‘Room’ writer wants Oscars to turn over a new leaf

Oscar hopeful Emma Donoghue has criticised the lack of diversity at this year’s awards ceremony.

In an interview with Gay Community News magazine, the openly gay author highlighted the lack of LGBT nominees at this year’s ceremony.

The Room screenwriter said: “The furore over the whitewashing of the awards is long overdue, and it’s such a fair point.

“I think that it’s the same for queer people in Hollywood.

“Look how hard Ellen Page found it to come out, and now that she has, she’s not getting offered the straight roles that she was.

“It seems ludicrous that we’d rather watch straight people playing gay roles than watch gay actors and believe that they have the ability to play a wide range of characters.

“Everything I read about the lack of diversity in the film business makes me glad that I am now stepping into the film business, because I feel we need new and different voices in an urgent way.

“The more outsiders we can get to stir things up on the inside, the better.”

But Ms Donoghue stressed that she is going to savour every moment of tomorrow night’s awards bash which she’ll be attending with her partner, Christine Roulston.

She added: “I’m just incredibly honoured to be nominated. It’s my first screenplay, so it’s amazing beginner’s luck.”

Room has been nominated for four Oscars in total, including the best director award for Dubliner Lenny Abrahamson.

However, she admitted she will feel like a fish out of water in the company of more style-obsessed Hollywood stars at the awards ceremony — and will be longing to get back into her casual clothes.

She has temporarily swapped her tranquil life in Canada for the unfamiliar, fast-paced world of television cameras, glitzy parties, and awards shows since being nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay gong for Room.

And, speaking about some of the glamorous stars she’ll be rubbing shoulders with at the Oscars bash tomorrow, the 46-year-old said: “I so don’t feel like one of them.”

Ms Donongue, who adapted the screenplay for the low-budget flick from her own novel, said the intense, jet-setting Hollywood lifestyle she’s found herself thrust into over the past few months couldn’t be more different from the relative anonymity she enjoys when writing.

She explained: “You campaign directly with the voters for the awards, so there’s a lot of social occasions.

“You’re not just presenting your work, you’re going to parties and special screenings and so on.

“There’s none of that in the book world. Going to a party isn’t going to improve your chances of winning the Booker Prize.

“In the case of film, they conduct it like a military campaign and there are much higher standards of appearance, so you get groomers coming to your room to doll you up. It’s a long way from how I’ve been raised.

“Parts of it are very glamorous indeed.

“They’ve been flying me around the world business class and giving me all sorts of luxuries.

“But on the other hand it’s been going on since last September, so I have to say I treasure the weeks when I’m getting to just wear my sweatpants.”