Chloé Zhao and Joshua James Richards are recognizing the women who starred in their Oscar-nominated film Nomadland.
The director and cinematographer brought Linda May and Swankie as their dates to the Academy Awards. The pair played a pivotal role in the screenwriting process, and were so helpful, Chloé wrote them into the movie.
The group of four stopped to chat with E! News’ Giuliana Rancic, with Linda May describing how “surreal” it was to be on the red carpet at Union Station. As she put it, “[It’s] nothing that I ever expected would happen to me.”
Swankie chimed in, “What she said!”
“And I’m not an actor,” Swankie continued. “It’s not my acting that’s Oscar-worthy, it’s my nomadic lifestyle that is Oscar-worthy.”
Chloé added that Swankie and Linda’s life helped to inspire her filmmaking process, revealing that some of the scenes were actually “spontaneous.”
