Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty for FLC; TriStar Pictures
Jessica Chastainis voicing her support for Viola Davis andThe Woman King.
The film received no nominations despite nods at theGolden Globes, BAFTA Awards andSAG Awards.
“When I see a movie likeThe Woman King, it has Viola’s fingerprints all over it. A movie like that with a female director and a cast of powerful Black female leads can get made in Hollywood today because of Viola’s lifelong advocacy for women of color. Maybe one day a movie like that can get nominated for an Oscar,” Chastain, 46, said,according to IndieWire.
Afterward, she told the outlet, “Someone had to say it. I mean, come on. Not a single Oscar nomination for that movie? There had to be some Academy members in that room, right?”
Meryl Streep, Viola Davis and Jessica Chastain.Nancy Rivera / SplashNews.com
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Davis has four Oscar nominations to her name and won Best Supporting Actress forFencesin 2017. Chastain has been nominated three times andwon Best Actress last yearforThe Eyes of Tammy Faye.
At this year’s Academy Awards in March, Chastain andHalle Berry— the first Black actress to ever win Best Actress —presented this year’s Best Actress trophytoEverything Everywhere All at Once’s Michelle Yeoh, who made history as the first Asian actress to win the award. The other four nominees in the category were Cate Blanchett (Tár), Ana de Armas (Blonde), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie) and Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans).
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for FLC
Prince-Bythewood told PEOPLE in March about the exclusion, “I’llnever get over it, becausewhat happened was egregious and … it speaks to such a bigger issue in our industry.”
“But,” she added, “[it also speaks to] who I am, the people around me, these actors. We will never take our foot off the gas. We’re ready to do something next. We’re ready to do something as big, we’re ready to do something together. So we always keep that energy no matter what happens.”
The Woman Kingis currently streaming on Netflix.
source: people.com
