Greta Gerwig is still in a state of "peak shock and happiness" after her movie ‘Lady Bird’ received five Oscar nominations.
The 34-year-old actress-and-filmmaker wrote and directed the coming-of-age drama – which is her first ever feature film – and it is up for a slew of the top Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan, Best Supporting Actress for Laurie Metcalf, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
Gerwig is only the fifth woman ever to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar and if she wins, she will be the second ever female film director to win the coveted prize after Kathryn Bigelow took it home in 2010, and Gerwig is still reeling in her nomination.
In an interview with The Observer on Sunday, Gerwig said: "I started crying and laughing and screaming. And it sunk in… It’s still sinking in. It doesn’t quite feel real. You’re still getting me at peak shock and happiness. I remember very well when Sofia Coppola was nominated for Best Director and won Best Screenplay [for ‘Lost in Translation’] and what that meant to me. And I remember when Kathryn Bigelow won for Best Director and how it seemed as if possibilities were expanded because of it. I genuinely hope that what this means to women of all ages – young women, women who are well into their careers – is that they look at this and they think, ‘I want to go make my movie.’ Because a diversity of storytellers is incredibly important and also I want to see their movies. I want to know what they have to say. So I hope that’s what it does."
‘Lady Bird’ – which saw the film take home the Golden Globe for Best Film – follows outspoken teenager Christine (Saoirse Ronan) who must navigate a loving but turbulent relationship with her strong-willed mother over the course of an eventful and poignant senior year of high school.
When Gerwig got up to give her acceptance speech, she struggled to hold it together and had admitted she will prepare for the Academy Awards but probably won’t "say any of it".
She said: "I had an entire speech prepared but once I got up there, none of it came out. I was looking down and I saw Oprah [Winfrey] and Steven Spielberg and I just went into a state of sublime happiness.
"I think I just said ‘thank you’ a lot. So my guess would be, I’ll prepare and probably not say any of it – if it should happen. Because that’s just how those moments seem to go for me."
Greta Gerwig still stunned by Oscar nod for Lady Bird
