Margot Robbie opens up about ‘Barbie’ nominations at the Oscars and her and Greta Gerwig’s absence

The 2024 Academy Awards will reward the most outstanding films of the year, and ‘Barbie’ has been one of the most talked about in 2023. Yet despite its 8 nominations, the feeling of many is that it has fallen far short of what was expected. The other big release of the summer, ‘Oppenheimer’, has achieved 13 nominations. The two big absences have been Greta Gerwig for best director and Margot Robbie for best actress, and the ‘Barbie’ star has finally broken her silence and spoken about the movie and her feelings about the Oscars snub.

Robbie spoke about what happened during a SAG-AFTRA discussion (via Variety), highlighting that “there’s no way to feel sad when you know you’re this blessed. Obviously, I think Greta should be nominated as a director. What she did is a once-in-a-career, once-in-a-lifetime thing. What she pulled off, it really is. But it’s been an incredible year for all the films.” She added that “We set out to do something that would shift culture, affect culture, just make some sort of impact. And it’s already done that and some, way more than we ever dreamed it would. And that is truly the biggest reward that could come out of all of this.”

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An outstanding 2023 for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie

‘Barbie was the highest-grossing film of 2023, a real phenomenon that has captivated millions of people around the world, and that is what Margot Robbie is left with: “People’s reactions to the movie have been the biggest reward of this entire experience. Whether it’s seeing what people are writing online, or even just seeing how much pink I can see in this room right now…I’ve never been a part of something like this. Not like this. I’ve done comic book stuff and that gets a big reaction, but this felt very different. It still feels very different. And I can’t think of a time when a movie’s had this effect on culture. And it’s amazing to be in the eye of the storm.”