“The Power of the Dog” director Jane Campion revealed who she’s rooting for the Best Actress category at the Oscars — plus who she wishes was included. Campion told The Hollywood Reporter that she’s surprised Lady Gaga was snubbed by the Academy. “One of the actors that I thought — in the lead female actress category — who I missed being there was Lady Gaga. I thought she was extraordinary,” Campion said. She also cited Stewart’s performance in “Spencer,” saying it was “great” to see Stewart recognized for the portrayal of Princess Diana. “I thought she was amazing,” Campion said. “I love that film. She was incredible.” And Campion’s longtime friend Nicole Kidman, who starred in her 1996 film, “The Portrait of a Lady,” is also a personal frontrunner for the director.
“I’ve known her since she was 14,” Campion added. “I’m really happy for her. I thought she did beautiful work as Lucy [in ‘Being the Ricardos’].”
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Campion made history as the first woman to be nominated twice in the Best Director category. Campion previously was recognized by the Academy for 1993’s “The Piano.” Steven Spielberg won that year for “Schindler’s List,” while Campion took home Best Original Screenplay. Campion is once again nominated against the “West Side Story” director this year.
“The Power of the Dog” cinematographer Ari Wegner also is the second female director of photography to be nominated at the Oscars.
“I’m working with so many men,” Campion previously told IndieWire about hiring Wegner. “And it’s still an issue for me, the equality of women. So I just went, ‘I am gonna chose a woman DOP.’ [Ari] is brilliant and she loves serious cinema, like me, trying to do something that’s as good as we could have. We did a really long prep together. So we didn’t just come there with all the toys.”
“The Power of the Dog” landed a whopping 12 nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, which will take place March 27.
“I think it’s just another sign that women are punching through those glass ceilings,” Campion said of her Academy recognition. “I put the credit on the brave women that really blew the lid off Hollywood, with their revelations about abuse and inequality — I think there’s been a really big rethinking and a really active determination by men and women to see that change.”
Campion concluded, “I was able to make a film that I wouldn’t have made without those women blowing things apart.”
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