When the 2018 Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday morning, three incredibly talented Black women simultaneously made history: Filmmaker Dee Rees, actress/singer Mary J. Blige and Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer.
With Dee Rees’ historical drama “Mudbound” earning a total of four major Oscar nods, she became the first Black woman to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Charles D. King, founder of MARCO Ventures, the media company who produced “Mudbound,” took to Instagram to congratulate Rees on her incredible accomplishment, writing:
I’m so proud, happy and thrilled for this historic moment. Huge congrats to my friend the brilliant filmmaker Dee Rees for making history today by becoming the 1st African American woman to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. A testament to your extraordinary talent and another monumental moment for our industry. It’s an honor to have worked with you on this film and this acknowledgment by The Academy is so well deserved!”
Blige’s leading role and original song for “Mudbound” scored her two Oscar nominations, one for Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Song, making her the first person ever to be nominated for an acting performance and an original song in the same year.
Photo credit: Steve Dietl/ Netflix (Blige in “Mudbound”)
“My phone rang at about 5:30 a.m. and it was my publicist, Amanda (Silverman), and she was screaming,” said Blige as she recalled the moment she found out about her Oscar nominations. “And I don’t know what it is so I’m screaming and I’m crying! It’s just a really emotional time. We’re not taking this lightly, because things like this don’t happen. And it did.”
Spencer joins Blige in the same category, and as she was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “The Shape of Water.” By securing her third Oscar nomination, Spencer is now the first Black actress to receive multiple nominations after winning an Oscar and the first Black actress to receive two back-to- back Oscar nods in consecutive years.
Photo via: Fox Searchlight (Spencer in “The Shape of Water”)
Spencer also ties with fellow actress Viola Davis as the most nominated Black actress in Oscar history.
Congratulations, ladies! We’ll be rooting for all of you!