Best Supporting Actress Brought Us a Surprise Oscar Nomination!

There are some times when an Academy Award nomination comes out of nowhere, sometimes knocking a popular choice out of the running, but sometimes, the unexpected nominee is an amazing choice. That happened at the 2024 Oscar nominations with America Ferrera, for her work in Barbie.

Both Supporting Actor categories featured a surprise performance when the nominees were announced on January 23. Instead of Charles Melton for May December, we saw Sterling K. Brown snag a nomination for American Fiction (both men should have been nominated for their work). Ferrera, in theory, knocked out contenders Sandra Hüller for her film The Zone of Interest (she was nominated in Lead Actress for Anatomy of a Fall) as well as Julianne Moore in May December.

This marks Ferrera’s first Oscar nomination, which in itself is a celebration because her name will always have “Academy Award Nominee” before it now. But her nomination, while a welcome surprise, is beyond deserving.

Ferrera’s nomination means everyone who was inspired by her work in Barbie was beyond justified in those feelings. She played Gloria, a woman who was struggling with a lot in her life, particularly with her daughter not wanting to “hang out” and play with her anymore. Trying to navigate through those feelings wasn’t easy for her, and we ended up getting a monologue where Gloria told Barbie (Margot Robbie) all about how hard it is to be a woman.

While the monologue has been criticized for being “basic,” Ferrera herself has made a great point about it: Sometimes, it is what we need to hear as women. And it made for one of the most moving moments of Barbie, as she connected with her own Barbie and taught her that it was okay to be uncertain.

Gloria is the heart of Barbie

Ferrera’s joy of being in Barbieland, meeting her doll that she saved and connected with, was relatable. Many of us were going into Barbie searching for that love we once had for the doll, and Gloria was our guide through that. It wasn’t an easy part to nail because she was speaking for the audience in a lot of ways. But what Ferrera did was bring our own anxieties and feelings into Gloria to make her connect with us on a deeper level. Her monologue worked because we’d been on a journey with her just as much as we were with Robbie’s Barbie.

This nomination was just a beautiful reminder of what Gloria means to us, Ferrera’s career as a whole, and the moments of Barbie that have stuck with fans since seeing the movie. We don’t yet know who is going to win, but knowing that America Ferrera will always be labeled an Academy Award nominee is pretty incredible.

(featured image: Warner Bros.)