The 'Woman in Gold' actress is defending the Academy over lack of diversity, saying, 'It's unfair to attack the Academy.'
- Feb 4, 2016
AceShowbiz - Helen Mirren weighs in on #OscarsSoWhite controversy. During an interview with Jon Snow of England's Channel 4 News, Helen is asked if she felt the Oscars are "behind the times" for failing to nominate a single black actor for the second year in row.
"I think it's unfair to attack the Academy," the "Woman in Gold" actress replies, "It just so happened this year it went that way." While Helen conceded that "Idris Elba absolutely would have been nominated for an Oscar," she explains that he was not simply because, "not enough people saw - or wanted to see - a film about child soldiers in Somalia or the Congo or somewhere like that."
The 70-year-old actress, who was promoting her new film "Trumbo" went on, "They just couldn't face watching that movie and so not enough people saw that movie. It wasn't in the cinema for long enough. The thing is all of these things count, people don't really realize how much these things matter."
"And because of all of that he wasn't nominated - which he absolutely should have been. And if he'd been nominated we wouldn't be having this discussion, but we should be having this discussion. The conversation is incredibly important. It forced the conversation," added Helen.
Clarifying her thoughts, Helen said, "I'm saying that the issue we need to be looking at is what happens before the film gets to the Oscars. What kind of films are made, and the way in which they're cast, and the scripts ... So it's those things that are much more influential ultimately than who stands there with an Oscar."
