Gotham Awards 2022: Gabrielle Union, Janelle James, Brian Tyree Henry Among Nominees

Cheaper By the Dozen, L.A.’s Finest, (and one of my faves) star Gabrielle Union was recognized in the category of Outstanding Supporting Performance for her role in Elegance Bratton’s narrative debut, The Inspection.

In it, she stars as the highly religious and homophobic mother Inez French to Jeremy Pope’s character Ellis who refuses to accept her son’s identity and disowns him. As previously reported by The Root, The Inspection centers around Ellis “through an emotional and physical gauntlet in his intimidation by a sadistic sergeant (Bokeem Woodbine), his desire for a sympathetic superior (Raúl Castillo), and his complicated feelings toward a mother who rejected him.”

It’s currently available to catch in theaters now.

Congratulations are in order to Atlanta’s Paper Boi Brian Tyree Henry who’s also up for Outstanding Supporting Performance for his role opposite Jennifer Lawrence in the forthcoming film, Causeway.

Per a press release sent to The Root, Henry stars as a local mechanic James who forges an unlikely friendship with Lawrence’s Lynsey, a soldier struggling to adjust back home in New Orleans following a traumatic injury.

Causeway is slated to drop on AppleTV+ Nov. 4.

The Harder They Fall star Danielle Deadwyler was also recognized in the category of Outstanding Lead Performance for her role as Mamie Till in the recently released film, Till.

As previously reported by The Root, the powerful yet polarizing feature is “a profoundly emotional and cinematic film about the true story of Mamie Till Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was brutally lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi. In Mamie’s poignant journey of grief turned to action, we see the universal power of a mother’s ability to change the world.”

Till is available to watch in theaters now.

Abbott Elementary’s Janelle James, who plays the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) school principal on TV right now a.k.a. Ava Coleman, has also been nominated this year. Her hilarious one-liners and arguably ancillary antics garnered her a nom for Outstanding Performance in a New Series.

She can currently be seen on the second season of Abbott, with new episodes premiering every Wednesday on ABC and streaming next day on Hulu.

Also up for an award this year is Thandiwe Newton. She was nominated for Outstanding Lead Performance for her role in IFC Films’ God’s Country.

Per the film’s official website, God’s Country centers around a college professor in the remote mountains of the American West who confronts two hunters she catches trespassing on her property and is subsequently drawn into an escalating battle of wills with catastrophic consequences.

The film is available to stream now on AppleTV+ and Amazon Prime.

Us star Anna Diop is also nominated this year for Breakout Performer for her lead role in Amazon Studios and Blumhouse’s psychological horror film Nanny.

Written by Nikyatu Jusu, and per a press release sent to The Root, Nanny tells the story of Aisha (Diop), a woman who recently emigrated from Senegal, who is hired to care for the daughter of an affluent couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector) living in New York City. Haunted by the absence of the young son she left behind, Aisha hopes her new job will afford her the chance to bring him to the U.S., but becomes increasingly unsettled by the family’s volatile home life. As his arrival approaches, a violent presence begins to invade both her dreams and her reality, threatening the American dream she is painstakingly piecing together.

Nanny is set to hit theaters Nov. 23.

Elegance Bratton, who’s making his narrative feature debut with the Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union-led film, The Inspection, was also recognized this year for the prestigious Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award.

The film debut at the 60th annual New York Film Festival and is in theaters now.

“With The Inspection, Elegance Bratton has made an autobiographical movie of rare power and confidence, a debut film for the ages,”said Dennis Lim, artisitic director for the NYFF.

Big claps and snaps are also in order for Waves and Escape Room star Taylor Russell, who’ll be going up against Thandiwe Newton and Danielle Deadwyler for Outstanding Lead Performance in a film for her role in the forthcoming film, Bones and All.

Starring opposite Timothée Chalamet, the feature tells the tale of cannibalistic lovers Maren and Lee as they embark on a road trip across Reagan-era America. It’s set to hit theaters Nov. 18.

ABC’s Emmy award-winning comedy Abbott Elementary has also been recognized this year. Not only for their phenomenal actress Janelle James, but also as a whole in the category of Breakthrough Series-Short Format.

We’d be here all day if we could so I could wax poetic about my love for this show but I’ll spare you my sentiments and just say congrats Abbott crew! This nom is well deserved!

Speaking of other shows that deserve recognition, we’ve got to give it up for Issa Rae’s sophomore series, Rap Sh!t, which was also nominated for Breakthrough Series-Short Format.

Now usually, I don’t like to see two bad bitches put up against each other but regardless of which show ends up taking home the award that night, a win is a win! Like Issa said, we’re rooting for everybody Black! And that’s on Black Jesus and Blue Ivy!

We’ve also got to give it up to W. Kamau Bell for his revelatory docuseries, We Need to Talk About Cosby.

The project, which is currently nominated for Breakthrough Nonfiction Series, explores the “complex story of Cosby’s life and work,” chronicling his “descent from “America’s Dad” to alleged sexual predator.” It also detailed Cosby’s “accolades for his comedy, breaking barriers for Black stunt performers and finding his own ways of participating in the nation’s sexual liberation and civil rights movement. All the while, he allegedly begins exploiting his power,” as previously reported by The Root.

The docuseries is available to watch now on Showtime.

Alice Diop’s debut narrative feature, Saint Omer, is also nominated this year for Best International Feature. Starring Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanda, the film follows “Rama, a novelist who attends the trial of Laurence Coly at the Saint-Omer Criminal Court to use her story to write a modern-day adaptation of the ancient myth of Medea, but things don’t go as expected,” per IMDB.

Congratulations to all the nominees! The 2022 Gotham Awards goes down at Cipriani Wall Street in New York on Monday, Nov. 28. For the full list, head to hollywoodreporter.com.