Greta Gerwig is weighing in after she and Margot Robbie failed to receive Oscar nominations for Barbie.
The internet went ablaze last month after Gerwig, 40, and Robbie, 33, were not recognized in the Best Director and Best Actress in a Leading Role categories, respectively. Following a slew of reactions from fans and celebrities alike, Gerwig broke her silence on the topic in her TIME 2024 Women of the Year profile.
“Of course I wanted it for Margot,” she told the outlet in the interview, which was published on Wednesday, February 21. “But I’m just happy we all get to be there together.”
Despite the shocking exclusions, Gerwig expressed her joy for the eight Oscar nominations Barbie did receive. “A friend’s mom said to me, ‘I can’t believe you didn’t get nominated,’” she shared. “I said, ‘But I did. I got an Oscar nomination.’ She was like, ‘Oh, that’s wonderful for you!’ I was like, ‘I know!’”
Gerwig scored a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay alongside her husband, Noah Baumbach, who cowrote the blockbuster hit. Barbie is up for Best Picture, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design, with two nods for Best Original Song for “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera are also nominated for their supporting performances.
Barbie broke a number of records following its premiere in July 2023, becoming the biggest domestic and global film release in Warner Bros. history, according to the Los Angeles Times. Barbie scored the biggest movie opening weekend of 2023 and was the high-grossing film of the year. It is tied with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 for the fastest Warner Bros. movie to reach $1 million at the global box office.
Gerwig also made history, with Barbie, becoming the first solo female-directed film to reach $1 billion. The film’s accomplishments are part of why narrator Helen Mirren said Gerwig and Robbie shouldn’t sweat their Oscar snubs.
“You can’t get upset about things like that, honestly,” Mirren, 78, told Entertainment Tonight earlier this month. “What is fantastic is that Barbie was the highest-grossing film that Warner Brothers has ever had in their lives and do you remember who won best film of the year before last?”
Other cast members, however, still think the duo deserved recognition for their work on the film. “To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement,” Gosling, 43, said in a statement last month.
Ferrera, 39, called her own nomination “bittersweet,” telling Entertainment Weekly, “[Greta and Margot are] my girls, and I want to see them celebrated for their amazingness.”
Robbie, for her part, maintained a positive outlook while attending a SAG-AFTRA screening of Barbie last month. “There’s no way to feel sad when you know you’re this blessed,” she said at the event, according to Deadline. “Obviously, I think Greta should be nominated as a director, because what she did is a once-in-a-career, once-in-a-lifetime thing, what she pulled off, it really is. But it’s been an incredible year for all the films.”
The 2024 Academy Awards air on ABC Sunday, March 10, at 7 p.m. ET.
