The Academy announced Wednesday that it’s inviting a record-breaking 774 new members this year. This follows last year’s similarly record-breaking 683 newbies and includes an impressive increase in invites to women and people of color.
High-profile actors like Gal Gadot of Wonder Woman and Oscar nominee Naomie Harris of Moonlight will be receiving invitations, along with Donald Glover, Riz Ahmed, Dwayne Johnson, and Leslie Jones, to name a few. New greats in the directing world are also being invited, including Moonlight‘s Barry Jenkins and Jordan Peele of Get Out.
The additions to the Academy will change the demographics of the famed group. This new class, which will represent 57 countries, is 39 percent women, an uptick from last year’s 27 percent.
Additionally, a full 30 percent of the new class will be comprised of people of color. The Academy has increased the number of POC invites by 331 percent since 2015, when the #OscarsSoWhite protest started to sweep social media. While there’s still a long way to go, especially as far as representation in film, the changes show that Hollywood is at least starting to pay attention.
For a full list of the new invitees, go to Variety has you covered.
H/T Jezebel
