Leave it to Helen Mirren to be classy about #OscarSoWhite. The Academy Award-winning actress sat down with Channel 4 News in the U.K. to talk about Trumbo, the Oscars and the race between Ted Cruz and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Mirren said that the Academy’s system isn’t necessarily flawed, but that this year’s nominations “just happened to work out that way” — “that way” being a race that includes only white actors, for the second year in a row.
She also cited Idris Elba’s award-winning performance in Beasts of No Nation, which “absolutely would’ve been nominated for an Oscar” if the movie had been seen by more people.
“The issue we need to be looking at is what happens before the film gets to the Oscars,” Mirren continued. “What kind of films are made and the way in which they are cast, and the scripts…it’s those things that are much more influential, ultimately, than who stands there with an Oscar.”
So, would Mirren boycott the Oscars?
“I wasn’t going anyway,” she laughed. “And neither was Spike Lee.”
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