The Academy announced on Wednesday that it’s inviting 774 new members — a record-breaking number.
Among the high-profile actors newly invited to the Academy are Donald Glover, Dwayne Johnson, Tiffany Haddish, Leslie Jones, and several “Black Panther” grads (Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, and Kendrick Lamar).
Directors invited to join the new class include “Moonlight” best-picture winner Barry Jenkins and “Get Out’s” Jordan Peele.
People of color make up 30% of the new class — a significant statistic following the #OscarsSoWhite protest that made waves in 2016. According to the Academy’s announcement, there has been a 331% increase of people of color invited to join the Academy from 2015-2017.
The Academy has vowed to make its membership better reflect the world demographics, after many years of criticism that women, racial minorities and international artists were under-represented. As a result, the number of new-member invitations has risen steadily.
