Dolly De Leon, Taylor Swift, Austin Butler among those invited to join Oscars voting panel

Dolly de Leon has joined music superstars Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, as well as fellow actors Austin Butler, Keke Palmer and Oscar-winning Ke Huy Quan in the list of showbiz industry people invited to join the organization behind the Oscars.

Other invitees to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences include Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who directed Everything Everywhere All at Once, which won seven Oscars this year including the prize for Best Picture, an AFP report said. The Academy said a total of 76 Oscar nominees, including 22 winners, are among the invitees.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Dolly confirmed that she scored an invitation to join the panel that decides on who gets to win an Oscar.

The veteran actress previously brought pride to the country as the first Filipino actor to be nominated at the BAFTAs and the Golden Globe Awards for her work in the Palme d’Or-winning film Triangle of Sadness.

“My dream has always been clear to me — to work with artists I admire and respect. This (referring to the Academy invite) was never part of the plan. No,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Did I even wish for it to happen? No. Because I never thought it could. But it’s happened and it’s a step closer to the goal and gives many others like me HOPE.

“For those of you who dare to dream, know that nothing is impossible. Now it’s your turn. Laban!” she added a word of encouragement for industry colleagues. 

Following Triangle of Sadness, Dolly is also part of upcoming Hollywood films Grand Death Lotto directed by Bridesmaids director Paul Feig and starring John Cena and Awkwafina; and Between Temples with Jason Schwartzman. 

Meanwhile, the Academy said its new crop of members of Tinseltown’s most elite club numbers 398 people.

As per AFP, that is about half the figure of recent years as the Academy “scaled back after working to double the number of women and non-white members, following calls to boycott the glitzy Oscars and an angry social media backlash under the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite due to a lack of diversity.”

To date, the report further said that the Academy now has more than 10,000 members.

Of the 2023 class, the Academy had noted that 40 percent identify as women, 34 percent belong to underrepresented ethnic and racial communities, and 52 percent are from 50 countries and territories outside the United States.

Reportedly considered as the “apex body” of the Hollywood film industry, the Academy issues a single round of invitations annually.

According to its website, membership selection is based on professional qualifications, with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity remaining a priority. Demographic information is “provided by the candidate when possible or projected through research and will be confirmed by members upon acceptance.” Those who say yes to the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership this year. 

Only Academy members can vote for Oscar winners. Next year’s Oscars are set to take place on March 10.