Oscar Nominations 2023

The most surprising best actress nomination without a doubt is Andrea Riseborough. Awards watchers will be picking themselves up off the floor after she was recognised for her performance in To Leslie.



There is no doubt that Riseborough is wonderful in the film, in which she plays an alcoholic mother in Texas who is trying to make ends meet after squandering her lottery winnings.

But the fact that the British star has come from hardly being on the radar to landing a leading actress nomination is quite astonishing.



To Leslie reportedly only made $27,000 (£21,800) at the box office when it first opened. (Having said that, it did make at least an extra £4.50 last week when I paid to rent it on a streaming service.)

Riseborough made a very late break for it in the best actress race thanks to a campaign from some Hollywood A-listers such as Courteney Cox, Susan Sarandon, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Winslet, Amy Adams Sarah Paulson, Edward Norton and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Many of those stars hosted special screenings of the film or tweeted their love for it in an attempt to encourage Academy voters to watch the film. They will be delighted by their success.

The film premiered last March at South By Southwest - which, unlike Toronto, Venice or Cannes, is not one of the film festivals considered a key part of the awards race. Riseborough's nomination would be a surprise - but also make the race much more exciting.

The fact that a grassroots campaign can make this kind of impact in the awards race will be of great fascination to pundits. As Erik Anderson of Awards Watch tweeted: "We are going to talk about the Andrea Riseborough campaign for DECADES to come."

www.bbc.com/news/live/entertainment-arts-64379662