Motion picture academy invites largest class ever in continued push for diversity

LOS ANGELES - The film world's most exclusive club - the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - just got a whole lot bigger.

On Monday, in its latest and most dramatic step to diversify its historically overwhelmingly white and male membership, the academy announced that it had invited a record-setting 928 film professionals from around the world to join its ranks, including such boldfaced names as Emilia Clarke, Timothee Chalamet, Mindy Kaling, Dave Chappelle and director Michel Gondry, as well as numerous more actors, filmmakers and below-the-line craftspeople whose names would be unfamiliar to even the most die-hard moviegoer.

This immense influx of new members is the academy's largest and most diverse ever, topping last year's 774 new members, which itself was a major leap over the previous year's 684 invitees.

In 2016, the academy pledged after two years of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy to double the number of women and minorities in its ranks by 2020. According to its own figures, the new class is 49 percent female, bringing up the total representation of women in the group from 28 percent to 31 percent. Thirty-eight percent of the new class is people of color, raising their proportion in the academy from 13 percent to 16 percent.

In a single stroke, the new class - which includes a number of people who may be more familiar from their work in television than in film as well as many new foreign members representing 58 countries around the world - swells the ranks of Hollywood's leading institution, which previously numbered roughly 8,300, by more than a tenth.

The 2018 invitees are:

Actors

Hiam Abbass - "Blade Runner 2049," "The Visitor"

Damian Alcazar - "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," "El Crimen del Padre Amaro"

Naveen Andrews - "Mighty Joe Young," "The English Patient"

Gemma Arterton - "Their Finest," "Quantum of Solace"

Zawe Ashton - "Nocturnal Animals," "Blitz"

Eileen Atkins - "Gosford Park," "Cold Mountain"

Hank Azaria - "Anastasia," "The Birdcage"

Doona Bae - "Cloud Atlas," "The Host"

Christine Baranski - "Miss Sloane," "Mamma Mia!"

Carlos Bardem - "Assassin's Creed," "Che"

Irene Bedard - "Smoke Signals," "Pocahontas"

Bill Bellamy - "Any Given Sunday," "Love Jones"

Haley Bennett - "Thank You for Your Service," "The Girl on the Train"

Tammy Blanchard - "Into the Woods," "Moneyball"

Sofia Boutella - "The Mummy," "Atomic Blonde"

Diana Bracho - "A Ti Te Queria Encontrar," "Y Tu Mama Tambien"

Alice Braga - "I Am Legend," "City of God"

Andre Braugher - "Salt," "Primal Fear"

Abigail Breslin - "August: Osage County," "Little Miss Sunshine"

Alison Brie - "The Post," "The Disaster Artist"

Joy Bryant - "Bobby," "Get Rich or Die Tryin'"

Hannibal Buress - "Blockers," "Spider-Man: Homecoming"

Vanessa Bell Calloway - "What's Love Got to Do With It," "Coming to America"

Javier Camara - "Talk to Her," "Sex and Lucia"

Jaime Camil - "Coco," "Pulling Strings"

Tantoo Cardinal - "Wind River," "Dances With Wolves"

Elpidia Carrillo - "Nine Lives," "Predator"

Timothee Chalamet - "Call Me by Your Name," "Lady Bird"

Sylvia Chang - "Love Education," "20:30:40"

Dave Chappelle - "Chi-Raq," "Robin Hood: Men in Tights"

Soumitra Chatterjee - "Bridge," "Days and Nights in the Forest"

Hong Chau - "Downsizing," "Inherent Vice"

Anna Chlumsky - "The End of the Tour," "My Girl"

Emilia Clarke - "Solo: A Star Wars Story," "Me Before You"

Noel Clarke - "Brotherhood," "Star Trek Into Darkness"

Aurore Clement - "A Bigger Splash," "Paris, Texas"

Lily Collins - "Okja," "Mirror Mirror"

Olivia Colman - "The Lobster," "Tyrannosaur"

Ricardo Darin - "Wild Tales," "The Secret in Their Eyes"

Elizabeth Debicki - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," "The Great Gatsby"

Natalia De Molina - "Kiki, Love to Love," "Food