The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Thursday that it would increase the Oscar voting pool to 10,143 people, a nearly 40 percent rise from a decade ago, when #OscarsSoWhite protests first put intense pressure on the group to diversify.
The problem: Despite greatly expanding the membership of women and people of color, the overall makeup of the academy remains overwhelmingly male and white — a reflection of the film industry itself.
If all of the 534 artists, technologists and other film workers invited to become members this year accept, the academy ranks will be 65 percent male and 78 percent white, according to data disclosed by the organization. In 2015, when the academy gave all 20 acting nominations to white actors for the first of two consecutive years, inspiring the #OscarsSoWhite movement, the group was 75 percent male and 92 percent white.
By the academy’s count, 41 percent of this year’s invitees are women and 45 percent are people of color. About 55 percent are from overseas, which would lift the academy’s overall international contingent to 21 percent.
Before the academy began to diversify its membership by race, gender and nationality, it limited annual invitations to as few as 115, contending that small classes kept the professional caliber of members high. In 2018, the academy invited 928 people. Last year, the number was 487.
Invitees this year include past Oscar winners and nominees like Mikey Madison, Ariana Grande, Fernanda Torres, Monica Barbaro and Kieran Culkin. The list also has stars like Danielle Deadwyler, Aubrey Plaza, Naomi Ackie, Gillian Anderson and Jason Momoa.
Left off the list was Karla Sofía Gascón, the first openly trans actor to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was among the best actress nominees at the most recent ceremony for her performance in “Emilia Pérez.” But she became a lightning rod after a journalist resurfaced a series of derogatory, years-old posts on X. In them, she denigrated an array of people, from Muslims to George Floyd, and even the Oscars ceremony itself. Gascón apologized but was largely shunned by the Hollywood establishment in the lead-up to the Oscars.
The academy typically invites every nominee to become a member. (Others must be sponsored by two members for consideration.) But an invitation is not guaranteed; the rules state that academy committees must review candidates and make recommendations to the organization’s board, which has final say on invites.
“Membership selection is based on professional qualifications, with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity remaining a priority,” the academy said in a news release listing the invitees.
The academy declined to comment on Gascón’s exclusion.
Brooks Barnes covers all things Hollywood. He joined The Times in 2007 and previously worked at The Wall Street Journal.
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