Andrea Riseborough And Her Sudden Rise To The Oscars

A film about a single mother struggling to make ends meet after going down into the deep hole of addiction. To Leslie is a small indie film by Micheal Morris that came out last year and barely drew any eyes towards itself. Andrea Riseborough, the leading actress who played single mother Leslie, did not seem like she would have any chance of being nominated for an Oscars Leading Actress nomination. However, to everyone’s surprise, she is one of the top 5 contenders who have been nominated for this category. But how did this come to be?

Praiseworthy Performance

To Leslie is a great piece of modern cinema. Sure, very few would expect an indie film to even show up for an Oscar nomination, but that does not mean that great work wasn’t put into making it. Micheal Morris, the director, has been behind notable works of fiction such as Better Call Saul, 13 Reasons Why, and many other hyper popular TV shows before. His work on full length films, however, is relatively new with To Leslie.

It is clear from the film, though, that he has a great grip on how the plot and camera angles work. Not to mention, Andrea Riseborough herself left the viewers stunned with her absolutely mind-blowing performance as the lead character. Some argue that this nomination is thanks to a lot of popular backing, but no one could say that Andrea hasn’t earned it. She truly delivered a performance that brought tears to the eyes of many.

Support From Hollywood

After the film was released, the number of domestic viewers was relatively small compared to the many major films of the year, such as Avatar: The Way of Water and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But soon enough, the film was supported and screened by many notable names within the industry. This includes FRIENDS fame Jennifer Anniston, the all-time favorite Charlize Theron, and Edward Norton, who has appeared in cult favorite films such as Fight Club. All these actors hosted fancy screenings promoting the film. It also received staggering support from other Jennifer’s fellow FRIENDS cast members like Courtney Cox.

Still, online praise for the movie did not stop pouring in. Celebrities such as Zooey Deschanel, famous for films like 500 Days of Summer and the hit sitcom New Girl showered To Leslie with praise through their social media handles. This long list includes other celebrities such as Gwenyth Paltrow, Sarah Paulson, Tan France, and many others.

Other Contenders

Other contenders for Best Actress include Cate Blanchett for Tár, Ana De Armas for Marilyn Monroe’s biopic Blonde, Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Michelle Williams for The Fabelmans. There are others like Viola Davis who were surprisingly not nominated for the category in spite of their stunning performances. It seems this year’s Oscars will be all about diverse ways and methods of filmmaking since big budget and box office films like Top Gun: Maverick and then indie film actors such as Andrea Riseborough are all in the line to win the golden award of a lifetime.

In Ultimatum

To Leslie is a beautiful film with performances that are so stellar Hollywood could not keep its eyes away from them. Certainly, this nomination for Best Actress is well earned and well deserved on Andrea’s Part. It remains interesting, however, to see who would end up taking the Oscar home. Many brilliant performances were witnessed last year, and no nominee is more deserving than the other. Andrea, however, was pleasantly surprised when she found out that she had been nominated for the Oscar. Who wouldn’t be?