Ti West is still proudly banging the "Oscar for Mia Goth" drum

Let Ti West be the first to say it: Please, Mia Goth is a STARRRR! Although the 2023 Oscars are already fading into the rearview mirror, West is still standing strong in his belief that Goth deserved a Best Actress nomination for her work in his Scorsese-approved stylized horror romp Pearl. (Of course, Michelle Yeoh ultimately clinched the award this year for Everything Everywhere All At Once)

In a new interview with The Independent, West further opines that his muse deserved a little bit more recognition for her work as the axe-wielding, stardom-starved Pearl—perhaps in the form of a certain prestigious gold statuette.

“In my opinion she deserved [an Oscar], but at the same time, I don’t feel that it takes anything away from what she did,” West shares with The Independent’s Annabel Nugent. “It would have just been a nice addition.”

Goth herself hasn’t directly addressed missing out on a Best Actress nomination. But in a January interview, she did touch on the Academy’s relationship to horror cinema in general, calling it “very political.”

“It’s not entirely based on the quality of a project per se,” Goth said about the nominations process. “There’s a lot going on there and a lot of cooks in the kitchen when it comes to nominations… A change is necessary. A shift should take place if they wanted to engage with the wider public. I think it would be of benefit, really.”

Sure, Oscars don’t always make it into the hands of the most deserving films, but according to West, the perceived egregiousness of that disparity “depends on how seriously you take something like the Oscars.”

“If you take it very seriously, then maybe you’ll notice that a certain kind of movie isn’t there as much, but also maybe the Oscars see themselves as more about movies that are representing a different message in a way,” West muses. “It’s hard to say.”