Source: Charley Gallay / Getty
The 2024 Oscar nominations were announced today (Jan. 23). While critics have their opinions about surprise nominations and films that were snubbed, the biggest shock is finding out Niecy Nash-Betts, Sterling K. Brown and Danielle Brooks are all related. Check out the list of diverse nominees and a few fan reactions to the news inside.
Films Oppenheimer, Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon dominated the list of contenders for the 96th Academy Awards this year. Oppenheimer leads with 13 nods, including Best Picture. Nine other films join Christopher Nolan’s project to compete for the top prize including Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Celine Song’s Past Lives, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things and Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest.
Poor Things received 11 nominations and Killers of the Flower Moon followed closely behind with 10 total nominations. Barbie secured eight nominations.
There were many historic nominations this year with several diverse actors and films included.
Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American nominated for best actress, for her role as Mollie Burkhart in the crime thriller Killers of the Flower Moon.
Colman Domingo became the first Afro Latino to be nominated in the Best Actor category for his performance in the civil rights drama Rustin. Jeffrey Wright, who starred in American Fiction, joins Domingo in the Best Actor category. This is the second time in Oscar history where more than one Black actor was nominated for the leading prize. The first was the 2004 Oscars with Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) and winner Jamie Foxx (Ray).
Wright’s co-star Sterling K. Brown was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal as Clifford “Cliff” Ellison, a recently divorced and once closeted gay man. This is the first time a Black lead actor was nominated alongside a supporting actor from the same film.
Domingo and best supporting actress nominee Jodie Foster (Nyad) made Oscar history becoming the first two openly LGBTQ actors who have been nominated for playing LGBTQ characters.
Two Black women were nominated for supporting actress. Danielle Brooks represents for The Color Purple as the film’s only nominee. Da’Vine Joy Randolph is nominated for her portrayal in The Holdovers. They were also joined by America Ferrera for Barbie, the ninth Latina actress ever nominated in the category.
First-time director and screenwriter Celine Song made history as the first Asian woman nominated for best original screenplay for Past Lives.
A few other highlights to mention in this year’s Oscar nominations list include: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse for Best Animated Feature Film, Bobi Wine: The People’s President for Best Documentary Feature, and Jon Batiste for his performance song “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony.
Everyone’s in such great company.
Actress Niecy Nash-Betts loudly and proudly celebrated her actual cousins Brown and Brooks on their Oscar nominations. She shared a post on social media saying, “Both of my COUSINS are OSCAR NOMINATED ‼️‼️ Yes! We are blood related! REAL cousins!” she wrote in a caption to her post. “I’m so proud of my fam! @thedaniellebrooks @sterlingkbrown I’m rooting for you! 💜🎉💜🎉💜🎉💜🎉.”
Check out her post congratulating them below:
Fans are shook that these three phenomenal talents are all related.
Check out a few fan reactions below:
Congrats to all the 2024 Oscar’s nominees! Be sure to stay tuned for the 96th Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 10th.
