“There was a moment where I wasn’t sure if I had made it up,” Ferrera says. “And then my phone started blowing up so I figured that I must have heard it right.”
The overwhelming emotion surrounding earning her first Oscar nomination has been shock.
She plays Gloria, the human lens through which “Barbie” is viewed in the $1.4 billion blockbuster comedy.
“I still haven’t really been able to get in my feelings because I’m still on like the top layer of ‘I can’t even believe that this is real,’” Ferrera explains.
She next heard from her The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars: Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel.
“They FaceTimed me as a group right away,” Ferrera says. “It was hilarious and funny and emotional and it’s wonderful to be celebrated and held up by my sisters. These women who I’ve had the honor of growing up with in this industry and being loved and cheered on and supported by them. Which we all do for each other. They’re amazing, and such a gift in my life.”
And because the “Barbie” group is flung across the world, they’ve been texting their congratulations to one another.
“It’s an overwhelming amount of love and support and congratulations to me,” she said. “I feel it so deeply and am so grateful for their love and support and in this moment. It’s been a long ‘Barbie’ journey — I mean longer even for Greta and Margot and Noah, it’s been years and years and years — everyone’s really excited that we get to celebrate and to end this journey at the biggest party of the year.”
Barbie also earned nods for best picture, supporting actor (Ryan Gosling), adapted screenplay (Gerwig and Noah Baumbach), costume design, production design, and original songs (“I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?”).
Snubbing Gerwig and Robbie
However two notable nominations were missing from that group: Greta Gerwig (best director) and Margot Robbie (best actress).
“I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated,” Ferrera says.
The nomination would have been Gerwig’s second Oscar nom for directing, following her first bid for 2017’s “Lady Bird,” and she’d been viewed as one of the leading contenders to receive a nomination after landing recognition from the Critics Choice and Directors Guild of America Awards, considered one of the most critical precursors to the Oscars.
All-Male Category
This year’s directing nominees are: Justine Triet (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Martin Scorsese (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer”), Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”) and Jonathan Glazer (“The Zone of Interest”).
As for Robbie — who earned a best picture nomination for producing “Barbie,” but was snubbed for what would’ve been her third acting nod — Ferrera has nothing but praise for her complex performance.
“What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable,” Ferrera says. “Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy, but Margot is a magician as actress in front of the screen, and it was one of the honors of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did. She brings so much heart and humor and depth and joy and fun to the character. In my book, she’s a master.”
