Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell were "screaming and sobbing and jumping" on a Zoom call after they received Oscar nominations for Promising Young Woman on Monday.
Fennell's directorial debut received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Fennell, and Best Actress for her leading lady Mulligan.
After the nominations were announced, Mulligan and Fennell had a virtual call on Zoom to celebrate together.
"I feel just immense gratitude and pride. We made the film in 23 days - I’m just so grateful to them. Carey and I were screaming and sobbing and jumping on Zoom," Fennell told The Hollywood Reporter. "I wish I could see everyone. It’s tough not being able to congratulate people in-person."
In a separate interview with the same publication, Mulligan, who has been nominated once before, admitted she "can't quite get over" how well Fennell's debut has done, considering its modest budget.
"I was completely overjoyed for Emerald - just so, so happy. It really feels incredible what Emerald’s achieved with her first feature film that was made in 23 days. To this level, it just feels sort of record-breaking," she shared. "My surname comes last (in this year's category). So, it was a nightmare. When they were announcing the category, I went through a real rollercoaster of emotions. But I was completely overjoyed. I immediately FaceTimed with Emerald so we could jump around together."
This year's shortlist made history as it featured two women in the Best Director category in the same year for the first time, with Nomadland's Chloe Zhao also competing against David Fincher for Mank, Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round, and Lee Isaac Chung for Minari.
"Chloe is so amazing and that film is so spectacular, so to be nominated alongside her and everyone else in that category is just completely wonderful. But also there were so many female directors this year who made such beautiful, brilliant, challenging, different films," Fennell said of her historic nomination.