Joker's Hildur Guðnadóttir becomes the 1st woman to win an original score Oscar in 22 years


Thanks to her work on Joker, Hildur Guðnadóttir just entered an unfortunately exclusive club.
Guðnadóttir on Sunday won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Joker, becoming the fourth woman to win the musical score Oscar, and the first since 1998, Deadline reports.
Previously, the three woman to have won were Marilyn Bergman for Yentl in 1984, Rachel Portman for Emma in 1997, and Anne Dudley for The Full Monty in 1998. These three wins came when the Oscars had more than one musical score award; Bergman won Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score, while Portman and Dudley both won Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. The Wrap notes Guðnadóttir is only the third woman to win an Oscar for scoring, though, since Bergman wrote songs rather than score for Yentl.
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"To the girls, to the women, to the mothers and the daughters who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up," Guðnadóttir said in her acceptance speech. "We need to hear your voices."
Guðnadóttir had been expected to win the Oscar on Sunday, having also won at the Golden Globes and the British Academy Film Awards. She additionally won an Emmy and a Grammy for her work on HBO's Chernobyl.
“I think it's just magnificent to be able to be a part of this conversation, and to shed some light to the situation of women in the industry, especially in this category, because it's a little bit silly how few there are," she told Deadline last month. "It's completely [incomprehensible] to me. So, I think it's just wonderful to be a part of that conversation, and in the kindest way possible say, 'Hey, isn’t this a bit ridiculous?'"
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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