Caitriona Balfe invited to join Oscars voting membership

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: Caitriona Balfe attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: Caitriona Balfe attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images)

Caitriona Balfe could soon have a say on who wins Oscars. She has been invited to join the Oscars voting membership along with many others.

There are changes coming to the voting membership for the Oscars. New people are being invited to join, with 43% of the invitees being women. It’s a change that has long been asked for, but only slowly coming in.

Caitriona Balfe is one of the actresses invited to join the Oscars voting membership. If accepted and if she does end up joining fully, it would mean she’d have a say in who wins some of the awards. However, the invitation is not an automatic guarantee of her getting the power to vote.

There are a few big names invited this year. They include Balfe’s Belfast co-star Jamie Dornan, Anna Taylor-Joy, Amir Jadidi, and Hidetoshi Nishijima.

What does the invitation mean for Caitriona Balfe?

According to Entertainment Weekly, the invitation is just the first stage for Caitriona Balfe and others who have been invited to join. Each member invited needs to formally accept the invitation after that. We’re hoping to see Balfe accept because it would be great to see her have a voice.

While 44% of those invited are women, if they all accept, they will end up making up 34% of the voting body. There is still work to do elsewhere, though. 37% of the invitees are from an underrepresented community, but if all accept, they will only make up 19% of the voting body. It’s a start, but there’s a long way to go.

Many believe that the voting body are all from the United States, but that’s clearly not the case. About 50% of the people invited are from outside the U.S., and if all accept, they’ll make up 23% of the voting body of those from outside the country.

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