Michelle Yeoh is reacting to Wickedâs 10 Academy Awards nominations â and one category where it missed the cut.
Yeoh, 62, appeared on The View on Thursday, Jan. 23 to promote her new Star Trek movie Star Trek: Section 31, just after this yearâs Oscar nominations were announced. Yeohâs costars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo both received nominations for their acting and the film is also among this yearâs 10 Best Picture nominees, giving the Wicked team a reason to celebrate. Still, they wish their director Jon M. Chu was recognized.
âWe are all crying with joy, but we must say we are also crying because Jon M. Chu and Alice Brooks, our [director of photography], were not nominated,â Yeoh said, when asked whether she had spoken with Grande, 31, and Erivo, 38, since their nominations were announced. âBut the rest of us are celebrating â Best Picture, costume, hair. It is major.â
After The View cohost Ana Navarro remarked, âThis is the second time theyâve passed over Jon Chu. He should have been nominated for In the Heights,â Yeoh said, âYes, I agree with you!â
Chu, 45, was left out of the five-person Best Director field at this yearâs Oscars; Sean Baker (Anora), Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), James Mangold (A Complete Unknown), Jacques Audiard (Emilia PĂ©rez) and Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) make up the nominee field for that category. In total, Wicked is tied with The Brutalist for the second-most nominations among any movie this year; Emilia PĂ©rez received 13 total nominations and leads the field.
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âHe is incredibly brilliant, and all of the other nominations stems from Jon,â Grande told Variety in a Jan. 23 interview, when asked for her take on why Chu did not receive a Best Director nomination. âI know he feels like seeing Wicked be celebrated is a celebration of him as well. We just got off Facetime, and I told him how much I love him, and the truth, which is that absolutely none of this could have happened without his leadership, brilliance, empathy and thoughtfulness.â
Erivo also shouted out Chu in an Instagram post she shared in reaction to her own nomination; she would become an EGOT honoree if she wins the Best Actress award. âThank you @jonmchu, our fearless leader whose kindness provided us with the room to play, you are deserving of all good things and Iâm lucky to call you my brother,â she wrote in a caption.
Conan OâBrien will host the Oscars ceremony, which will air live from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and Hulu.
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