In the past year, many of us haven’t been able to catch a movie on the silver screen amid coronavirus shutdowns. However, it hasn’t stopped filmmakers and actors from bringing audiences remarkable films – and making history with Oscar nominations.
The nominees for the 2021 Oscars were announced Monday (March 15) morning – Mank leads the pack with 10 nominations, with Amanda Seyfried scoring her first Oscar nomination for her role in the film. For the first time ever, two women are up for Best Director. Steven Yeun also makes history as the first Asian American to be nominated for Best Actor for his role in Minari.
Check out the some of the reactions from this year’s uber talented line up of stars on their Oscar nods.
Daniel Kaluuya
Nomination: Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Judas and the Black Messiah
“Chairman Fred Hampton was a light, a beacon of a being who would illuminate all he touched with his incredible message. With the ability to command any stage and robbed of his opportunity to captivate a global audience. He created strategies that supported and uplifted the black community but also unified other communities with his laugh, his mind, his passion and his love. Today, I am humbled to be nominated for portraying a man whose principles I deeply respect and for guiding me to walk in his footsteps. With the blessing of Chairman Fred Hampton’s family, and the unwavering support from Ryan Coogler, Shaka King and Charles King, and the cast led by LaKeith Stanfield and Dominique Fishback, I became a vessel for Chairman Fred’s spirit at a time when we need his rally cry for equality and justice more than ever. I commend my fellow nominees for their impressive work. To be seen and celebrated by my peers in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is beautifully humbling and I am deeply grateful. Thank you.”
Gary Oldman
Nomination: Best Actor, Mank
“After such a stressed pandemic year, there is a kind of comfort and reassurance in knowing that we soldier on in many ways with important traditions. In our industry there is nothing more traditional than the Academy Awards, which hopefully sends a sign of hope that we will get out of this. The Oscars are such a sign that normalcy still exists. In my case today marks my third Academy Award Nomination. Not to trivialize the current state of the world, it is a source of great pride and an honor to be recognized alongside these other tremendous, wonderful artists.”
Viola Davis
Nomination: Best Actress, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
“Absolutely thrilled!! Congratulations to the whole Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom team. Deserved.”
Maria Bakalova
Nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
“Wow Wa We Waa! Thank you to the Academy for this honour! I really can’t believe this – to hear my name in the company of these remarkable women and their breath-taking performances is a dream come true! I am so grateful to Sacha Baron Cohen and my Borat family and congratulations to them for their Adapted Screen play nomination.”
Sacha Baron Cohen
Nominations: Best Supporting Actor, The Trial of The Chicago 7; Best Adapted Screenplay, Borat The Subsequent Moviefilm
“I’m incredibly humbled and grateful to the Academy for both nominations! First, to the team of Trial of the Chicago 7—acting is a team sport, and I would not be in this position if it were not for the brilliance of Aaron Sorkin and the incredibly talented actors and crew that he surrounded us with and who lifted us up every day.”
“Thank you, also, to the Academy for nominating Borat for the second time for Adapted Screenplay and for giving us the award for hiring the most WGA members in one movie. And, of course, congratulations to the sensational Maria Bakalova for her nomination! As a cast and crew, we took insane risks because we believed so deeply in the message of this movie—exposing the dangers of the last administration, but also celebrating the underlying goodness of ordinary people. Because underneath it all, we’re all the same, as Rudy Giuliani so very nearly demonstrated in that hotel room.”
Riz Ahmed
Nomination: Best Actor, Sound of Metal
“Wow! I’m honoured to be nominated by my fellow actors alongside such inspiring performances, and am grateful to the Academy for their support and encouragement. I’m equally thrilled for our visionary writer-director Darius Marder and the brilliant Paul Raci, as well as our editor Mikkel, sound designer Nicolas, and co-writer Abe Marder. These nominations represents the time, generosity and talents of so many — all of our incredible cast, crew, producers, and in particular I’d like to thank my mentors in the drumming, addiction recovery, and D/deaf communities.
Sound of Metal is about how a health crisis can cut you off from your life and loved ones, and force you to grow in unexpected ways. In a challenging year for so many, I hope this story can inspire us to forge new and deeper connections with ourselves and others.”
Amanda Seyfried
Nomination: Best Supporting Actress, Mank
“Working with David Fincher on Mank has been the highlight of my career, and being recognized by the Academy for an experience that brought me this much joy and fulfillment feels surreal. I won’t be able to thank David enough for trusting me with this role and for the honor of reintroducing the world to the Marion Davies that I’ve come to know. To get to study this brilliant, humble woman and help restore her legacy has been a true privilege. Congratulations to David, Gary, and the whole cast and crew of Mank today – your brilliance has not gone unnoticed and I am humbled to share this recognition with you.”
Vanessa Kirby
Nomination: Best Actress, Pieces Of A Woman
“It is the greatest honour to be ecognized by the Academy. And for a film I care so much about, and is so deeply in my heart. Thank you to Kornel and Kata for so bravely telling your story and for trusting me to be your Martha, to Kevin Turin and Ashley and Sam Levinson for believing in me, the cast and crew who I share this with, and to my family at Netflix for supporting and championing our story. I am so honoured that this story has been shared; it is one of so many women, and of their babies. This belongs to them.”
Steven Yeun
Nomination: Best Actor, Minari
“Thank you to the Academy for this honor to be nominated alongside such incredible artists. I am also grateful to see the talent of Lee Isaac Chung, Youn Yuh Jung, Emile Mosseri, and Christina Oh be recognized as well. If I’ve learned anything from this past year and from the experience of this film, it is that this life is shared. I am blessed to have shared in this with our brilliant cast and crew and I am only here because of them.”
Leslie Odom Jr.
Nominations: Best Supporting Actor, One Night In Miami; Best Original Song, Speak Now
“How am I feeling? Startled awake! I’m in a dark, quiet house in Los Angeles, feeling just amazing this morning. They can wake me up like this anytime.”
The 2021 Oscars is happening on April 25!
