Natalie Portman is disappointed by the lack of women directors recognized at this year’s Oscars.
Hamnet filmmaker Chloé Zhao is the sole woman to make the cut in the Best Director field at the 98th Academy Awards, for which the nominations were revealed on Thursday, January 22.
In an interview with Variety at the Sundance Film Festival, where she debuted her new movie, The Gallerist, on Saturday, January 24, Portman said, “So many of the best films I saw this year were made by women.”
“You just see the barriers at every level because so many were not recognized at awards time,” she continued. “Between Sorry, Baby and Left-Handed Girl and Hedda and The Testament of Ann Lee. … Extraordinary films this year that I think a lot of people are enjoying and loving, but are not getting the accolades they deserve.”
Sorry, Baby was directed by and stars Eva Victor, who is nonbinary, while Left-Handed Girl was helmed by Tsou Shih-Ching. Hedda, which starred Tessa Thompson, was directed by Nia DaCosta, and Mona Fastvold helmed Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee.
Despite significant awards buzz for each film, this year’s Best Director field features just one woman: Zhao, only the second woman to win the award in 2021 for Nomadland. The field is rounded out by Marty Supreme’s Josh Safdie, One Battle After Another filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value and Sinners director Ryan Coogler.
Portman’s latest film, The Gallerist, which costars Jenna Ortega and singer Charli XCX, was directed by Cathy Yan, whom the Oscar winner praised as a “brilliant leader” in her interview with Variety.
“She has a specificity of vision. All the work ahead of time and her precise leadership leads to the possibility of spontaneity,” Portman said. “Balancing this very specific tone that is satirical but also true emotion in it, which is almost impossible to create, she knew how to do it and guide us to it.”
While The Testament of Ann Lee generated buzz heading into last week’s Oscar nominations reveal, many awards watchers were surprised that lead star Seyfried was not nominated for Best Actress. She was previously nominated in the same category at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes.
For her part, Seyfried, 40, recently told The New Yorker that winning an Oscar isn’t very important to her.
“Do you remember who won in the past 10 years? It’s not the win that’s important. It’s the nomination,” she explained. “It does thrust you forward. That’s a fact. Now, do I need one in a week or two or whenever? No, of course, I don’t. Would it be great? Of course, it would, for every reason. But it isn’t necessary.”
“Longevity in an actor’s career is designed. Longevity is about deliberate choices to make art among the big commercial things that are fun and pay. But, for me, all of it is art,” she continued. “Yes, The Housemaid is a thriller that didn’t cost a lot to make, and made a lot of money, and is a box-office hit. And yet, every single choice I made in that movie was as artful as the choices I made in Ann Lee. I finally was able to marry the two in my heart and in my head, and I realized that is what I want for the rest of my career. I’m going to jump between genres as much as I can, and jump between indies and studios. So I’ve gotten this far without an Oscar. Why would I need one now?”
