"Greta has done everything that a director could do to deserve it"- America Ferrera talks about Greta Gerwig's snub and her Oscar nomination

America Ferrera earned her first-ever Oscar nomination for her role in the 2023 blockbuster film Barbie. When the Oscars 2024 nominations were announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, Ferrera could not believe when her name was on the list of actresses nominated for the Best Supporting Actress category.

In an interview with Variety on the day of the nomination announcement, she exclaimed that she could not believe whether her nomination was real or made up. She was snuggling in her bed alone while her husband drove her kids to school when the news about her nomination broke out.

While America Ferrera was happy to have received her nomination, she was also disappointed since director Greta Gerwig and lead actress Margot Robbie were not part of the Best Director and Best Actress categories, respectively. She said:

"Greta has done everything that a director could do to deserve it."

America Ferrera played the role of Gloria in Barbie. She was the person from the real world who helped Margot Robbie's Barbie bring order back to her Barbie world.

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"I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated" - America Ferrera on Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie's snub at the Oscars 2024

Ferrera became one of three people of color nominated in the Supporting Actress category. She, along with Da’Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers and Danielle Brooks for The Color Purple were the three people of color nominated. Ferrera shared that she was proud to be able to represent the Latin community through her nomination at the Oscars.

“It feels great to see the range of women that are being acknowledged in the supporting actress category and so excited that Lily Gladstone was in the Best Actress category as well.”

Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) and Jodie Foster (Nyad) are the other nominees in the category.

In addition to celebrating her Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Barbie's America Ferrera reacted to the news that director Greta Gerwig and co-star Margot Robbie lost out on nominations in their respective categories.

In her interview with Variety on January 23, 2024, America Ferrera said that Greta and Robbie's snub felt disappointing.

"Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list."

While Margot Robbie has received a nomination for being the producer of Barbie, she missed out on a nomination for the Best Actress category. America Ferrera complimented her co-star for her exemplary performance in the film and said:

"What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable. One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy, but Margot is a magician as an actress in front of the screen, and it was one of the honors of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did. She brings so much heart and humor and depth and joy and fun to the character. In my book, she’s a master.”

Ferrera also acknowledged Barbie for being one of three films directed by women which received the nod for the Best Picture category. She said:

"Women filmmakers telling all different kinds of stories that resonate in different ways in the culture is the goal. I would love to see even even more female-directed movies on the list and to see more female directors acknowledged for making the best cinema of the year."

The Oscar snub for Robbie and Gerwig in the acting and directing categories surprised many, as they recently received nominations at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards.

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The 96th Academy Awards ceremony is set to take place on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The Oscars 2024 will be aired live on ABC.