When Ariana Grande received the news of her Golden Globe nomination, she was playing a video game in bed. Her performance as Glinda in ‘Wicked’ has earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
‘It was Super Mario Party Jamboree,’ she said, smiling. ‘And I did not believe it,’ she stated about the acknowledgment.
On Tuesday afternoon, Grande attended the Academy Women’s Luncheon at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, which was hosted by Chanel. Many people wore head-to-toe outfits from the French label; Grande chose a V-neck minidress with black shoes and a matching bow in her hair.
“I got a call from my publicist, and I just started crying my eyes out,” Ariana Grande explained. “We were crying together over FaceTime. Then I contacted my mom, and then Cynthia [Erivo]. I then called my acting coach, Nancy Banks. It is quite surreal. You do not expect it. Of course, you attempt to keep your blinders on and focus solely on executing the job as best you can while honoring the role. You know, when it happens, it is incredible and overpowering, and I am very glad.”
She is recognized in the same category as Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña, Margaret Qualley, Felicity Jones, and Isabella Rossellini, who were also in attendance and wearing Chanel. Gomez claimed Grande was one of the first to congratulate her via text message. “I see how hard she works,” Grande explained.
Selena Gomez, who was nominated twice for “Only Murders in the Building” and “Emilia Pérez,” claimed she woke up at 3 a.m. the day the nominations were revealed.
“I thought they were earlier,” Gomez explained. “So I sat on my couch to keep myself awake. Then my boyfriend, Benny Blanco, and I watched the nominations. I was honestly shocked. I know people say that, but I believe Zoe has a stronger claim to that position, so being recognized was a huge surprise and honor.
The international success of Jacques Audiard’s film “Emilia Pérez” has opened up new opportunities for her, including an invitation to an Academy ceremony, she added.
“Can I be honest?” Gomez continued. “This is my first time attending this event, and I do not think I would have been able to come here before this movie, so it is opened up a lot of options for me, which is wonderful because I get to participate in luncheons that have nothing to do with food. “It is about being around women.”
What improvements does she like to see in the industry to promote gender equity?
“Unfortunately, with the mood of everything—I am kind of depressed,” she stated, alluding to the shifting political winds. “I am just trying to be optimistic, and I want to be a part of the change, whatever it looks like.”
“It is not happening as rapidly as we would like, but it is happening,” 95-year-old actress June Squibb, who plays in “Thelma,” said of the industry’s growth. She made her Broadway debut in the musical “Gypsy” in 1959. “And I think you can see that in the films this year, such as Emilia Pérez.”
“We are still waking up,” said Halina Reijn, director of the female-driven picture “Babygirl,” which stars Nicole Kidman. “Sometimes we think we are there, but we are not, especially in these times,” she added of gender equality. “To be honest, it is both sad and alarming. In the end, the patriarchy must shift. We can accomplish a lot on our own, but males must also contribute.”
She, too, wore Chanel.
“I think it is crucial that the fashion business, even if it is there to make us feel and look beautiful, gets behind feminism,” she said when questioned about fashion’s role. “It is amazing that Chanel supports this.”
Chanel, which is sponsoring the event for the third year in a row, sees it as an opportunity to honor filmmaking and support women in the business.
The Academy Women’s Luncheon, now in its eighth year, honors two aspiring female filmmakers, a US and a foreign fellow, who get financial assistance, mentorship, and networking opportunities as part of its one-year Gold Fellowship for Women program. This year’s spotlight was on Raha Amirfazli, an Iranian writer, director, and producer residing in New York, and Shadi Karamroudi, an actor, director, writer, and producer who was unable to attend owing to a tourist visa denial, reflecting the condition of Iran-US relations.
“I am extremely heartbroken that the other fellow, Shadi, could not be here with us today,” Amirfazli stated in her remarks.
Later, a group of women, including Janet Yang, head of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, gathered to call Karamroudi from the ceremony and congratulate her.
“That is sisterhood,” Yang said.