Academy Adds New Members Including Kristen Stewart, Jordan Peele, As Women, Diversity Prioritized

The Academy invites a record number of new members, prioritizing women and diversity among the 774 industry professionals in a dramatic step towards creating a more inclusive membership and diversifying its largely white male membership.

The list of new members represent 57 countries and are made up of 39 per cent women and 30 per cent people of colour.

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Favouring some younger talent, the Academy has extended membership to Elle Fanning, who at age 19 is the youngest new invitee. Kristen Stewart, Hailee Steinfeld, Elizabeth Olsen and Zoe Kravitz are among the latest round of members that also include Margot Robbie, Riz Ahmed, Gal Gadot, John Cho, Shailene Woodley, Rebel Wilson and “Loving” co-stars Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton.

Among the more veteran actors, the Academy welcomes Debbie Allen, Ciaran Hinds, Phylicia Rashad, Dee Wallace, Judy Greer and B.D. Wong. At 95-years-old, Betty White is the oldest invitee.

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Both Anna Faris and husband Chris Pratt join the Academy, as do Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans. But it’s no slight against Chris Pine – the “Wonder Woman” actor is already a member of the Academy.

A slew of “Star Wars” actors join the Academy’s ranks including Warwick Davis, Domhnall Gleeson, Adam Driver, Donnie Yen and “Ghostbusters” stars Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon.

After the success of “Get Out”, Jordan Peele joins the directors branch of the Academy along with Tom Ford, Guy Ritchie, David Ayer and Japanese cult film director Takashi Miike.

This is the second large wave of professionals the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences has invited to join its ranks in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, setting out to double the number of women and minorities among its members. Since 2015, the Academy has increased its membership so that 39 per cent of members are female and 30 per cent are people of colour.

More of this year’s newcomers include Keegan-Michael Key, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Maggie Cheung, Terry Crews, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Rami Malek and Janelle Monae.

The latest additions bring the total of Academy members to nearly 8,000 across all represented branches.

For the complete list of this year’s invitees across all branches, visit the Academy’s official site.