So, what is this mysterious film “To Leslie” that garnered English lead actor Andrea Riseborough a controversial, surprise Best Actress Academy Award nomination last week, igniting a storm of Twitter disapproval because Riseborough theoretically took a spot that would have gone to Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”) or Viola Davis (“The Woman King”).
When “To Leslie” was in theaters last October it made only $27,322 at the box office, and while it has been available on Prime Video and other rental platforms, not many people have been talking about it to my knowledge until the surprise announcement. Apparently, its success with the Actors Guild can be attributed to a grassroots campaign led by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Frances Fisher, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Jane Fonda, fellow nominee Cate Blanchett and others, using social media platforms to get fellow Acting Branch members to see the film and vote for the not well-known-to-the-public Riseborough, whose work in such films as “Made in Dagenham” (2010), “The Death of Stalin” (2017) and “Possessor” (2020) has earned her a critical following.
In “To Leslie,” Riseborough, a truly chameleon-esque actor and a previous BAFTA nominee, plays the title role, a single mother from West Texas who wins a lottery and goes on a depraved, yearslong bender, losing the money and her house and abandoning her young son in the process.
