‘Barbie’ Director Greta Gerwig Breaks Silence on Best Director Academy Award Nomination Snub With Positive Message

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Barbie director Greta Gerwig has finally opened up about the infamous snub from the Best Director category at the upcoming Academy Awards. Though Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera received nominations for their respective roles, both of the women at the helm of the movie were left out — Greta and the film’s star, Margot Robbie. But surprisingly, Greta isn’t put out by the snub, and in fact pointed out the positives.

“A friend’s mom said to me, ‘I can’t believe you didn’t get nominated,'” she said in an interview for TIME published on Wednesday, February 21. “I said, ‘But I did. I got an Oscar nomination,'” Greta related. “She was like, ‘Oh, that’s wonderful for you!’ I was like, ‘I know!'”

Barbie was, in fact, nominated for Best Picture — and as a director, it’s no small feat to garner a nod for best film of the year. Greta and her husband, fellow writer/ director Noah Baumbach, also scored a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. Still, the Little Women director couldn’t help but regret Margot’s omission from the Best Actress in a Leading Role. “Of course I wanted it for Margot,” Greta admitted. “But I’m just happy we all get to be there together.”

America, who played Gloria, and Ryan, who played the movie’s beloved Ken, previously reacted to their own nominations, as well as Greta and Margot’s absence from their categories.  “I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated,” America told Variety on January 23. “Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list.”

Likewise, Ryan expressed acute disappointment. “There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally celebrated film,” he told Variety in part, in a formal statement the same day. Both America and Ryan also expressed gratitude for their nominations, as well.

The Academy Awards are set for March 10 in Los Angeles.