Santa Barbara Film Fest: ‘American Fiction’ Star Jeffrey Wright Set for Montecito Award

Jeffrey Wright, the veteran actor who, for his performance as the lead of Cord Jefferson’s social satire American Fiction, is poised to land the first Oscar nomination of his distinguished career, has been tapped to receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival‘s Montecito Award, the fest announced Monday.

Wright, 58, will collect the honor following a career-retrospective conversation at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024.

For his turn as Monk, a college professor who writes books nobody reads because, he is told, they aren’t “Black enough,” and then tries to write a book that is, Wright has already received best actor Gotham, Spirit, Golden Globe and Critics Choice award nominations.

“I’ve been a fan of Mr. Wright since I first saw him in 1993 in the original Broadway production of Angels in America,” SBIFF executive director Roger Durling said in a statement. “I’ve since admired that he brings a high level of class and integrity to every role he does. Yet, no film had capitalized on his extraordinary range and virtuosity until American Fiction. It is about time.”

SBIFF’s Montecito Award is named after one of the most beautiful and stylish parts of Santa Barbara. Past recipients include Angela Bassett, Penélope Cruz, Amanda Seyfried, Lupita Nyong’o, Melissa McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts and Javier Bardem.