“Roma” scored two surprising Oscar nominations Tuesday in two of the biggest categories: Yalitza Aparicio in Best Actress and Marina de Tavira in Best Supporting Actress. The dual acting bids make Aparicio and de Tavira, both Mexican, two of the few Latina actresses to be shortlisted by the academy.
Aparicio is just the fourth Latin American to be nominated in Best Actress, following Fernanda Montenegra (“Central Station,” 1998), Salma Hayek (“Frida,” 2002) and Catalina Sandino Moreno (“Maria Full of Grace,” 2004). Aparicio is just the second Mexican nominee after Hayek. None of the first three won.
SEE Oscar nominations: See the full list of nominations
There have been a few more Latina nominees in Best Supporting Actress. De Tavira joins Katy Jurado (“Broken Lance,” 1954), Rita Moreno (“West Side Story,” 1961), Norma Aleandro (“Gaby: A True Story,” 1987), Adriana Barraza (“Babel,” 2006), Berenice Bejo (“The Artist,” 2011) and Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave,” 2013). Jurado, Barraza and Nyong’o are all Mexican-born, and Moreno and Nyong’o are the only winners.
SEE ‘Roma’ and ‘The Favourite’ reign over Oscar nominations with 10 apiece
Aparicio, a schoolteacher who was plucked by Alfonso Cuaron to play the lead in “Roma,” was in fifth place in our odds, but he nomination wasn’t secure by any means as she missed Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA nominations, hitting only at Critics’ Choice in a field of seven. De Tavira didn’t make the cut at any major precursor and was in ninth place in our odds. But both were clearly passion picks for voters and received a lot of top rankings on nominating ballots. Shout-out to Cuaron as well for making it a point to mention his leading ladies in every speech he could.
“Roma” earned 10 nominations total, co-leading the field with “The Favourite.”
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