Andrea Riseborough

How Andrea Riseborough built a celeb-backed Oscar campaign for indie film 'To Leslie' and scored a nomination.

“To Leslie” director Michael Morris and his wife, actor Mary McCormack, showed the movie to Stern in July during the annual wedding anniversary celebration they share with the Sterns. McCormack sent an email to friends asking them to publicly support the movie and Riseborough’s performance, even including images and suggested hashtags and accounts to tag in social media posts. And what’s more comfortable than posting about a movie every day!” “It genuinely caught everyone by surprise,” a source tells me. It feels like the film community rallied around and made a noise.” [To Leslie](https://variety.com/t/to-leslie/),” an indie film about a woman trying to rebuild her life while battling drug addiction and alcoholism.

Oscars best actress nominee and 'To Leslie' star Andrea Riseborough rode a wave of celebrity support to Oscars recognition in a last-minute campaign.

Riseborough isn’t the only surprise nomination in one of the year’s most competitive categories. [Heat Vision](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/e/heat-vision/) [Oscars: ‘Black Panther’ Star Angela Bassett Makes Marvel History With Best Supporting Actress Nod](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/angela-bassett-first-marvel-actor-nominated-oscar-1235305707/) [Robert De Niro](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/robert-de-niro/) [Cosmo Jarvis to Star Alongside Robert De Niro in Barry Levinson’s Gangster Drama ‘Wise Guys’ (Exclusive)](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cosmo-jarvis-wise-guys-de-niro-casting-1235307052/) [Awards](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/e/awards/) [Oscar Nominee Ke Huy Quan Talks ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Recognition: “None of This Feels Real Right Now”](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ke-huy-quan-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-oscar-nomination-1235308362/) [Oscars 2023](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/oscars-2023/) [Austin Butler Remembers Lisa Marie Presley Following ‘Elvis’ Oscar Nom: “I Just Wish She Was Here to Celebrate”](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/austin-butler-lisa-marie-presley-elvis-2023-oscar-nomination-1235308446/) In addition to de Armas, Riseborough is nominated in the 2023 best actress category alongside Cate Blanchett for Tár, Michelle Williams for The Fabelmans and Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All at Once. [Andrea Riseborough](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/andrea-riseborough/) has secured [a surprise leading actress nomination](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscar-nominations-2023-nominees-list-1235307974/) for [To Leslie](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/to-leslie/), Michael Morris’ small indie drama about a Texas woman trying to get her life back on track after years of battling addiction, ahead of the 95th Academy [Awards](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/awards/). [Charlize Theron](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/charlize-theron/), [Sarah Paulson](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/sarah-paulson/) and [Edward Norton](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/edward-norton/) have all hosted screenings, with additional enthusiasm coming from Gwenyth Paltrow and Courteney Cox. [Subscribe Sign Up](https://cloud.email.hollywoodreporter.com/signup/) Ana de Armas also cracked the top five as the sole nominee for Blonde, meaning other top contenders like Viola Davis in The Woman King and Danielle Deadwyler in Till missed out. Names who have tweeted or otherwise expressed digital kudos include Susan Sarandon (“beautiful, lil gem of a film”); Helen Hunt (“If you’re out there voting for performances, don’t do it till you see Andrea Riseborough”); Zooey Deschanel (“amazing movie”); Melanie Lynskey (“even for her this is next level”); Mira Sorvino (“absolutely stunning, wrenching and beautiful”); Constance Zimmer (“you’ll never forget this performance”); Rosie O’Donnell (“devastatingly beautiful film”); Minnie Driver (“run don’t walk”); Alan Cumming (“an insanely raw and beautiful performance”); and Daphne Zuniga (“incredible performance”). [Share this article on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andrea-riseborough-to-leslie-surprise-oscar-nomination-1235308245/&title=Andrea%20Riseborough’s%20Last-Minute%20and%20Star-Studded%20Oscars%20Campaign%20Pays%20Off%20With%20Surprise%20Best%20Actress%20Nom&sdk=joey&display=popup&ref=plugin&src=share_button&app_id=1153511048447777) [Share this article on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andrea-riseborough-to-leslie-surprise-oscar-nomination-1235308245/&text=Andrea%20Riseborough%E2%80%99s%20Last-Minute%20and%20Star-Studded%20Oscars%20Campaign%20Pays%20Off%20With%20Surprise%20Best%20Actress%20Nom&via=thr) [Share this article on Email](mailto:?subject=thr%20:%20Andrea%20Riseborough’s%20Last-Minute%20and%20Star-Studded%20Oscars%20Campaign%20Pays%20Off%20With%20Surprise%20Best%20Actress%20Nom&body=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andrea-riseborough-to-leslie-surprise-oscar-nomination-1235308245/%20-%20Andrea%20Riseborough’s%20Last-Minute%20and%20Star-Studded%20Oscars%20Campaign%20Pays%20Off%20With%20Surprise%20Best%20Actress%20Nom) [Show additional share options](#) [Share this article on Print]() [Share this article on Comment](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andrea-riseborough-to-leslie-surprise-oscar-nomination-1235308245/#respond) [Share this article on Whatsapp](whatsapp://send?text=Andrea%20Riseborough’s%20Last-Minute%20and%20Star-Studded%20Oscars%20Campaign%20Pays%20Off%20With%20Surprise%20Best%20Actress%20Nom%20-%20https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andrea-riseborough-to-leslie-surprise-oscar-nomination-1235308245/) [Share this article on Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=1&url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andrea-riseborough-to-leslie-surprise-oscar-nomination-1235308245/&title=Andrea%20Riseborough’s%20Last-Minute%20and%20Star-Studded%20Oscars%20Campaign%20Pays%20Off%20With%20Surprise%20Best%20Actress%20Nom&summary&source=thr) [Share this article on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andrea-riseborough-to-leslie-surprise-oscar-nomination-1235308245/&title=Andrea%20Riseborough’s%20Last-Minute%20and%20Star-Studded%20Oscars%20Campaign%20Pays%20Off%20With%20Surprise%20Best%20Actress%20Nom) [Share this article on Pinit](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andrea-riseborough-to-leslie-surprise-oscar-nomination-1235308245/&description=Andrea%20Riseborough’s%20Last-Minute%20and%20Star-Studded%20Oscars%20Campaign%20Pays%20Off%20With%20Surprise%20Best%20Actress%20Nom) [Share this article on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool/preview?shareSource=legacy&canonicalUrl&url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/andrea-riseborough-to-leslie-surprise-oscar-nomination-1235308245/&posttype=link&title=Andrea%20Riseborough’s%20Last-Minute%20and%20Star-Studded%20Oscars%20Campaign%20Pays%20Off%20With%20Surprise%20Best%20Actress%20Nom) Social media in particular has seen massive support for the film, and Riseborough’s performance, with an overwhelming eclectic bunch of celebrities expressing online praise. To Leslie had gone virtually unnoticed this awards season until late-breaking support from scores of A-list actors propelled Riseborough over the finish line. In a year crowded with best actress contenders, it pays to have famous friends in your court.

