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America Ferrera, 39, earned her very first Oscar Award nomination for her work in Barbie on January 23, however, a few of her co-stars were not recognized. The starlet opened up to Variety about how she felt regarding Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig‘s lack of nominations. “I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated,” American told the outlet.
The 39-year-old even went on to add that Greta did “everything” she could to “deserve” the best director nod. “Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it,” America said to the outlet. “Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list.”
Meanwhile, Margot was included in the Best Picture category for Barbie, however, she did not receive a nod in the Best Actress category. “What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable,” America continued in defense of her co-star. “One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy, but Margot is a magician as an actress in front of the screen.”
America continued to gush over the 33-year-old and called working alongside Margot “one of the honors” of her time in Hollywood. “It was one of the honors of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did,” America said. “She brings so much heart and humor and depth and joy and fun to the character. In my book, she’s a master.” Aside from Greta and Margot’s snubs, America was nominated in the Performance by an actress in a supporting role category.
The box office hit did receive a few other nominations, including: Performance by an actor in a supporting role (Ryan Gosling), Achievement in costume design, Best motion picture of the year, Achievement in production design, and Adapted screenplay (Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach). Additionally, Barbie earned two other nods for the music in the film including: “I’m Just Ken” and Billie Eilish‘s “What Was I Made For?”.
Ryan also released a lengthy statement to Variety about his disappointment in the Oscars for not nominating Greta and Margot. “There is no Ken without Barbie,” his statement began. And although the 43-year-old emphasized that he was “honored” to be nominated, he was not happy that his co-star and director were excluded.
“I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. And I never thought I’d being saying this, but I’m also incredible honored and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken,” he added. “But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no ‘Barbie’ movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film.”
He also added that they were “very deserving” nominees. “No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement,” Ryan added. “Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad, and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history. Their work should be recognized along with the other very deserving nominees. Having said that, I am so happy for America Ferrera and the other incredible artists who contributed their talents to making this such a groundbreaking film.” The 96th Academy Awards will be held on March 10 in Los Angeles.
