Golden girls
Fresh from a winning streak in Hollywood, Aussie stars Sarah Snook, Margot Robbie and Elizabeth Debicki lead the nominees at the AACTA Awards, writes Siobhan Duck
CREDITING her childhood dress-up box and then-impending motherhood for her multi-layered performance as Siobhan “Shiv” Roy in the final season of Succession, an emotional Sarah Snook accepted her first Emmy Award on January 15.
“It’s very easy to act when you’re pregnant because you’ve got hormones raging,” she joked onstage, as she dedicated her prize to the baby daughter she welcomed last year. The day before, Snook had scooped up a Critics Choice Award, and took home a Golden Globe the week before that.
Now, with nominations for an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Award and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award, she may yet add to her 2024 prize haul. But Snook is not the only Aussie in the spotlight. Margot Robbie, the lead actor and producer of Barbie, and Elizabeth Debicki, who played Princess Diana in the final chapter of The Crown, are also in line for AACTA International Awards this week. The star wattage is real, says Krissy Marsh, one of the featured doyennes in The Real Housewives Of Sydney (which is AACTA-nominated for Best Reality Program) and who was at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles to see Snook claim her Emmy.
“I talked to her and she looked super, super nervous,” Marsh reveals. “It was really exciting to see an Aussie win.”
Marsh – who also rubbed shoulders with Debicki and The White Lotus Emmy winner Jennifer Coolidge at the ceremony – says the event was more relaxed than she expected.
“Even Harrison Ford arrived the way we did, by car and in through the front entrance,” she adds. “I’m not sure whether the AACTAs will have the same vibe. I’m sure there will be VIP treatment for some of the big celebs there. I’m really thrilled Housewives is nominated. We worked really hard on it, and I am super proud.” With the awards held in her home town on the Gold Coast, Robbie will be attending the ceremony, hosted by Rebel Wilson, to pick up the 2024 Trailblazer Award. Snook will be performing
The Portrait Of Dorian Gray on London’s West End, and it isn’t yet known whether Debicki will be present this Saturday.
Colin From Accounts star Helen Thomson, nominated for Best Acting In A Comedy, explains, “Sarah, Elizabeth and Margot have all done sensational work and it is thrilling to see them take home trophies and receive praise across the board. It’s heartening to see so many Australians do so well overseas, though not surprising.”
Bojana Novakovic, Best Lead Actress In A Drama AACTA nominee for her portrayal of Clara Mathieson on Love Me, only wishes her TV brother, played by William Lodder, could have been tipped for a prize along with co-stars Hugo Weaving, Heather Mitchell and Bob Morley.
“I don’t know why he is not nominated and wish I could do a Julie Andrews and hand back my nomination in protest,” she says, recalling when Andrews declined her Tony Award nod for Victor/Victoria in 1996 since she was the only one of the cast and crew to be acknowledged.
“But I won’t – I need my nomination – but Will should have one, too.”
Gogglebox Australia stars Adam Densten and Symon Lovett (whose series is once again nominated for Best Factual Entertainment Program) say of the vast slate of shows they’ve watched this year, Colin
From Accounts and Succession were stand-outs. The pair were particularly taken with Snook’s work – and, as Densten quips, it left an impression that lasted long after the series’ celebrated finale, saying, “Our wives now aspire to be more like Shiv Roy in the business world.”
The 2024 AACTA Awards air at 7pm on Saturday on Network 10. A director’s cut will be available to stream from 6.30pm on Sunday on Binge and Foxtel On Demand.