The “scandal” surrounding To Leslie star Andrea Riseborough’s Best Actress Oscar nomination appears to be over. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have declined to take punitive action against Riseborough, meaning they will not rescind her nomination after a review of the campaign practices that many have questioned.
Academy CEO Bill Kramer wrote addressing the controversy…
“Based on concerns that surfaced last week around the TO LESLIE awards campaign, the Academy began a review into the film’s campaigning tactics. The Academy has determined the activity in question does not rise to the level that the film’s nomination should be rescinded. However, we did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern. These tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly.”
“The purpose of the Academy’s campaign regulations is to ensure a fair and ethical awards process—these are core values of the Academy. Given this review, it is apparent that components of the regulations must be clarified to help create a better framework for respectful, inclusive, and unbiased campaigning. These changes will be made after this awards cycle and will be shared with our membership. The Academy strives to create an environment where votes are based solely on the artistic and technical merits of the eligible films and achievements.”
So what exactly is it that “caused concern” to the Academy? When the Best Actress nominations were announced last week, it was a shock to most people to see Riseborough in the final five for her performance in To Leslie as a single mother combating her personal demons after winning the lottery and becoming a local celebrity. The Michael Morris-directed drama was hardly seen by most people (you can find my review here), although those who did raved about Riseborough in it.
A fierce social media and word-of-mouth campaign was launched, necessary because the film has a small distributor lacking the resources of major studios. Riseborough was fortunate to have a Murderer’s Row of A-listers openly campaigning for her nomination, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Patricia Clarkson, Pedro Pascal, Debra Winger, Sarah Paulson, and Ed Harris among them. Others, like Charlize Theron and Jennifer Aniston, even held events specifically to draw attention to Riseborough.
Before the Oscars, To Leslie hadn’t made a dent in the awards season. Riseborough earned an Indie Spirit nomination, but the other major groups shut the film out. However, she did get very high-profile mentions at the Globes and Critics Choice.
The problem the Academy has isn’t specifically with the successful “grassroots” campaign, it’s with any postings that may have singled out the other contenders. This has become a sensitive issue due to some feeling that Danielle Deadwyler for Till and Viola Davis for The Woman King had been excluded because Riseborough got in.
So Riseborough remains a Best Actress nominee, and her reward will likely be defeat to Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All At Once. At the very least, I hope all of this controversy has led more people to seek out To Leslie for themselves. It really is a great movie and Riseborough more than Oscars-worthy in it.