This year’s 94th Academy Awards, which will air on March 27th, is looking to be a big one for Latino nominees. From the year’s most popular animated feature Encanto to the iconic West Side Story remake, 2021 was a big year for Latinos.
In an age where diversity and representation in media is paramount, it’s great to see more recognition for Latino and Hispanic actors. However, we are still seeing a lot of firsts as Hollywood catches up. One big first for the 2022 Oscars is Ariana DeBose’s nomination for Best Supporting Actress in her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake. Her nomination makes her the first ever Afro-Latino performer to receive an Oscar nomination and her win would be historic as well.
If she wins, the Puerto Rican-born actress would follow in the footsteps of the legendary Rita Moreno, who won her Oscar in 1962 for the same role. Moreno’s win made her the first Latina woman to win an Oscar and DeBose’s win would make her the first Afro-Latina. The two actresses would also become part of the exclusive club of performers who have won Oscars for portraying the same character, such as Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone (“The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II,” respectively); and Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker (in “The Dark Knight” and “Joker,” respectively).
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Other Latinas nominated for awards this year include Mexican-American filmmaker K.D. Dávila—nominated for Best Live Action Short Film for Please Hold, and Penélope Cruz, nominated Best Actress for her performance on Parallel Mothers. This is Cruz’s fourth Oscar nomination.
In addition to our Latina ladies, several Latino and Hispanic men have also been nominated this year across various categories.
Nominated for Best Original Song for Encanto with “Dos orugüitas” is Lin-Manuel Miranda. His win would bring him one step closer to achieving EGOT status. In the category of Best Animated Film, Carlos López Estrada and his team have been nominated for Raya and the Last Dragon. Additionally Chilean filmmakers, Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz, hold the nomination for Best Animated Short Film for Bestia.
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The category for Best Actor may also see a Hispanic win this year with Javier Bardem’s nomination for his role as Desi Arnaz on Being the Ricardos. Finally, in the category of Best Picture, Guillermo del Toro snags a nomination for his film Nightmare Alley.
We hope to see many of our favorite Latinos win at the 2022 Oscars, and we’re cheering on our historic Latina nominees! Tune in on March 27th to see who the winners will be!
