Chloe
Zhao
recently
made
heads
turn
at
the
93rd
Academy
Awards
by
winning
the
Best
Director
as
well
as
the
Best
Picture
Award.
Her
film,
Nomadland
actress
Frances
McDormand
also
won
the
award
for
Best
Actress.
Notably,
Zhao
who
was
born
in
Beijing,
is
the
first
woman
of
colour
to
receive
the
Best
Director
Award
and
the
only
second
woman
since
Kathryn
Bigelow
(for
2009's
The
Hurt
Locker).
While
netizens
were
excited
to
see
Zhao
take
the
stage
more
than
once
at
the
Oscars,
Marvel
fans
were
especially
elated
as
the
filmmaker
has
directed
the
upcoming
MCU
film
The
Eternals.
During
an
interaction
with
Variety.com,
Chloe
opened
up
about
the
win
and
her
next
release.
According
to
the
report,
Zhao
who
is
a
fan
of
the
Marvel
Cinematic
Universe
approached
the
studio
herself.
She
was
set
to
direct
the
Black
Widow,
but
took
herself
off
the
list.
Soon
after,
she
along
with
Marvel
executive
Nate
Moore
started
working
on
the
pitch
for
The
Eternals,
which
is
set
to
release
in
November
2021.
Zhao
told
Variety
that
she
was
supposed
to
work
on
(editing
process)
Nomadland
after
finishing
The
Eternals
with
Marvel
Studios,
but
ended
up
finishing
it
first
because
of
the
pandemic.
Talking
about
the
critical
acclaim
for
the
film,
she
said,
"We
had
a
really
fortunate
[awards]
season,
and
I
got
to
thank
a
lot
of
people
along
the
way."
"I
have
gone
through
ups
and
downs
in
my
relatively
short
career.
And
one
thing
I've
learned
is
a
bit
of
a
cliché,
but
everything
does
happen
for
a
reason.
We
never
expected
Nomadland
to
resonate
the
way
it
did.
But
everything
worked
out," she
added.
Talking
about
directing
The
Eternals,
she
said
collaborating
with
Marvel
was
an
"incredible
experience."
She
revealed
that
the
studio
backed
her
vision
for
the
film
and
she
wants
the
audience
to
know
about
the
"support
of
this
incredibly
talented
team,
some
of
the
most
talented
artists
in
the
world.
And
it
really
is
a
village
to
make
this
film,
but
they
did
let
me
lead."
Chloe
who
is
used
to
working
on
films
with
smaller
crews
said,
"props
to
Marvel".
She
said
that
the
studio
quickly
adjusted
to
how
she
wanted
to
run
things
on
her
set.
"They
very
much
adapted
how
to
run
the
set
the
way
that
I
wanted
to
work.
I'm
still
surrounded
by
25
people.
They
just
have
armies,
and
each
of
them
knew
they
needed
to
keep
the
army
away," Zhao
added.
The
Eternals
written
by
Matthew
and
Ryan
Firpo,
stars
Richard
Madden,
Gemma
Chan,
Kumail
Nanjiani,
Lauren
Ridloff,
Brian
Tyree
Henry,
Salma
Hayek,
Lia
McHugh,
Don
Lee,
Barry
Keoghan,
Angelina
Jolie
and
Kit
Harington
in
pivotal
roles.