I think more films need to be made, and entered, giving people a chance to see them. We'd absolutely like to see more diversity, but I also don't want to take away from those celebrating today."
The BAFTAs will be held on Feb. 2 in London, and the Graham Norton-hosted ceremony will air that night on BBC America. The nominations for the most closely watched categories are below. The full list is here.
