Lupita Nyong’o’s Oscar snub Monday morning proved that, in addition to its glaring diversity problem (just one person of color, Cynthia Erivo, was nominated for an acting trophy), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has another blind spot when it comes to horror movies. Despite the genre’s evolution from its B-movie roots to the newly “elevated” reputation it enjoys today, horror remains consistently overlooked outside of the technical categories.
The Oscar-winning Nyong’o has struggled all awards season to secure nominations for her turn in Jordan Peele’s “Us” — scoring only a SAG nomination after being snubbed by the Golden Globes and BAFTA nominating committees — despite her critically acclaimed dual performances and early awards buzz. And she’s not the only horror actor the academy and other prestigious awards ceremonies have failed to recognize.
In the Oscars’ history, fewer than two dozen actors have been nominated for horror roles and only six have won: Frederic March (“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” 1931), Ruth Gordon (“Rosemary’s Baby,” 1968), Kathy Bates (“Misery,” 1990), Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster (“The Silence of the Lambs,” 1991) and Natalie Portman (“Black Swan,” 2010).
And the odds of a horror movie earning a best picture nod are even slimmer. Just six horror movies have ever competed for the top honor: “The Exorcist” (1974), “Jaws” (1976), “The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Sixth Sense” (1999), “Black Swan” and “Get Out” (2017). The sole winner, “The Silence of the Lambs,” doesn’t even qualify as a horror in the traditional sense. It’s a serial killer character drama with horror elements.
