Oprah Winfrey failed to secure her first Oscar nomination in 28 years on Thursday morning, missing out on a nod for Best Supporting Actress. Winfrey, who co-starred as Forest Whitaker’s wife in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” was snubbed by the Academy Awards in favor of Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong’o, Julia Roberts, June Squibb and Sally Hawkins.
It was expected that the 59-year-old actress would receive an Oscar nomination in the category after earning nods from both the Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Awards. Winfrey was snubbed at the Golden Globes, but that wasn’t considered a major issue for her Oscar chances: the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that votes on the Globes, has no connection to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Winfrey played the wife of the film’s title character (Forest Whitaker), a White House service worker who faces extreme challenges throughout the Civil Rights era. Director Lee Daniels “stalked” Winfrey until she agreed to co-star in “The Butler,” her first onscreen role since the poorly received 1998 flop “Beloved.”
