Margot Robbie may have been snubbed for an Oscar nomination for “Barbie,” but don’t expect the actress to vie for sympathy. Deadline reports that Robbie isn’t fazed by her and director Greta Gerwig not getting nods for their 2023 juggernaut film. In her words, “There’s no way to feel sad when you know you’re this blessed.” Fair enough.
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Robbie’s comments came during a panel for a special SAG screening of “Barbie” on Tuesday night, promoting the film’s eight Academy Award nominations. Fans have rallied in protest again Robbie not getting nominated for Lead Actress and Gerwig for Best Director, but the actress doesn’t think it matters. “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,” Robbie said. “But it’s been an incredible year for all the films.”
And “once-in-a-career” puts it mildly for Gerwig’s accomplishment with “Barbie.” Due to the film’s success last year, she becomes the first female director to direct a movie that made over a billion dollars at the box office. “Barbie” made over $1.4 billion total in 2023, the year’s most financially successful film. Said Robbie, “I just suspect it’s bigger than us. It’s bigger than this movie, it’s bigger than our industry.”
And let’s face it, eight Oscar nods isn’t exactly something to shake one’s head at. Robbie said she’s “beyond ecstatic that we’ve got eight Academy Award nominations, it’s so wild.” Ryan Gosling leads the charge and brings the Ken-ergy for “Barbie” with a Best Supporting Actor nod as Ken, while America Ferrera nabbed a Best Supporting Actress nomination. Other candidates for “Barbie” at this year’s Oscars include Gerwig and partner Noah Baumbach for Best Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design, and Production Design. Oh, and a Best Picture nomination, too. “Everyone getting the nods that they’ve had is just incredible, and the Best Picture nod,” Robbie added.
“Barbie” may not have been the tried-and-true best movie of 2023, but by all other standards, it was the movie of 2023: a critical and box office success and a cultural phenomenon. “We set out to do something that would shift culture, affect culture, just make some sort of impact,” Robbie said about the film . “And it’s already done that, and some, way more than we ever dreamed it would. And that is truly the biggest reward that could come out of all of this.”
But Robbie has had fun with “Barbie” fans as the movie made its waves through society last year. The actress mesmerized the SAG screening audience with anecdotes of listening in theater bathrooms for audience reactions, and overhearing men on a bachelor party trip at a Scotland pub talk about the film. “It was just truly fascinating,” Robbie recalled. “There were people at the table who refused to see the “Barbie” movie. One guy was like, ‘Dude, it is a cultural moment, don’t you want to be a part of culture?’ And the other guy was like, ‘I’ll never see it,’ and by the end he did want to see it. It was a whole thing.” Robbie even approached the group of guys to say hi, but they didn’t recognize her initially. “It took a full minute for them to realize, and I was practically out the door,” she joked. “And then they were like, ‘Ohhhh!’ It was very funny.”
And that’s the most valuable part of “Barbie” for Margot Robbie. “People’s reactions to the movie have been the biggest reward of this entire experience,” said the actress, “whether it’s having a moment like that, or whether it’s listening in the bathrooms, or whether it’s seeing what people are writing online, or even just seeing how much pink I can see in this room right now.” And it feels right for Robbie to bask in the glow of “Barbie,” because it truly is a zeitgeist film. “I’ve never been a part of something like this. Not like this,” she continued. “I’ve done comic book stuff and that gets a big reaction, but this felt very different. It still feels very different. And I can’t think of a time when a movie’s had this effect on culture. And it’s amazing to be in the eye of the storm.”
Even though Robbie didn’t get a Best Actress nod for the Oscars, she’ll still be up for an award thanks to being a producer on “Barbie.” But will Gerwig’s film be able to out-muscle Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer” or Martin Scorsese‘s “Killers Of The Flower Moon” for Best Picture? Those feel like safer choices for the Academy to award (or even Yorgos Lanthimos‘ “Poor Things,” which, despite being risque, isn’t a risky pick considering “The Favorite” won Best Picture five years ago), but picking “Barbie” could still happen. Robbie will march onstage with fellow producers David Heyman, Tom Ackerley, and Robbie Brenner if it does win, along with Gerwig, Gosling, Ferrera and the rest of the “Barbie” cast in attendance. Could “Barbie” really snag Best Picture? Don’t count Gerwig’s film out, even if its director and leading lady aren’t up for awards.
