Helen Mirren has chimed in on the Barbie discourse and the film’s widely-discussed Oscar “snubs”.
The British actor, who narrated the record-breaking movie, weighed in after filmmaker Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie weren’t nominated for Best Director and Best Actress last month, shocking many fans.
“You can’t get upset about things like that, honestly,” the former Oscar winner told Entertainment Tonight last week.
“What is fantastic is that Barbie was the highest-grossing film that Warner Bros. has ever had,” she added, referring to a studio behind the film.
The 2023 film helped spur a rare phenomenon for cinephiles, who made “Barbenheimer” a trending topic on social media by expressing their effusive glee for both Greta’s film and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which was released on the same day.
Though the Academy Awards rewarded both blockbusters with plenty of nods in January, moviegoers fumed at the omission of Greta and Margot from the coveted directing and acting categories.
“Greta’s work was so out there, was so brave,” Helen told ET, saying that she would have “loved” to see the director snag the nomination for Barbie.
“It was something we’ve never seen before. So I just love the fact that the audience responded the way they did,” Helen added.
The cinema icon isn’t the only cast member who’s responded to the Oscars controversy, with Margot, America Ferrera and Ryan Gosling also speaking out recently.
Ryan said that he was “honoured to be nominated” for Best Supporting Actor but “disappointed” about Greta and Margot, later hinting that he had even stronger feelings about the snubs.
America, meanwhile, said that she was “incredibly disappointed,” while Margot said that “there’s no way to feel sad when you know you’re this blessed.”