Harriet star Cynthia Erivo is calling for change following the lack of diversity in the recently revealed BAFTA nominations.
Earlier this week, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the nominees for their Awards, where all the nominees for the major acting categories were white.
Variety asked Ervio about the nods on the red carpet for HBO’s The Outsider, where the actress said there were many films this year that could’ve received recognition, and she was saddened that the BAFTA’s missed that opportunity.
“It’s disappointing to see that we’ve got[ten] to this point in time and we’ve had such wonderful advancement in inclusion and diversity, and the films this year were beautiful, such wonderful stories told, and to not have that represented in an awards show like the BAFTAs is just disappointing really,” she added.
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The actress also revealed that she’d turned down the opportunity to perform at the awards show because of the lack of representation, explaining, “The reason I didn’t perform is because I don’t think it’s proper representation, as a woman of color, of people of color in this industry.”
The BAFTAs have launched a review of their awards, and hope changes are put into effect in time for next year’s films.
