Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday and the summer's biggest blockbuster, "Barbie," earned eight — including for America Ferrera. The actress, who played a Mattel employee turned Barbie's friend in the film, nabbed a nod for best supporting actress.
Ferrera wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe or a SAG Award in the category. She received a Critics Choice Award nomination, though she did not win. She also received the #SeeHer award at the Critics Choice Awards, which celebrates representation in film.
Warner Bros., which distributed the film, included Ferrera on its "for your consideration" list — the list of awards nominations they'd like to campaign for. Several other actresses from "Barbie" were also included in their list of possible best supporting actress nominations: Kate McKinnon, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman and Helen Mirren.
"Barbie" went on to earn nine Golden Globe nominations, but Ferrera was snubbed. Along with her castmates, she is nominated for a SAG award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture, which is pending.
In "Barbie," Ferrera plays Gloria, who helps save Barbies from indoctrination into the patriarchy. She delivers a monologue about the challenging expectations of being a woman, which has become infamous and widely shared on social media — the hashtags #barbiemonologue and #barbiespeech each garnering more than 10 million views on TikTok, with many recreating the powerful speech.
The Academy Award nomination is Ferrera's first — and she is one of the few Latinas to be nominated for an Oscar. Only two others — Rita Moreno, who is Puerto Rican, and Lupita Nyong'o, who is Mexican and Kenyan — have won a best supporting actress Oscar of eight nominated. No Latinas have won best actress at the Oscars, but five have been nominated.
"Barbie" was nominated for best picture and best adapted screenplay. Ryan Gosling earned a best supporting actor nomination for playing Ken but Margot Robbie, who played "typical" Barbie and the main character of the film, did not receive one for best actress – despite earning a Golden Globe nomination and winning the Critics Choice Award in the category.
The film also earned two Oscar nominations in the original song category, a production design nomination and a costume design nomination.
Caitlin O'Kane is a New York City journalist who works on the CBS News social media team as a senior manager of content and production. She writes about a variety of topics and produces "The Uplift," CBS News' streaming show that focuses on good news.