BAFTA Nominates Only White Actors in Major Categories for its 2020 Awards

BAFTA is following in the footsteps of the #OscarsSoWhite scandal (once again).

After the British Academy of Film and Television Arts unveiled its film awards nominations on Tuesday, critics were quick to point out that all the major acting categories included only white actors.

The leading actor, actress, supporting actor and supporting actress shortlist had 20 spots to fill, and none of them included a person of color.

Cynthia Erivo ("Harriet"), Jennifer Lopez ("Hustlers"), and Eddie Murphy ("Dolemite is My Name") were left out, even though they scored Golden Globe nominations. Oscar front-runners Lupita Nyong'o ("Us") Antonio Banderas ("Pain & Glory") were also snubbed.

Only the Rising Star category –- which is selected by a jury rather than BAFTA members -- held spots for actors of color, including Awkwafina ("The Farewell"), Micheal Ward ("Blue Story") and Kelvin Harrison Jr. ("Waves").

The news created quite a stir on social media as the #BAFTAsSoWhite hashtag began to trend.

"They nominated the same white woman twice in the same category so they wouldn't have to give a slot to a deserving actor of color," posted one follower referring to Margot Robbie's Best Supporting nominations for "Bombshell" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." Scarlet Johannson also had two nominations for "JoJo Rabbit" (Best Supporting) and "Marriage Story" (Lead).

The chairman of BAFTA's film committee, Marc Samuelson, even acknowledged the lack of diversity.

"Clearly everybody knows that everybody in the four acting groups of nominees are white, it's infuriating, we can't make the industry do something, all we can do is encourage and push and inspire and try to help people coming in at the bottom end," he told PA Media news.

BAFTA chief executive Amanda Berry followed the sentiment by saying, "Being totally honest, we are disappointed and that is not to take anything away from the people who have been nominated."

In 2015, #OscarsSoWhite began trending after April Reign tweeted about the lack of diversity in the Academy Award nominations that year.

The controversy found its way into the BAFTA nominations for the next three years, and in 2018 a report showed 94 percent of all BAFTA film award nominees have been white.

While Samuelson conceded this year's list was disappointing, he expects the change will come over time.

"All that BAFTA can do is to do everything it can do, and that's what will happen and it'll keep going until it isn't a problem anymore. I hope that's what's happening is the revolution is proceeding, just more slowly than everyone would like."

The awards ceremony will be held on February 2.

See the full list of BAFTA nominees:

Best Film

• "1917"
• "The Irishman"
• "Joker"
• "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood"
• "Parasite"

Outstanding British Film

• "1917"
• "Bait"
• "For Sama"
• "Rocketman"
• "Sorry We Missed You"
• "The Two Popes"

Best Director

• Sam Mendes ("1917")
• Martin Scorsese ("The Irishman")
• Todd Phillips ("Joker")
• Quentin Tarantino ("Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood")
• Bong Joon-ho ("Parasite")

Leading Actress

• Jessie Buckley ("Wild Rose")
• Scarlett Johansson ("Marriage Story")
• Saoirse Ronan ("Little Women")
• Charlize Theron ("Bombshell")
• Renée Zellweger ("Judy")

Leading Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio ("Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood")
• Joaquin Phoenix ("Joker")
• Adam Driver ("Marriage Story")
• Taron Egerton ("Rocketman")
• Jonathan Pryce ("The Two Popes")

Supporting Actor

• Tom Hanks ("A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood")
• Anthony Hopkins ("The Two Popes")
• Al Pacino ("The Irishman")
• Joe Pesci ("The Irishman")
• Brad Pitt ("Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood")

Supporting Actress

• Laura Dern ("Marriage Story")
• Scarlett Johansson ("Jojo Rabbit")
• Florence Pugh ("Little Women")
• Margot Robbie ("Bombshell")
• Margot Robbie ("Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood")

Adapted Screenplay

• Steven Zaillian ("The Irishman")
• Taika Waititi ("Jojo Rabbit")
• Todd Phillips, Scott Silver ("Joker")
• Greta Gerwig ("Little Women")
• Anthony McCarten ("The Two Popes")

