With so many Canadians working in Tinsel Town, it’s not surprising that every year more and more appear as nominees at the Academy Awards.
This year’s crop of Hollywood North Oscar hopefuls are headlined by Rachel McAdams, nominated for best supporting actress in “Spotlight“. McAdams plays Sacha Pfeiffer, one of the Boston Globe staff who uncovered the Catholic Church’s cover up of child molestation in the city’s parishes.
The London native got her professional start guest starring on Canadian TV series like Earth: Final Conflict in the early 2000s before coming to Hollywood.
Behind the camera, several Canadians were nominated for their work on “The Revenant“, shot partially in Alberta and B.C.
Nominees from the Leo DiCaprio drama include Edmonton-born Robert Pandini in the makeup and hairstyling category, set decorator Hamish Purdy of Vancouver for production design nomination, Chris Duesterdiek for sound mixing and Cameron Waldbauer for visual effects.
Canadiana will be on display as a part of the telecast itself as well; Toronto’s The Weeknd will be on hand to perform “Earned It” from the Fifty Shades Of Grey soundtrack, which earned him a nod for Best Original Song, and Ontario native Ryan Gosling will present an award.
And for the first time, two Canadian based films have been nominated for Best Picture. “Brooklyn”, shot in Montreal and co-produced by Canadian film executives and “Room”, shot in Toronto and based on Canadian writer Emma Donageh’s book (also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay) are both in the running for the night’s big prize.
“Chicago“, which won for Best Picture in 2002, is the only other Best Picture nominated movie to have filmed in Canada.