Barbie’s Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie Sh.ockingly Snubbed for Best Director, Actress Nominations at 2024 Oscars

‘Barbie’ director Gerwig and star Robbie were snubbed for Best Director and Best Actress nods at the 2024 Academy Awards as the list was unveiled Tuesday

Barbie has a lot to celebrate at this year’s Academy Awards, but Tuesday’s nominations also included some shocking snubs for 2023’s highest-grossing movie.

Greta Gerwig was left out of the Best Director category, while star Margot Robbie was absent from the Best Actress category.

Despite helming the No. 1 movie of the year at the box office, Gerwig, 40 was not recognized in the directing category. She was, however, nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, along with her husband and co-writer, Noah Baumbach.

Barbie was also nominated for Best Picture, which means co–producer Robbie, 33, is also up for an Academy Award, despite not clinching a nomination in the Best Actress category.

In the Best Actress category are Annette Bening (Nyad), Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Carey Mulligan (Maestro) and Emma Stone (Poor Things).

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Robbie has secured numerous awards this year for her acting work in Barbie, including nominations at the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards.

In previous years, Gerwig landed a Best Director nomination for 2017’s Lady Bird, her debut, though she did not get a nod for her other film, 2019’s Little Women. She did earn writing nominations for both of those films.

For Barbie, Gerwig earned directing nominations from the Directors Guild of America, Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards earlier this year.

Only three women have won Best Director in the history of the Academy Awards: Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for The Hurt Locker, Chloé Zhao in 2021 for Nomadland and Jane Campion in 2022 for The Power of the Dog.

Last year, Gerwig told W magazine about her directing style and how she thinks her acting background shapes how she works.

“I think there’s an advantage to being an actor who’s directing,” she said. “I know how vulnerable and how scary it feels. Margot [Robbie] said, ‘Just so you know, the week before we start shooting, I’m going to doubt that I can ever do this,’ and I was like, ‘I totally know that feeling. You go ahead and have that feeling.’ “

“And she was like, ‘Once we’re going, I’ll feel more like, ‘Okay, now I’m in it. I know how to do it.’’ I deeply empathize with that and try to figure out how to make them feel safe,” Gerwig added.

“Prior to doing [Lady Bird], I thought, ‘Well, once I’ve done it, then I’ll feel like, ‘Yes, I’m a director.’’ And then I didn’t really have that feeling,” she recalled to W. “I had all of the same terrors going into the second one. And I thought, ‘Well, but after the second one, then I’ll surely feel I’m a director.’ And then that feeling never came, and I realized, I don’t think it’s coming.”

“You feel like a beginner to whatever project you’re on,” the filmmaker explained. “My experience on the first movie was, I’m going to have to do it before I feel like I can, because if I wait to feel like I can, I’m never going to do it.”

The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will air live on Sunday, March 10, from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, beginning at 7 p.m. ET.