Original Screenplay

• Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman ("Booksmart")
• Rian Johnson ("Knives Out")
• Noah Baumbach ("Marriage Story")
• Quentin Tarantino ("Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood")
• Han Jin Won, Bong Joon-ho ("Parasite")

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

• Mark Jenkin, Kate Byers, Linn Waite ("Bait")
• Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts ("For Sama")
• Alex Holmes ("Maiden")
• Harry Wootliff ("Only You")
• Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio ("Retablo")

Original Score

• Thomas Newman ("1917")
• Michael Giacchino ("Jojo Rabbit")
• Hildur Guđnadóttir ("Joker")
• Alexandre Desplat ("Little Women")
• John Williams ("Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker")

Cinematography

• Roger Deakins ("1917")
• Rodrigo Prieto ("The Irishman")
• Lawrence Sher ("Joker")
• Phedon Papamichael ("Le Mans '66")
• Jarin Blaschke ("The Lighthouse")

EE Rising Star Award

• Awkwafina
• Kaitlyn Dever
• Kelvin Harrison Jr.
• Jack Lowden
• Micheal Ward

Film Not In The English Language

• Lulu Wang, Daniele Melia ("The Farewell")
• Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts ("For Sama")
• Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar ("Pain and Glory")
• Bong Joon-ho ("Parasite")
• Céline Sciamma, Bénédicte Couvreur ("Portrait of a Lady On Fire")

Documentary

• Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert ("American Factory")
• Todd Douglas Miller ("Apollo 11")
• Asif Kapadia ("Diego Maradona")
• Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts ("For Sama")
• Karim Amer, Jehane Noujaim ("The Great Hack")

Animated Film

• Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho ("Frozen 2")
• Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh ("Klaus")
• Will Becher, Richard Phelan, Paul Kewley ("A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon")
• Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen ("Toy Story 4")

Casting

• Shayna Markowitz ("Joker")
• Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler ("Marriage Story")
• Victoria Thomas ("Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood")
• Sarah Crowe ("The Personal History of David Copperfield")
• Nina Gold ("The Two Popes")

Editing

• Thelma Schoonmaker ("The Irishman")
• Tom Eagles ("Jojo Rabbit")
• Jeff Groth ("Joker")
• Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker ("Le Mans '66")
• Fred Raskin ("Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood")

Production Design

• Dennis Gassner, Lee Sandales ("1917")
• Bob Shaw, Regina Graves ("The Irishman")
• Ra Vincent, Nora Sopková ("Jojo Rabbit")
• Mark Friedberg, Kris Moran ("Joker")
• Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh ("Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood")

Costume Design

• Christopher Peterson, Sandy Powell ("The Irishman")
• Mayes C. Rubeo ("Jojo Rabbit")
• Jany Temime ("Judy")
• Jacqueline Durran ("Little Women")
• Arianne Phillips ("Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood")

Makeup and Hair

• Naomi Donne ("1917")
• Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan ("Bombshell")
• Kay Georgiou, Nicki Ledermann ("Joker")
• Jeremy Woodhead ("Judy")
• Lizzie Yianni Georgiou ("Rocketman")

Sound

• Scott Millan, Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate, Mark Taylor, Stuart Wilson ("1917")
• Tod Maitland, Alan Robert Murray, Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic ("Joker")
• David Giammarco, Paul Massey, Steven A. Morrow, Donald Sylvester ("Le Mans '66")
• Matthew Collinge, John Hayes, Mike Prestwood Smith, Danny Sheehan ("Rocketman")
• David Acord, Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood ("Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker")

Special Visual Effects

• Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, Dominic Tuohy ("1917")
• Dan Deleeuw, Dan Sudick ("Avengers: Endgame")
• Leandro Estebecorena, Stephane Grabli, Pablo Helman ("The Irishman")
• Andrew R. Jones, Robert Legato, Elliot Newman, Adam Valdez ("The Lion King")
• Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, Neal Scanlan, Dominic Tuohy ("Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker")

British Short Animation

• Maryam Mohajer ("Grandad Was a Romantic")
• Kathrin Steinbacher ("In Her Boots")
• Naaman Azhari, Lilia Laurel ("The Magic Boat")

British Short Film