It’s no secret that the Academy Awards and diversity haven’t gone hand-in-hand in the past. And following the 2023 Oscar nominations being announced, many of the troubling trends for Hollywood’s biggest night remain prevalent. No women in the Best Director category, zero Black actors were nominated in the leading categories and the Best Actor category was completely composed of white men. Let’s talk about the numerous incredible performances by POC talent that could have been recognized at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Before we get into it, it should be noted that this year marked a record-breaking year for Asian actors being nominated, between Everything Everywhere All At Once’s many grabs and The Whale’s Hong Chau getting the Supporting Actress nomination.
Here are some of the performances we wish were in the running for a golden trophy.
Jeremy Pope (The Inspection)
Jeremy Pope has been in award conversation for his role in The Inspection, a drama about a young man who decides to join the marines after being rejected by his mother for being gay. The actor earned nominations for his lead performance at the Independent Spirit Awards and Golden Globes after the movie received critical praise. It’s surprising to see Pope get shut out of the Oscar race after all of the acclaim he received leading up to the nominations.
Danielle Deadwyler (Till)
Danielle Deadwyler was absolutely incredible as the mother of Emmett Till in Till, a powerful film about how Mamie turned her grief into activism during the Civil Rights Movement after her 14-year-old son was abducted, tortured and lynched in 1955. The actress was also in the awards conversation for some time, finding nominations at the Critics Choice Awards, BAFTAs and winning Outstanding Lead Performance at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. Unfortunately, other actresses were picked above her in the very competitive leading category.
Viola Davis (The Woman King)
Speaking of Best Actress snubs, how the heck did Viola Davis get snubbed for The Woman King? Davis was recognized by the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes for her powerful performance as the leader of the all-female warrior unit of the Agojie, but when it came to the Oscars, she was not chosen. Sure Davis has been nominated four times by the Academy and won in 2017 for Fences, but you cannot deny the work she did here, including doing just about everything when it came to stunts.
Tang Wei (Decision To Leave)
Park Chan-Wook’s Decision To Leave absolutely broke me. This movie missing out on Best International Feature certainly is on our Oscars snubs list, but if it were up to me, I would have also thrown in Tang Wei on the list for Best Actress. The actress gave a magnetic performance as Seo-Rae, the object of Hae-Jun’s suspicion in his detective case, and affections. The Chinese star was not nominated for any major awards this season for the role.
Donald Elise Watkins (Emergency)
Speaking of underrated roles, not enough people are talking about Emergency, which was among CinemaBlend’s top 10 movies of 2022. The independent film directed by Carey Williams premiered at Sundance and SXSW before it went to streaming on Amazon Prime. The movie is about a pair of Black college students who find an unconscious white girl in their place and have to contemplate calling the police. It had a standout performance from Donald Elise Watkins -- who played the role of Kunle -- who is just getting his start in Hollywood.
Taylor Russell (Bones and All)
Another amazing performance I’m not going to forget anytime soon is Taylor Russell’s in Bones and All. Following a previously buzzy performance in 2019’s Waves, Russell beautifully and intricately brought life to a peculiar story of two cannibals who fall in love. She was a nominee at the Independent Spirit Awards and the Gotham Independent Film Awards, but when it came to the Academy, perhaps Bones and All was too weird for the voting body.
Amber Midthunder (Prey)
Considering Prey went straight to streaming on Hulu, Amber Midthunder’s amazing performance in it was likely not qualified for the Academy Awards, but nonetheless it deserves some recognition. The unlikely Predator prequel had Midthunder playing a warrior in the Comanche Nation that shared a ton of success and praise from Hollywood and the Native American community. Sure, it’s an action thriller, but why are actors who give dramatic performances the one’s primarily being recognized by the Academy?
Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness)
The Best Supporting Actress category was stacked too, and it’s pretty amazing that Angela Bassett got in for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Stephanie Hsu got recognized for her amazing Everything Everywhere All At Once performance too. One snub that a lot of people are talking about though is Filipino actress Dolly De Leon missing out on an Oscar nomination for her role in Best Picture nominee Triangle of Sadness. The actress did an amazing job of portraying a cleaning lady who rises through the ranks of power when a luxury cruise goes down and its survivors end up on an island.
Keke Palmer (Nope)
Once again the Academy also failed to recognize 2022 horror movies that deserved consideration. Jordan Peele’s latest movie, Nope, was absolutely cinematic and included a memorable performance by Keke Palmer that we won’t soon forget. While Palmer’s performance was in the awards conversation, it never quite made it to the nominations. That doesn’t mean her role didn’t deserve more recognition. Alien movies are worth Oscars too!
Janelle Monáe (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)
Then there’s Janelle Monáe’s role in Glass Onion. The supporting performance was a huge highlight in Rian Johnson’s mystery that was stacked with talented actors. Monáe stole the show as not one character, but two, one of which has to play someone playing someone else. It was pretty amazing and they were in the conversation, earning recognition from Critics Choice for her performance.
There are so many incredible performances this year and those who were nominated deserve recognition as well, but here’s hoping more of the many diverse and talented actors in Hollywood are given the spotlight in years to come. The Academy Awards are set to air on ABC with host Jimmy Kimmel on Sunday, March 12.
