Tiffany Haddish, Kumail Nanjiani among film academy invitees
LOS ANGELES — The organization that bestows the Oscars is continuing to lean into its promise to make its ranks more diverse by inviting a record 928 new members representing 59 countries to join including actors Tiffany Haddish, Kumail Nanjiani, Gina Rodriguez and “The Rider” filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says Monday that that 49 per cent of its invitees are female and 38 per cent of are people of colour. Should all the invitees accept, the new class would boost its overall membership to be 31 per cent female and 16 per cent persons of colour.
“Hey yo. I’m in The Academy,” Pakistani-American Nanjiani, who co-wrote and starred in “The Big Sick,” tweeted Monday. His wife and co-writer Emily V. Gordon was also invited to join.
Others celebrated elsewhere, like Haddish, who got the news from Melissa McCarthy on the set of their upcoming film “The Kitchen.”