The star of the small indie film "To Leslie" crashes the Academy Award nomination party thanks to heavy stumping from her A-list actor peers.

See our [latest prediction champs](https://www.goldderby.com/best-prediction-scores/awards/league-data/). Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our [famous forums](https://www.goldderby.com/forums/) where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. [Make your predictions](https://www.goldderby.com/leagues/) at Gold Derby now. And yet early Tuesday morning, there she was on the list of [Best Actress nominees](https://www.goldderby.com/article/2023/2023-oscar-nominations-full-list/), seemingly against all odds. Download our free and easy app for [Apple/iPhone devices](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1460576753) or [Android (Google Play)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pmc.goldDerby) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. But for an actress who was on nobody’s radar to come within 10,000 miles of an Oscar nomination as recently as November to pull it off – and for a movie made in 19 days on a budget of less than a million bucks – is astonishing.

British actress Andrea Riseborough has been nominated for her first Academy Award following a star-studded campaign supporting the nomination.

She also starred in Battle Of The Sexes about the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, playing King’s lover Marilyn Barnett. Also in the running for the performance by an actress in a leading role at the Academy Awards is Ana de Armas for Blonde, Michelle Williams for her role in The Fabelmans and Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Andrea should win every award there is and all the ones that haven’t been invented yet.”

The actress, who grew up in Whitley Bay, is nominated for her leading role in the film To Leslie - her first Academy Award nomination.

Mind-bending multiverse epic Everything Everywhere All At Once leads this year's nominations, bagging 11 in total. The Tyneside star got her first taste of stardom at a young age on stage at the People's Theatre in Newcastle, with she and her sister Laura Riseborough, who is also an actress, attending Newcastle Church High School in - The Fabelmans Meanwhile, Paul Mescal, Brendan Fraser, Bill Nighy, Colin Farrell and Austin Butler all received nominations for Best Actor. Andrea's nomination for To Leslie marks the only Oscar nod for the film, which was released in October last year. However, she already has many other awards under her belt including a [BAFTA](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/all-about/bafta-tv-awards), Royal Television Society, Screen Actors Guild and Critics' Choice Award.

Despite enjoying a flurry of late celebrity support, many Oscar-watchers felt British actress Andrea Riseborough had too high a hill to climb to score a ...

He was part of a very strong showing for Irish actors and talent. "To be recognised by the Academy is such an insane honour and I'm so utterly grateful." All of the other best picture contenders were released in cinemas - although some have since become available on streaming. This was a huge but very welcome surprise. Where can I see it?' After a while, we were able to point them to iTunes and Amazon, but it didn't happen right away." It has now secured nine nods at the Oscars. "This is bananas!" "After SXSW there was a quiet lull," Riseborough recalled. To Leslie reportedly only made $27,000 (£21,800) at the box office when it first opened. The film premiered at South by Southwest last March. I don’t post a lot about films or actor performances…maybe I should more often. But the copy-and-paste tweets and Instagram posts were driven by an apparently genuine admiration.

