Who was snubbed? Who can’t vote? 5 takeaways from the Oscars’ new Academy members list

On Thursday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences extended invites to 534 people to become a member, the largest class since 2020. Some of these names were not surprising. Reigning Oscar winners Mikey Madison and Kieran Culkin were invited, though it might be surprising that Culkin, with his extensive career, wasn't already a member, but he also doesn't seem like the type who would have sought out membership previously. (And if you're wondering, their fellow acting champs this year, Adrien Brody and Zoe Saldaña, were already members). Other 2025 nominees who could vote for the Oscars next year are Ariana Grande, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, and Monica Barbaro.If all the invitees accept, the total members, including emeriti, will be 11,120, and the number of voting members will be 10,143. In addition, 35 percent of the Academy would be women, 22 percent would be from underrepresented communities, and 21 percent would be international.Let's take a closer look at the class of 2025.

1. No to Karla Sofía Gascón...

Haven't heard that name in a while, huh? One glaring omission was Gascón, the first trans acting nominee in Oscar history whose campaign for Emilia Pérez was torpedoed in late January when her offensive Twitter history was unearthed and she, uh, didn't exactly handle it well. Oscar nominees are automatically considered for membership in the year of their nomination and the majority of them are invited. Some who weren't include Michelle Williams, who as MIA from the 2006 list after her nomination for Brokeback Mountain and wasn't invited until 2009 (and she now has five nominations), and Yalitza Aparicio, who was nominated for her film debut in Roma in 2019 but wasn't invited until 2020. Will Gascón be asked one day? Who knows. All we know is neither Williams nor Aparicio called the Oscars an Afro-Korean festival. Perhaps adding insult to injury, Gascón's Emilia Pérez costar Adriana Paz was invited. Non-nominees like Paz must be sponsored by two existing members to be considered. It's hardly surprising she was invited, given her long résumé, similar to how Sean Baker vet Karren Karagulian is on the list but not his Anora costar and breakout Mark Eydelshteyn, who has far fewer credits to his name.

More from Gold Derby

'The Bear,' 'My Mom Jayne,' Lorde's 'Virgin,' and the best to stream this weekend: June 27, 2025

Overexposing Pedro Pascal, revisiting that 'Sinners' spit scene, Springsteen 'Tracks II' ranked, and what to read this weekend: June 27, 2025

2. But yes to Hamdan Ballal

The Academy did invite Ballal to join the documentary branch. The Palestinian filmmaker was attacked and detained for a day by Israeli soldiers near his home in the West Bank in March, weeks after winning the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for No Other Land. The Academy received blowback, including from Ballal's No Other Land codirector Yuval Abraham, for staying quiet about the attack, after which it released a statement without naming No Other Land or Ballal. When that generated even more backlash, the Academy issued another statement apologizing to "Mr. Ballal and all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement and want to make it clear that the Academy condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world. We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances." All four No Other Land directors — the others being Basel Adra and Rachel Szor — were invited to join the doc branch.SEE Academy invites 534 members, including Ariana Grande, Mikey Madison, Jeremy Strong, Jason Momoa, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Graham

3. The directors remain the edgiest

The directors branch is the most idiosyncratic of them all, often going with highbrow and increasingly international nominees. And that's only going to continue with the diverse group of filmmakers invited, including Spain's Albert Serra, Portugal's Miguel Gomes, China's Bi Gan, and Indonesia's Kamila Andini. The Academy has been committed to diversifying its ranks since #OscarsSoWhite a decade ago and nowhere is that more apparent than in the directors branch. Other "cool" auteurs invited were Jane Shoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow), Halina Reijn (Babygirl), and Rose Glass (Love Lies Bleeding), all of whom had breakout films at A24 last year. Of the entire 2025 invited class, 41 percent are women, 45 percent belong to underrepresented communities, and 55 percent hail from 60 countries and territories outside the U.S.

4. Triple threats

Twelve individuals were invited to join multiple branches and must choose one. This is quite common, but most people are usually invited to two branches, as is the case this year, except for two people who are wanted by three groups: Ema Ryan Yamazaki (documentary, editors, and short films) and Gints Zilbalodis (animation, directors, and writers).Yamazaki's Instruments of a Beating Heart was nominated for Best Documentary Short Film this year and she edited Best Documentary Feature nominee Black Box Diaries. Zilbalodis won Best Animated Feature for Flow, giving Latvia its first Oscar. Safe to say he is very excited about his rare hat trick.

5. The hosts with the most... but no votes

Associate member invitees include once and future Oscar host Conan O'Brien and four-time host Jimmy Kimmel, in addition to Kimmel's head writer and executive producer (and wife) Molly McNearney and Oscar telecast executive producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan. However, associate members do not get to vote, so no, Kimmel won't be able to sabotage Matt Damon's chances for The Odyssey in 2027. O'Brien's immediate invite makes sense given the warm reception to his hosting stint and the Oscars quickly locking him up to return next year. But why did the Academy wait until now to invite Kimmel? Probably because he, McNearney, Kapoor, and Mullan won the Emmy for Best Variety Special (Live) for last year's Oscars — the first time the Oscars have won a program Emmy since 1991 when that telecast took home the formerly named Best Variety, Music or Comedy Program award.

Best of Gold Derby

Everything to know about 'The Batman 2': Returning cast, script finalized

Tom Cruise movies: 17 greatest films ranked worst to best

'It was wonderful to be on that ride': Christian Slater talks his beloved roles, from cult classics (‘Heathers,’ ‘True Romance’) to TV hits (‘Mr. Robot,’ ‘Dexter: Original Sin’)

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.