Tom Courtenay attacks ‘ageist’ Oscars

Tom Courtenay thinks this year’s (16) Oscar nominations are “ageist, not racist”.
The 78-year-old actor appears alongside Charlotte Rampling in the critically acclaimed 45 Years, but failed to get a nod for his role in the film. Amid the hotly discussed topic of the lack of diversity among this year’s nominations, Tom added a new voice to the debate.
“I think they’re ageist and not racist,” he told Metro.co.uk. “Because Michael Caine didn’t get one, we’ve been in the frame for one, Michael Caine and myself, and we’re both over 75. And we didn’t get a nomination.”
Michael had been expected to receive a nod for his role in Youth. However, Michael spoke recently about the diversity issue, insisting the decisions about nominations should be made based on an actor’s skill rather than his skin colour.
“There’s loads of black actors. In the end you can’t vote for an actor because he’s black,” he said during an interview on BBC Radio 4. “You can’t say, ‘I’m going to vote for him, he’s not very good, but he’s black, I’ll vote for him.'”
Following the announcement of the Oscar nominations, stars including Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, as well as director Spike Lee, have come forward to state they’re boycotting the awards due to the lack of black actors recognised.
Since then, the Academy have vowed to change their approach, and Tom’s Dad’s Army co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones thinks people need to allow them time to enforce these changes.
“It’s going to take time, and I must say in the Academy’s defence, let’s get back to the writers, the film-makers, and the studios, who are the people who really finance everything,” she told Metro.co.uk.
The 88th Academy Awards will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 28 February (16).