Steven Yeun, Nathan Lane, Issa Rae, Robert Pattinson, Janet Jackson, Leslie Odom Jr. and Laverne Cox are among the artists being invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The organization that puts on the Oscars said Thursday that 395 film industry professionals, 46% of whom are women and 39% from an underrepresented group, have been invited to join the 2021 class. If they accept, which most do, they will have voting privileges at next year鈥檚 Oscars.
New invitees from this year鈥檚 Oscar nominees include Maria Bakalova (鈥淏orat Subsequent Moviefilm鈥�), Andra Day (鈥淭he United States vs. Billie Holiday鈥�) and Paul Raci (鈥淪ound of Metal鈥�), as well winners like 鈥淢inari鈥檚鈥� Youn Yuh-jung, 鈥淢ank鈥� cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, singer-songwriter H.E.R. and 鈥淧romising Young Woman鈥� writer Emerald Fennell.
Fennell was also invited to the director鈥檚 branch alongside fellow 2021 nominee Lee Isaac Chung (鈥淢inari鈥�). Those invited in multiple branches must decide which they want to join.
A recent Oscar nomination doesn鈥檛 guarantee an invite, but it is a starting point for selecting artists and executives, like Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek, who have made significant contributions to film.
Other acting invitees include Carrie Coon (鈥淭he Nest鈥�), Kingsley Ben-Adir (鈥淥ne Night in Miami...鈥�), Henry Golding (鈥淐razy Rich Asians), Clea DuVall (鈥淶odiac鈥�), Hugh Bonneville (鈥淧addington 2鈥�), Stephen Root (鈥淥ffice Space鈥�), Eiza Gonz谩lez (鈥淏aby Driver鈥�) and Jonathan Majors (鈥淒a 5 Bloods鈥�).
Among the directors invited are Lizzie Borden (鈥淏orn in Flames鈥�), George C. Wolfe (鈥淢a Rainey鈥檚 Black Bottom鈥�), Janizca Bravo (鈥淶ola鈥�), Shaka King (鈥淛udas and the Black Messiah鈥�), Nia DaCosta (鈥淐andyman鈥�), Cathy Yan (鈥淏irds of Prey鈥�), Craig Brewer (鈥淗ustle & Flow鈥�) and Jonathan Glazer (鈥淯nder the Skin鈥�).
Diversity and inclusion continue to be a main priority for the film academy and, in addition to the relatively large numbers of women and underrepresented groups invited, it鈥檚 also a very international class. Over half of the invitees are from countries other than the United States.
The number of invitees also dropped steeply this year in an effort to, 鈥渟teady future growth.鈥� In the past few years the organization had invited classes of around 800 new members or more annually to help quickly diversify its ranks following the #OscarsSoWhite criticisms. With this new class, the Academy said its total membership is now 33% women and 19% underrepresented groups.
The Academy has said it remains committed to broadening its own lens over the next few years.