On the heels of high visibility LGBTQ representation at the Golden Globes, queer actors, characters, and filmmakers made another splash in the Academy Award nominations on Tuesday.
“A Star is Born,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Favourite,” “Green Book” and “Vice” were all nominated for Best Picture, marking the most LGBTQ-related films ever in the running for the top award.
GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis celebrated the increased diversity of the nominations this year.
“Today’s list of Oscar nominees reflect a banner year for LGBTQ inclusion in film and a signal that the Academy and its members are rightfully prioritizing diverse storytelling at a time when audiences and critics alike are calling for more,” she said.
This marks the third straight year that LGBTQ-related films are in the mix for Best Picture, with “Moonlight” and “The Shape of Water” winning the award the last two years, respectively.
“A Star Is Born” features bisexual singer Lady Gaga and is the third remake of an 82-year-old film of the same name, while “Vice,” in telling Dick Cheney’s story, touches on the sexuality of his out lesbian daughter, Mary. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a film that follows queer character Freddie Mercury, and it became embroiled in controversy early in its production over allegations that director Bryan Singer sexually assaulted at least four men. Singer was replaced by Dexter Fletcher, though Fletcher went uncredited.
Rami Malek, who won a Golden Globes Award just weeks ago for his role in that film, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. And Mahershala Ali, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2017 for his role in “Moonlight,” is vying for another Academy Award after starring as a gay man in “Green Book.”
Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz won award nominations for their roles as queer characters in “The Favourite,” a story of royal romantic intrigue set in the 18th century that wound up with a whopping 10 nominations, tied for the most overall. Colman was nominated for Actress in a Leading Role, while Stone and Weisz each earned nods for Actress in a Supporting Role.
Melissa McCarthy starred as a lesbian author and Richard E. Grant played a gay man as each earned a nomination for their roles in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” McCarthy is a nominee for Actress in a Leading Role, and Grant is being considered for Actor in a Supporting Role.
The adaptation of gay author James Baldwin’s “If Beale Street Could Talk” yielded a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, while gay writer Jeff Whitty, along with Nicole Holofcener, has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Filmmakers Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein, who is gay, received a nomination for “End Game,” a Netflix short documentary. The pair have worked on LGBTQ films in the past, including “The Times of Harvey Milk.”
Out gay composer and songwriter Marc Shaiman earned two nominations: one alongside Scott Wittman for Original Song after the pair penned “The Place Where Lost Things Go” in “Mary Poppins Returns,” and another for Original Score.same movie?
“Marguerite,” which was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film, follows an elderly woman who grapples with her sexuality after finding out that her nurse is lesbian.
