Amy Poehler: Give More Oscars to Comedies
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Amy Poehler said on the Good Hang podcast that the Oscars should honor more comedy films. In the new episode, she hosted Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, who starred in the comedy film The Roses, released in theaters this summer.
Cumberbatch said during the conversation: “If you can do comedy, you can do anything. I really believe that.”
Poehler—who became one of comedy’s icons through Saturday Night Live, Parks and Recreation, and co-hosting the Golden Globes with Tina Fey—responded: “Of course. You don’t need to tell me that, darling!”
She continued: “Every year at the Oscars, all the [comedians] are overlooked while all the serious people stand up and collect award after award. It’s such crap! Because comedy isn’t easy. And believe me, both you and Olivia can handle comedy and drama.”
Last year’s Best Picture Oscar went to Anora by Sean Baker, which was not devoid of comedic elements, but in earlier years voters have rarely awarded comedy films. Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, was one such film: despite receiving eight nominations in categories including Best Picture, it won only for the song What Was I Made For.
This year, films like The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery by Rian Johnson, and Bugonia directed by Yorgos Lanthimos have received positive reviews and could fulfill Poehler’s wish.
