Amy Poehler called out the Oscars on her “Good Hang” podcast for always ignoring comedy movies when it comes time to give out awards. Poehler’s latest episode featured Olivia Colman as a guest as part of the latter’s press tour for the Searchlight Pictures comedy “The Roses.” Colman stars opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, who called in to the “Good Hang” episode to chat briefly with Poehler.
“If you can do comedy, you can do anything. I really do believe that,” Cumberbatch proclaimed.
“Of course. You don’t have to tell me, babe!” replied Poehler, who is a bona fide comedy icon thanks to “SNL,” “Parks and Recreation,” her stints hosting the Golden Globes with Tina Fey and more.
“Every single year at the Oscars, everybody [in comedy] gets blanked and all the serious people get up and accept and accept,” Poehler said. “It’s some hot bullshit! Because comedy is not easy. And I got to tell you, both you and Olivia can do both.”
While the Oscars have certainly been embracing more movies with comedic elements over the years, including best picture winners such as “Anora” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” it usually snubs traditional comedies that don’t have a dramatic bent to them. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” was a recent rare exception with eight nominations, but it did not win best picture, and both Gerwig and star Margot Robbie were shockingly shut out of the best director and best actress races. Rian Johnson’s comedic “Knives Out” movies only got screenplay nominations, as did “Bridesmaids” all the way back at the 2012 Oscars.
As far as comedies in the upcoming 2025 Oscar race, the more dramatic-leaning ones, such as Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia” and Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” are once again dominating the early Oscar buzz conversations. Traditional comedies such as “Friendship,” “Good Fortune” and “The Naked Gun” all earned strong reviews but are most likely long shots. Johnson is back with his third “Knives Out” movie, “Wake Up Dead Man,” but whether this franchise can break out into major categories like best picture or acting races remains to be seen.
Watch Colman’s full appearance on the “Good Hang” podcast in the video below.
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From Variety US