The English actor was nominated for Michael Morris's directorial debut To Leslie after the film received an unexpected, late surge in celebrity endorsements. In ...

It felt like there was a scope for it to touch so many people. And people were asking us: ‘Why can I not go and see it? It was so hard to believe it might ever happen because we really hadn’t been in the running for anything else. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to do, to keep talking about it even if people weren’t very interested in it because as soon as they watched the film, they became instantly interested and couldn’t shake off the story. Even though we had a lot of support, the idea it might actually happen seemed so far away.” [Find the ](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/oscars-2023-nominations-snubs-surprises-b2268185.html) [full list of Oscar 2023 nominations here](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/oscars-nominations-list-full-2023-b2268122.html).

A social media campaign by some famous friends netted the star of “To Leslie,” a little-known microbudget indie, her first Oscar nomination.

When I talk to people who haven’t watched the film, they can identify with her even though she’s letting herself and the people she loves down in so many ways. So she’s quite a large character to let into your consciousness, for all of us — I don’t just mean for me playing her, for everybody on the film, cast and crew. We shot it in 19 days, and it was all one or two takes, mostly, because we didn’t have a lot of time. A character like Leslie, once she gets inside you, you can’t really shake her off. “There’s a large part of me that’s really unable to accept that it’s happened.” “It is arbitrary considering how many extraordinary performances there have been by women, not only in this room,” she said. By the time we got to actually making it, it felt like an explosion, because it had been in our bones for so long. A wonderful, warm feeling of being supported and recognized. The thing that feels most exciting is being acknowledged by your community. Here are excerpts from the conversation. “It’s sort of surreal,” Riseborough, 41, said. Immediately I knew that I wanted to make that film and two years later, we did — after a good, long stewing period of not being able to get it financed.

Despite enjoying a flurry of late celebrity support, many Oscar-watchers felt British actress Andrea Riseborough had too high a hill to climb to score a ...

He was part of a very strong showing for Irish actors and talent. "To be recognised by the Academy is such an insane honour and I'm so utterly grateful." All of the other best picture contenders were released in cinemas - although some have since become available on streaming. This was a huge but very welcome surprise. Where can I see it?' After a while, we were able to point them to iTunes and Amazon, but it didn't happen right away." It has now secured nine nods at the Oscars. "This is bananas!" "After SXSW there was a quiet lull," Riseborough recalled. To Leslie reportedly only made $27,000 (£21,800) at the box office when it first opened. The film premiered at South by Southwest last March. I don’t post a lot about films or actor performances…maybe I should more often. But the copy-and-paste tweets and Instagram posts were driven by an apparently genuine admiration.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks with actress Andrea Riseborough about her new movie, To Leslie. It's about a single mother who wins the lottery but quickly loses ...

She's a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her dog, Millie. Ryan began her career in journalism as a print reporter covering arts and culture. Erika Ryan is a producer for All Things Considered.

“To Leslie,” the indie drama that scored Andrea Riseborough one of the most shocking nominations in Oscar history, opened at Monica Film Center in Santa ...

I’m no expert in math, but, given the low visibility of “To Leslie,” Riseborough must have sat atop a great many ballots. In the immediate wake of her nomination, there were whispers that Riseborough’s campaign may have skirted film academy regulations, which specify and limit the type of contact allowed in reaching out to voters. You’d have to believe selflessness exists in Hollywood for that.” [hosted a screening](https://www.instagram.com/p/CnR7ORhuPJC/) in early January, calling the movie a “masterpiece.” Courteney Cox followed suit. “It went from zero to 100 faster than anything I’ve ever seen,” a source close to the campaign says. Even though we had a lot of support, the idea it might actually happen seemed so far away.” In between, social media was flooded with raves from the likes of Susan Sarandon, Helen Hunt (“If you’re out there voting for performances, don’t do it till you see Andrea Riseborough”), Melanie Lynskey, Mira Sorvino, Minnie Driver and too many others to possibly mention. “This nomination was hard-won for her,” Winslet continued. “It doesn’t actually matter how many voices have been singing her praises in the last few weeks, those voices did not give that performance. Over the holidays while the rest of Hollywood was laying low and trying to navigate the film academy’s streaming platform, they built a foundation of support that was unleashed when the calendar turned to 2023. But a funny thing happened on the way to obscurity. And now this movie with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score that everyone should see [has] been hobbled by the people responsible for putting it out there.”

Film critics have shared their mixed reactions to Andrea Riseborough's surprise nomination for the 2023 Oscars. On Tuesday (24 January), the nominations ...

“You can think Andrea Riseborough is an *insane* talent, that awards campaigns are inherently unfair anyway, and also ask if those in the actors branch would similarly cob their weight behind a Black woman. “It’s true that her performance was stellar. “Problem is not that a long list of white actors were happy to champion Andrea Riseborough,” one Twitter user wrote. The context of her nomination though is really bizarre. [Academy Awards](/topic/academy-awards). “All for a ‘small movie with a big heart’ getting recognition,” wrote film critic Chris James.