The Oscar nominations were released this week, with newly-minted stars and returning favorites among the mix. Of the 20 acting nominees, 12 had not earned recognition before for a previous performance (although Sacha Baron Cohen had been nominated for writing before). Here at Gold Derby, our editors and writers interviewed a vast majority of these new nominees, plus a handful of veterans. Scroll down to watch our interviews with 12 of this year’s Oscar-nominated actors.
We have spoken with three of the five Best Actor nominees — Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Gary Oldman (“Mank”) and Steven Yeun (“Minari”). Ahmed and Yeun made history with their nominations, with the former becoming the first actor of Pakistani descent to earn an acting bid and the latter being the first Asian-American performer nominated in either of the lead categories. Meanwhile, this is Oldman’s third Oscar nomination, previously winning this category in 2018 for “Darkest Hour.”
For Best Actress, our team interviewed the two stars who earned their first nominations this year — Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”) and Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”). Day and Kirby both made their debut lead performances in a film and landed Oscar attention in the process. Day follows in the footsteps of Diana Ross, who was nominated in 1973 for playing Billie Holiday herself in “Lady Sings the Blues.”
Best Supporting Actor is almost complete, with Gold Derby having talked to four of the five nominees: Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”), Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”) and LaKeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). Of this group, only Kaluuya has been nominated before, earning a Best Actor bid in 2018 for “Get Out.” Odom is concurrently nominated in the Original Song category for penning “Speak Now,” the end credits song for “One Night in Miami.”
In Best Supporting Actress, we have covered three of the nominated performers: Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) and Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”). All three are nominated for the first time, with Youn becoming the first Korean actress nominated for an Oscar. Click the links below to see our chats with 12 of 2021’s Oscar-nominated actors.
Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”)
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)
LaKeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
PREDICT the 2021 Oscars winners through April 25
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