Compete with names as well known as Cate Blanchett, Michelle Williams or Ana de Armas. However, who is Andrea Riseborough? And who ever heard of To Leslie before her best actress nomination at the Oscars? She has been one of the biggest surprises among all the applicants this year to take a statuette home. Especially since she, in choosing her, has not measured any expensive company promoted by a large film studio, but rather Recognition from your fellow professionals.
They say that the important thing in any competition is to participate and, perhaps, this time it is more true than ever because, whatever happens on March 28 at the Dolby Theater in Los AngelesAndrea Riseborough has already won.
Only the most knowledgeable had heard of the work of this 41-year-old British actress until, a few weeks ago, a group of actors and actresses from Hollywood’s ‘A list’ began to campaign on their personal social media for their nomination.
Normally, to get an Academy Award nomination, it is not enough for a movie itself to be good, but behind the scenes of the process there is a lot of “politicking” with campaigns in which distributors invest millions of dollars.
I don’t post a lot about films or actor performances…maybe I should more often. But for those interested in really great acting I’ll share that Andrea Riseborough’s portrayal in ‘To Leslie’ just knocked me sideways. It’s about the most fully committed, emotionally deep… pic.twitter.com/62fN9FiNfc
— Edward Norton 🌻🇺🇦 (@EdwardNorton) January 10, 2023
However, this has not happened in this case. To Leslie It’s a low-budget movie from a small independent distributor called Momentum Pictures. In fact, the film premiered in March 2022 at SXSW and in its passage through theaters in the United States it only raised $ 25,000 (pretty little for the uninitiated) in a limited release.
Until now, the actress herself had not been a star in the awards season beyond a nomination at the Independent Spirit Award and another at the Chicago Critics Association. So how has she managed to suddenly knock herself out of the pool to favorite this category as Danielle Deadwyler and Viola Davis?
Riseborough owes it in large part to a group of renowned actors and actresses who began campaigning for her nomination on social media. We talk, neither more nor less than Jennifer Aniston, Charlize Theron, Sarah Paulson, Edward Norton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet or Amy Adams.
At the top of her Critics Choice speech, Cate Blanchett shouts out TO LESLIE star Andrea Riseborough… pic.twitter.com/Wrdm13mEv4
—Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 16, 2023
This got attract the attention of specialized media and even more influential actors were added: Susan Sarandon, Helen Hunt, Mira Sorvino, Rosie O’Donnell, Alan Cumming, Rosanna Arquette, Debra Winger, Patricia Clarkson… Even Cate Blanchett praised the work of the British in her acceptance speech for the best actress award at the Critics Choice Awards.
His is one of those raw and heartbreaking performances in a movie about a alcoholic single mother who, after having squandered all the money won in the lottery a few years ago, turns to his son for help.
In Spain, we had already known how to see and reward the quality of his interpretation and that is that, in our country, the film was released in the Gijon Festival, where she won two awards, including best actress for Roseboroug.
At the moment, its premiere is not planned on or on platforms, although we hope that the nomination will change this and facilitate its distribution. You may have seen her, without knowing it, in other productions since she has been in the industry for 20 years. In Birdman, Oblivion Y nocturnal animalss, among others, played secondary characters. However, she starred Nancywith which he got the award for best actress in Sitges 2018. You can search his face also in Black Mirror.
Cover photo | To Leslie