Jessica Chastain criticizes Woman King’s Oscars

Even though the 2023 Academy Awards were held more than a month ago, supporters of the award-winning film “The Woman King” continue to call on the Academy to discredit the production.

You may recall that while the film was recognized at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and SAGs, it was left out of the Oscars, infuriating fans worldwide.

One such supporter is Viola Davis’ “The Help” co-star Jessica Chastain, who recently defended Davis at an event in New York while accepting her Oscar for such defamation.

Jessica Chastain believes it has the fingerprints of “The Woman King” Viola Davis

On Monday, April 24, Chastain honored the 57-year-old actress at the 48th Chaplin Awards presented by Film at Lincoln Center in New York.

After several hours of speeches from several guests, in which Davis was hailed for her exemplary acting skills, the “Jolene” star took the stage to praise her former co-star and present her with the Oscar. He said he thought IndieWire“When I see a movie like ‘The Woman King,’ it has Viola’s fingerprints on it.”

Chastain added that a film with a female director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and “strong black female leads” could be made in Hollywood, thanks to Davis’ “lifelong advocacy for women of color.” Then, with a subtle jab at the Academy, he said:Maybe one day such a film will be nominated for an Oscar.”

Later, the “Zero Dark Thirty” star told the outlet, “Someone had to say it. I mean, come on. No Oscar nominations for this movie? There must have been some members of the Academy in that room, right?

In early March, Chastain and Halle Berry presented the Best Actress award to “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star Michelle Yeoh, making her the first Asian actress to win the award. Meanwhile, Berry was the first black actress to receive such an honor.

The other four nominees in this year’s category were “Tár” star Cate Blanchett, “Blonde” star Ana de Armas, “To Leslie” star Andrea Riseborough and “The Fabelmans” star Michelle Williams.

In the same month as the awards, ‘The Woman King’ director opened up about the snub, saying: ‘I’ll never get over it because what happened was horrifying and … it speaks to a bigger problem in our industry . “

Prince-Bythewood also stated that even in the face of exclusion, creators like him would be ready to do something so big and collective, ensuring the energy is maintained regardless of the situation.

Davis’ “Woman King” snub sparked an Academy investigation

After the Oscar nomination list was released in February Davis’ “The Woman King” and other prominent African-American projects such as “Till” and its star Danielle Deadwyler are not nominated.

Surprisingly, however, “To Leslie” star Riseborough made the list after only being nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, and his film grossing just $27,000 at the box office before its prominent Oscar nod.

The nod didn’t sit well with many fans of color, who criticized the influence of big Hollywood names such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Edward Norton and Kate Winslet, who ran social media campaigns to promote Riseborough’s work to Academy voters.

This prompted the Academy to examine and revise its rules regarding online campaigning and its impact on actor nominations. On January 27, it was announced that the Academy was reviewing its rules on social media campaigns, after which CEO Bill Kramer confirmed that Riseborough’s nomination would not be withdrawn.

Kramer’s statement began with an update on the reasons for the investigation before saying the Academy found no wrongdoing in the campaign tactics. He said“The Academy has determined that the activity has not risen to the level where the film’s nomination should be revoked.”

In addition, the Academy chief noted that Riseborough’s campaign strategy needed to be addressed, before saying parts of the organisation’s rules needed to be clarified to “provide a better framework for respectful, inclusive and impartial campaigning”.

According to him, the changes were planned to be implemented after the 2023 award cycle and will be shared with Academy members.