How the 2022 Oscar Hopefuls Reacted to their Academy Award Nominations

Considered by many to be the highest accolade in the industry, dozens of talented artists are reacting to their 2022 Academy Award nominations.

There are repeat nominations for Hollywood royalty like Denzel Washington, Judi Dench and Steven Spielberg, but there are also first-time nods for the likes of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ariana DeBose and Kristen Stewart.

The movies leading the way at the 2022 Academy Awards are Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog with 12 nominations, and Dune with 10. Belfast and West Side Story have seven each, while blockbuster movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home and No Time To Die were also nominated.

A nomination is reason enough to celebrate, and on the day that the good news was announced, the nominated talent shared their reactions to the news on social media.

The Power of the Dog reaction

Smit-McPhee spoke to Newsweek in October 2021 about the Oscar buzz surrounding him, and admitted he was "absolutely humbled" by the chatter.

Well four months later and now Smit-McPhee is officially an Academy Award-nominee for his role as the slightly off-kilter character Peter Gordon in The Power of the Dog. He's up for Best Supporting Actor. His co-stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst, who also spoke to Newsweek, are also nominated in acting categories.

Writing on his Instagram Stories, Smit-McPhee shared his joy that the whole cast, cinematographer Ari Wegner, and director Jane Campion were all recognized by the academy. "I'm so deeply honored. And over the moon to say the least that we were all recognized for our work together." He continued, "Jesse/Kirsten/Benedict/Ari and of course JANE. I love you all so much."

Ryan Reynolds on Free Guy

One big budget Disney movie that gained Oscar-worthy praise this year was Ryan Reynolds' movie Free Guy. The movie is nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 2022 Oscars.

The videogame-based action comedy stars Reynolds as a non-playable character in a fictional world, and the VFX team behind the movie spoke to Newsweek about how the movie almost replicated popular game Fortnight.

Upon hearing the good news about Free Guy, Reynolds wrote on his Instagram "Huge congrats to the entire #FreeGuy team and thank you to @TheAcademy." He also name-checked the talent behind the visual effects, Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick.

West Side Story & Ariana DeBose

Ariana DeBose was overcome with joy as she received her first nomination for her role in Spielberg's West Side Story.

The movie got seven nods in total, but DeBose is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita.

She seemed to be inundated with congratulatory messages, and she reposted many on her Instagram Stories, with added heart gifs.

She also seemed to be up bright and early, and shared her reaction with a picture of herself looking comically bewildered. DeBose appeared lost for words, and instead expressed herself with emojis, "Once I compose myself I'll have real words to say. But until then..."

Billie Eilish's first nomination

From the use of her emojis on Instagram, it's possible Billie Eilish's nomination for Best Original Song at the 2022 Oscars reduced her to tears.

She shared a picture of the full list of nominees, which includes Beyoncé, and shared her feelings alongside it.

She wrote: "Thank you SO much to @theacademy for this nomination!! it was an absolute dream to write a song for a @007 film and i'm so honored that it's nominated. peak life experience. THANK YOU!!!"

Eilish is nominated for writing the theme song to No Time To Die along with her brother Finneas.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Not content with being the highest-grossing movie of the past year, becoming the sixth highest-grossing movie of all time, Spider-Man: No Way Home also received recognition from the Academy Awards too.

The official movie social media accounts celebrated its nomination for Best Visual Effects.

Don't Look Up writer and director Adam McKay also reacted to his movie's four nominations with a simple retweet. He shared the official movie account's announcement for its nominations and also retweeted Emily Sirota's tweet who is now the proud wife of Oscar-nominee David Sirota who co-wrote the story with McKay.

The main ceremony for the 2022 Academy Awards will be held March 27 on ABC.