Actress Andrea Riseborough has prompted a debate in Hollywood after her surprise nomination at the 2023 Academy awards.
On Tuesday (January 24), the nominations were announced for this year's Oscar awards, with stars like Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh, and Austin Butler leading the charge.
Among the snubs and surprises of the list was the inclusion of the 41-year-old British star in the Best Actress category for her role in the indie drama, To Leslie, which is about a Texas mother who wins the lottery.
As reported by BBC News, despite the rave reviews from critics about Riseborough's performance, the film reportedly only made around $27,000 at the global box office when it was released in October. Now, many believe that it was not enough to be a contender.
Check out the trailer for To Leslie below:In mid-January, a campaign began for the actress' nomination online, and prominent stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Adams, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Winslet, and Jane Fonda, all called for the flick to be considered by awards voters.
In addition to this, Cate Blanchett also mentioned Riseborough in her Best Actress speech as she accepted her Critics Choice Award.
While their efforts were successful, questions have been raised about how the Oblivion star earned the nomination and whether some of those campaigning for her violated any rules.
Due to this, the Academy Board of Governors has revealed that the subject will be part of the agenda at their next meeting on Tuesday (January 31), after they were reportedly bombarded with e-mails regarding it.
In a statement obtained by Variety, the Academy said their aim was to confirm that the competition is "conducted in a fair and ethical manner," and said that it was to verify that "no guidelines were violated" and review "whether changes to the guidelines may be needed in a new era of social media and digital communication".
The conversation over whether the Academy's regulations were broken by people endorsing Riseborough comes down to posts shared on social media which not only backed her but also spoke about her competitors - something that is prohibited.
As per official Oscars regulations, any "other forms of public communication by anyone directly associated with an eligible film attempting to cast a negative or derogatory light on a competing film or achievement will not be tolerated".
"In particular," they continued, "any tactic that singles out 'the competition' by name or title is expressly forbidden," and is "punishable by a one-year suspension of membership for first-time offenders".
Many people have pointed out a now-deleted Instagram post - which was published by the official To Leslie account - that shared a quote by writer Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times.
According to the outlet, the columnist wrote: "As much as I admired [Cate] Blanchett's work in Tár, my favorite performance by a woman this year was delivered by the chameleonlike Andrea Riseborough."
The decision on the Mandy actress' nomination has not yet been determined yet. Nominations have been rescinded before, but never in an acting category.