Barbie: Greta Gerwig doesn’t feel “snubbed” by the Academy

Last Updated on February 26, 2024

When the Academy Award nominations were announced last month, much of the discussion focused on two so-called “snubs” for Barbie: Greta Gerwig for Best Director and Margot Robbie for Best Actress. Both seemed like locks, since Barbie was one of the biggest films of the year and had been generating awards buzz for months. Added to that, both Gerwig and Robbie would be nominated by their respective guilds, an odds-on sign that they would work their way into Oscar nods. And while plenty have chimed in on the Barbie “snubs”, now Gerwig herself has weighed in, championing her lead.

Speaking with Time, Gerwig said that she was rooting for a Best Actress nomination for Margot Robbie, who added far more dimension to Barbie than we could she ever expected. “Of course I wanted it for Margot…But I’m just happy we all get to be there together.” And there will be plenty of other nominees in attendance, as Barbie is up for eight Oscars.

And while Gerwig may not have sealed a Best Director nod for Barbie, she is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, something even she noticed has gone under the radar. “A friend’s mom said to me, ‘I can’t believe you didn’t get nominated,’…I said, ‘But I did. I got an Oscar nomination.’ She was like, ‘Oh, that’s wonderful for you!’ I was like, ‘I know!’” Also garnering few headlines is Robbie’s nomination for producing the Best Picture nominee. And so while Gerwig and Robbie may have brought the most attention by being “snubbed” in the categories they’re more associated with, that they are still each nominated is no ignorable feat.

As far as how the DGA nominations compared to its Oscar equivalent, Christopher Nolan, Yorgos Lanthimos and Martin Scorsese overlapped, while Barbie‘s Gerwig and The Holdover‘s Alexander Payne were edged out by Justine Triet and Jonathan Glazer for Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest, respectively. Looking at the SAG nominees, it’s apparent that Anatomy of a Fall’s Sandra Hüller snuck in instead of Robbie.

Christopher Nolan won the DGA Award earlier this month, further solidifying him as the favorite for the Best Director Oscar. This weekend will see SAG awarding either Lily Gladstone or Emma Stone with Best Actress, giving the victor a stronger shot at the Oscar. Regarding the WGA, Gerwig and Noah Baumbach are up for Best Original Screenplay, while AMPAS placed them in the Adapted Screenplay category.

Do you think either Greta Gerwig or Margot Robbie has the slightest chance of taking home gold for their Oscar-nominated parts on Barbie?