Steven Yeun, Riz Ahmed, and Viola Davis all make history with Oscar nominations
Film Features steven yeun
The announcement of the 2021 Academy Awards nominations this morning wasn’t without its share of surprises and disappointing snubs, but there are still some exciting firsts worth making special note of (though, as is often the case with awards show firsts, the “why did this take so long?” sense is predictably hard to shake). For starters, Steven Yeun is now the first Asian-American person to ever receive a Best Actor nomination (for his work in Minari), while Riz Ahmed is the first Muslim person to ever receive a Best Actor nomination (for Sound Of Metal), making this the first time two actors of Asian descent have ever both been up for that category at the same time. Yeun’s Minari co-star, Yuh-jung Youn, is also the first South Korean person to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Ahmed, in a statement to Deadline, offered a humble take on his nomination:
Whether they see me as the first British Pakistani, or the first guy from Wembley, you know, there’s so many ways to view it. But as long as it feels like an opportunity for more people than ever before to really connect and feel included in this moment, that’s a blessing.
Elsewhere, Viola Davis picking up a Best Actress nomination for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom makes her the first Black woman to ever get more than one Best Actress nomination, with her first coming from The Help in 2011. She is also now the most-nominated Black actress in the history of the Academy Awards, having been nominated four times (Doubt, The Help, and Fences being the other three).
This year is also the first time in the nearly century-long history of the Academy Awards that more than one woman was nominated for Best Director, with Nomadland’s Chloé Zhao and Promising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell both getting nods. Zhao is also the first woman of color to ever be nominated in that category and the first woman in Oscars history to get four nominations in a single year (she’s up for writing, producing, and editing as well).
We’ll see how these nominations shake out when the 93rd Academy Awards air on ABC on Sunday, April 25 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
17 Comments
Steven Yeun should have been nominated for the amazing Burning.
This nomination being for Burning as well is cannon in my head. This also somehow manages to give Burning the win for best picture, even though they don’t usually allow that for movies that came out years ago. Covid times are weird…
I hope Steven Yeun doesn’t get mudpie on his Oscar.
BREAKING all Oscar attendees have COVID because Steven Yeun used too small a slice.
Nobody likes his house anyway.
A Mads Mikkelsen nomination for Another Round would’ve been cool -personally I would’ve swapped out Oldman – but the Best Actor category is pretty strong this year, and it’s nice to see some of the other big categories with diverse nominees – turns out it’s not that hard! And with Mank and The Father also performing quite well, it shows there’s still plenty of room at the table for the usual Oscar-bait fare.
Mads should’ve been nominated for that ending scene alone (those who watched it will know!).
I haven’t seen Another Round yet – it’s not got a UK release – but Mikkelsen deserved a nomination for The Hunt. Its good to see his and Vinterberg’s reunion doing so well.
For starters, Steven Yeun is now the first Asian-American person to ever receive a Best Actor nomination (for his work in Minari), while Riz Ahmed is the first Muslim person to ever receive a Best Actor nomination (for Sound Of Metal), making this the first time two actors of Asian descent have ever both been up for that category at the same time.Why is Yuen the first and Ahmed second?
Because Riz Ahmed isn’t American, he’s British.
O. Hehe
Not even the first Asian-Brit. I think Ben Kingsley was for Ghandi back in 1982. He got the Oscar for that one.
There’s also the just plain odd note that for four years in a row, a movie’s star also contributed a song and both were nominated, with Mary J. Blige, Lady Gaga, Cynthia Erivo, and now Leslie Odom Jr.And if Leslie gets either or both, he’ll just be an Emmy away from an EGOT.
So Viola Davis has been nominated but never won? What’s up with that, she’s amazing!
Viola Davis has won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Fences.
Oh, cool. The way the article was written, it seemed like she’d only been nominated.
honestly, i watched ‘ma rainey’s black bottom’ because, being ignorant about the play, i thought it was about ma rainey.loved it and loved every minute of her in it, but i wanted 75% more viola davis.