The actress and producer said of her Best Actress snub: 'There's no way to feel sad when you know you're this blessed.'
Margot Robbie is taking Barbie's Oscar snubs in stride.
"There's no way to feel sad when you know you’re this blessed," Robbie told the crowd at a special SAG screening of the record-breaking film on Tuesday.
When the nominations for the 96th Academy Awards were announced last week, Barbie received eight nods -- for which Robbie said she's "beyond ecstatic" -- though the star and writer-director Greta Gerwig were left out of the Best Actress and Best Director categories, respectively.
"Obviously I think Greta should be nominated as a director, because what she did is a once-in-a-career, once-in-a-lifetime thing, what she pulled off, it really is," Robbie said. "But it's been an incredible year for all the films."
For her part, Robbie is nominated as a producer of the film in the Best Picture category, however, her exclusion in the acting category was one of the most notable snubs of the year.
Barbie went on to become the highest-grossing film ever from a female filmmaker at the domestic box office, as well as the top-earning worldwide film of 2023, with nearly $1.5 billion to date.
"I just suspect it’s bigger than us," Robbie said of the film's cultural impact. "It's bigger than this movie, it's bigger than our industry... Everyone getting the nods that they’ve had is just incredible, and the Best Picture nod."
Barbie's other nominations include Best Supporting Actress for America Ferrera, Best Supporting Actor for Ryan Gosling, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Adapted Screenplay for Gerwig and Noah Baumbach.
"We set out to do something that would shift culture, affect culture, just make some sort of impact," Robbie said of fighting to get the film made. "It's already done that, and [then] some, way more than we ever dreamed it would. And that is truly the biggest reward that could come out of all of this."
Recalling a recent moment when she overheard a group of male friends at a bachelor party discussing the movie as a "cultural moment," Robbie reflected, "People's reactions to the movie have been the biggest reward of this entire experience, whether it's having a moment like that, or whether it's listening in the bathrooms, or whether it's seeing what people are writing online, or even just seeing how much pink I can see in this room right now."
"I've never been a part of something like this," she continued. "Not like this. I've done comic book stuff and that gets a big reaction, but this felt very different. It still feels very different. And I can't think of a time when a movie's had this effect on culture. It's amazing to be in the eye of the storm."
While Robbie stayed humble in her comments about the Oscar snubs, her co-stars have spoken out in support of her and Gerwig, noting what a major part they played in the film's success.
"I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films," Gosling said in a statement to ET. "And I never thought I'd being saying this, but I'm also incredibly honored and proud that it's for portraying a plastic doll named Ken."
"But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film," he continued. "No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I'm disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement."
Ferrera received a career-first Oscar nomination for her role as Gloria, one of the film's human characters who ventures to BarbieLand. However, the actress also shared that her nomination was tinged with disappointment due to Robbie and Gerwig's snubs.
"I was incredibly disappointed that they weren't nominated," Ferrera said in a statement to Variety. "Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. Creating this world, and taking something that didn't have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list."
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