The nominees for the 87th Academy Awards were released this morning by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, directors J. J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón, and actor Chris Pine. Those who were nominated quickly took to Twitter and other media outlets to express their gratitude to the Academy and fans. Meanwhile, others expressed discontent at the lack of diversity in the major categories.
“So excited and honored to receive this recognition,” Benedict Cumberbatch, who’s nominated for Best Actor for his role as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, released in a statement. “It’s wonderful to be included by the Academy in this exceptional year of performances. To ring my parents who are both actors and tell them that their only son has been nominated for an Oscar is one of the proudest moments of my life.”
Emma Stone was so excited about her Best Supporting Actress nomination for Birdman she wrote, “Well, this is surreal. I am completely knocked out. Thank you to the Academy for this incredible honor. I am very proud and lucky to be a part of Birdman and can’t believe it came to this. I am so f–king excited. Are you allowed to say f–k when you’re making a statement for the Oscars? I’m just really f–king excited.” This is Stone’s first Oscar nomination.
Julianne Moore, who’s nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Still Alice, wrote on Twitter, “Thank u everyone for the congratulations! I am so happy I can barely breathe #makingmyselfdizzy #AcademyAwards”
thank u everyone for the congratulations! i am so happy i can barely breathe #makingmyselfdizzy #AcademyAwards
— Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) January 15, 2015
Thank You @TheAcademy for the #Foxcatcher nomination! Honored and humbled. Thanks @channingtatum @SteveCarell and Bennett Miller. The best.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 15, 2015
“Thanks to all you folks with so many congratulations tweets. Heart warming support. You are too damn good,” Mark Ruffalo tweeted after being nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Foxcatcher.
Thanks to all you folks with so many congratulations tweets. Heart warming support. You are too damn good.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 15, 2015
Robert Duvall, Best Supporting Actor nominee for The Judge, released a statement saying, “Playing a challenging role like Joseph Palmer was a reward in itself, but getting recognition for the work from the Academy is a real honor. And we all know that we don’t work alone – my performance is really just part of a very collaborative process, so I have to thank everyone I worked with on The Judge, especially David Dobkin and Robert Downey Jr., for giving me the chance, and the freedom, to bring the character to life.”
Best Animated Feature Film nominees Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, who directed Focus Features’ The Boxtrolls, wrote, “One word – HONORED! We are honored and humbled to accept this nomination in recognition of our amazingly talented cast and crew – the artists, actors, craftspeople, and freaks who brought The Boxtrolls to life. We are eternally grateful to them and to our fearless leaders, producers Travis Knight and David Bleiman Ichioka,for making it all possible. Thank you so much, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, for including us in this great list of nominees! We would be thrilled to sit in the dark and clap for any one of them.”
5 Oscar nominations for Whiplash?!! Booya!
— Miles Teller (@Miles_Teller) January 15, 2015
So grateful for @TheAcademy Award nomination for GLORY!!! On MLK’s birthday!! @SelmaMovie @Common
— John Legend (@johnlegend) January 15, 2015
While many are pleased with this year’s Oscar nominations, plenty of people are outraged over the lack of diversity among nominees, especially in the major categories. One individual the public says got snubbed the worst was David Oyelowo, who portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma.
“Oscars as white as the midterm election,” Twitter user Daniel Aubry (@Aubs89) wrote, while Chris Jancelewicz, Huffing Post Canada’s entertainment editor, tweeted, “I cannot believe there is not one non-white nominee in the acting categories. That is appalling. #OscarNoms.”
The noms are 98% white. Like the most obviously white group in a long time. I’m PISSED about the David Oyelowo snub.
— delaney (@delaneynovinka) January 15, 2015
This isn’t the first time this has occurred in recent history. In 2011 all of the contenders in the acting categories were white. Before that, this hasn’t occurred since the Oscars in 1998.
The 87th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on February 22, 2015 with actor Neil Patrick Harris scheduled to host the ceremony for the first time.
