Film academy adds Taylor Swift, others
LOS ANGELES — The most exclusive club in Hollywood is once again parting the velvet rope, with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announcing Wednesday that it is opening its ranks to 398 new members.
Representing 51 countries, the list of invitees includes such boldface names as Taylor Swift, Austin Butler, Keke Palmer, Paul Mescal, Ke Huy Quan, Selma Blair and Bill Hader, as well as many performers, filmmakers, executives and belowthe-line professionals whose names have never appeared in lights. The group includes 76 Academy Award nominees, such as “Banshees of Inish- erin” co-star Kerry Condon and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” nominee Stepha- nie Hsu, as well as 22 past Oscar winners, including “Everything Everywhere” co-star Quan.
With the organization continuing to push for greater inclusion even after reaching its post-#OscarsSoWhite diversity goals, 40% of the members of the new 2023 class identify as women and 34% are from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities. A little more than half are from outside the United States.
In the directors branch, the invitees include Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, a.k.a. Daniels, who won the directing prize this year for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which also took home the best picture Oscar, as well as Edward Berger, whose “All Quiet on the Western Front” won the trophy for international feature this year and also scored a best picture nod.
In the music branch, which has brought in such pop stars in recent years as Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish, the invitees include Swift, whose song “Carolina” from “Where the Crawdads Sing” was considered a potential original song contender this year but failed to make the cut, and David Byrne, whose “Everything Everywhere” song “This Is a Life” earned a nomination this year and who shared an original score Oscar in 1988 with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su for Bernardo Bertolucci’s epic “The Last Emperor.”
If all accept their invitations, the film academy’s total membership will grow to 10,817, including 9,375 voting members.
“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang said in a joint statement Wednesday.