The Academy of Arts and Sciences, the body that votes on which movies win Academy Awards, has added 928 new members to its ranks, topping last year’s record of 774. The Academy invited all kinds of professionals, including directors, cinematographers and costume designers, but as always, the biggest number of invitees were actors, including a trio of performers well known for their roles on Game of Thrones: Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell).
Ever since the #OscarsSoWhite controversy in 2016, the Academy has been making a push to diversify its membership, and highlighted its strides in its official announcement:
Obviously, Clarke and Headey are part of the new wave of female members. Honestly, I’m surprising Headey wasn’t in already, having appeared in everything from The Remains of the Day to The Purge to the 300 movies. And appearing in Game of Thrones can’t have hurt, although admission to the Academy is understandably based on film credits.
Anyway, other notable admissions include Mindy Kaling, Dave Chappelle, Daisy Ridley, Hannibal Buress, J.K. Rowling, Ken Jeong and Westworld’s own Evan Rachel Wood.
The 91st Academy Awards won’t go down until next year (probably not long before the final season of Game of Thrones airs, come to think of it). We’ll see what the new class does with its power then.
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