Oscars Considering Replacing Best Actor, Actress With Gender-Neutral Award

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The Oscars may soon undergo a major and controversial change as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences explores the possibility of replacing the Best Actor and Best Actress categories with gender-neutral awards.

As more awards organizations adopt gender-neutral categories, the Academy is considering following suit but acknowledges that they are in the "early exploration stage," Academy CEO Bill Kramer said in an interview published Thursday in Variety .

The trend began when the Grammys merged best pop vocal, country vocal and R⁘B vocal performances into a single gender-neutral category in 2012. Since then, some film and TV awards ⁘ including the MTV Movie ⁘ TV Awards, the Gotham Awards and Independent Spirit Awards, have followed suit.

But such a change for the main acting categories at Hollywood's flagship award ceremony would be remarkable.

Kramer said that there are many factors the Academy would consider before making a final decision. "It's one of many conversations about the future of awards and the Oscars," he said. "We are still investigating how it could look."

The idea of gender-neutral categories has garnered support from nonbinary performers like Emma Corrin and Asia Kate Dillon. Corrin, known for their role as Princess Diana in "The Crown," has lobbied for more inclusivity in award categories.

The proposal has also faced sustained criticism when it has surfaced in recent years. Film critic Christian Toto and actresses Patricia Arquette and Jamie Lee Curtis, among others, have argued that while they support diversity, gender-neutral categories would disadvantage female performers .

"We've already seen genderless categories where mostly men scored the nominations in a given category. That's problematic for those counting up the winners by gender," Toto said in an interview with the Washington Times in 2023.