Andrea Riseborough opens up about her Oscar nomination and the controversy surrounding it

In her first interview since earning her Best Actress nomination for this year’s Academy Awards, Andrea Riseborough reflects on the subsequent controversy, people’s praise of To Leslie, and the necessary conversation regarding inequality in the awards circuit.

“It’s been confusing,” Riseborough tells The Hollywood Reporter of the last month. “And it’s wonderful the film’s getting seen. I suppose it’s a really bright ray of light. When any of us engage in anything, we want for that piece of work to be absorbed in some way. You can’t control how people absorb it.”

For Riseborough, social media played a major part in the tiny To Leslie’s sudden success, with rapturous praise from fellow actors such as Helen Hunt, Edward Norton, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Paulson, and even fellow nominee Cate Blanchett. With a nearly non-existent marketing and distribution budget, To Leslie became catapulted into the awards conversation primarily thanks to the help of a few, well-connected friends.

“That was just marvelous,” recalls To Leslie director Michael Morris. “And that’s kind of what social media does. It is a platform for people to touch base with the people that follow them and say in enthusiasm, ‘Check this out.’ People can pick up those threads and then they can amplify them if they like it.”

“When it got through to me that so many people were reaching out with personal and passionate responses about the film,” Riseborough says, “I was very moved—because the subject matter is very important to me, and I believe in the message of the film.”

Still, Riseborough did not put all of her eggs in Oscar voters’ basket.

“There was a lot of chatter beforehand in those few days leading up to [the nomination],” Riseborough says. “But the very realistic part of me that has been doing this for 20 years didn’t think this would happen. I don’t think that you dare to allow yourself to imagine that that would happen to something that you shot in 19 days.”

The January 24 nomination announcement instantly sparked a new conversation online, not one about the merits of Riseborough’s performance, but how her acknowledgment resulted in zero Black actresses landing a nomination, namely The Woman King’s Viola Davis and Till’s Danielle Deadwyler. Scrutiny regarding her “grassroots” Oscar campaign began to bubble, eventually resulting in a review conducted by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which did a deep dive into the string of screenings held prior to her nomination.

“It not only makes sense that this conversation would be sparked, but it is necessary,” Riseborough says of the controversy. “The film industry is abhorrently unequal in terms of opportunity. I’m mindful not to speak for the experience of other people because they are better placed to speak, and I want to listen.”

The Academy’s investigation resulted in no findings of foul play, but plenty of bitterness for the role social media played in the successful campaign. Upon the conclusion of its investigation, Academy president Bill Kramer said: “We did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern. These tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly.”

According to Riseborough’s co-star Marc Maron, the blame for the last-minute campaign falls on the shoulders of To Leslie’s distributor, Momentum Pictures.

“They botched the submission process. For a distributor, the submission process is a no-brainer. Michael wasn’t submitted for the Directors Guild Awards. The music wasn’t submitted, the ensemble wasn’t submitted for SAG or Golden Globes or Oscars. None of us were submitted for SAG Awards or Golden Globes, or Oscars. Just Andrea for the two or three awards that she was nominated for,” Maron says. “So in light of that, you know, when I saw this grassroots thing happen, and then it delivered her this nomination, I was thrilled. I was thrilled for her, and I was thrilled for the movie. It’s upsetting in retrospect that this experience has to be so loaded and toxic and challenged.

“A few highly paid consultants for big-money campaigns for big studios got blindsided and then started a bunch of shit,” he continues. “Andrea, she’s in it for the work, dude. I mean, if that’s not clear from this woman’s career—that she’s the real deal and she does it for the work—then you’re not looking at her correctly. But now that she’s targeted and at the center of this fake controversy, I hope it works in her favor.”

No matter where the blame (if there truly is any) lies, Riseborough knows how her nomination has been perceived and values the discussion that’s arisen in its wake.

“I am grateful for the conversation because it must be had,” she says. “It has deeply impacted me.”