Idris Elba and Emma Watson.
Photo: Getty Images
As part of its efforts to diversify in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has promised to double the number of women and people of color in its ranks. The first step in that plan came Wednesday, when the Academy announced its new class, which is both larger and more diverse than ever before: Of the 683 new members — a list that includes boldfaced names like Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson, and Emma Watson — 46 percent are women, and 41 percent are non-white. In a stroke, the Academy as a whole is now 27 percent female and 11 percent people of color — roughly similar to the demographics of an Android-fan convention in Montana.