British stars ready to shine at most diverse Oscars ever
SIR Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Sacha Baron Cohen and Gary Oldman are leading a British charge for glory at this year’s Oscars, they learnt yesterday.
Sir Anthony, 83, becomes the oldest person to be nominated in the Best Actor category for his role in The Father.
But favourite to win is America’s Chadwick Boseman – who died from cancer last August at the age of 43 – for his role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Olivia, 47, is up for Best Supporting Actress for The Father, too, after winning Best Actress in 2019.
British stars Carey Mulligan, 35, and Vanessa Kirby, 32, are nominated for Best Actress this year for Promising Young Woman and Pieces Of A Woman, while Gary, 62, and Riz Ahmed, 38, will fight it out with Sir Anthony for Best Actor.
Supporting
Gary starred in Mank, the film that received the most nominations at 10, while Riz was in Sound of Metal.
Meanwhile Daniel Kaluuya, 32, and Sacha Baron Cohen, 49, are up for Best Supporting Actor for Judas And The Black Messiah and The Trial Of The Chicago 7 in the ceremony on April 25.
The UK’s Emerald Fennell, 35, is nominated for Best Director for Promising Young Woman, along with China’s Chloe Zhao, 38, for Nomadland. It is the first time two women have been in that category.
IN this time of depressing news, we need some collective morale boosting. So it’s great that this year’s Oscar nominations are showcasing the best of British female talent with Olivia Colman, Carey Mulligan and Vanessa Kirby up for Academy Awards, as well as Riz Ahmed the first British Muslim to be nominated for Best Actor, and Sir Anthony Hopkins at 83 the oldest person ever to be nominated as Best Actor, for his role in The Father.
We’ll have to wait till April 26 to watch the awards, but we should already applaud our fine homegrown talent.