Last month, we reported that the Hollywood legend Ellen Burstyn was hoping to be nominated for an Oscar this year for her work in Pieces Of A Woman, as she would have been the oldest acting nominee ever if she got it. Unfortunately for Burstyn, however, she was snubbed when the Oscar nominations came out on Monday.

Now, Burstyn’s Pieces Of A Woman costar Vanessa Kirby is speaking out to address her snubbing.

“I think sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason to these things is there?” Kirby, who was nominated for her work on the film, told Deadline. “I was on set with her and I witnessed some of the most powerful and present acting I’ve ever been around in my life. She’s so much of the heart of this story.”

“I think she’s very philosophical and gracious, and only really wants the story to live,” Kirby added. “She’s never concerned with herself solely. She’s one of the most gracious actors I’ve ever known, and so soulful. She’s like living poetry, that woman.”

Burstyn won the Best Actress in 1975 for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and she was last nominated for the award back in 2001 for the movie Requiem For a Dream.

“I really want that,” she confessed last month of her potential Oscar nomination. “I think that’s a badge of something. Of longevity, certainly!”

At 88 years of age, Burstyn is still as vital as ever, and she opened up to reveal some of her secrets to staying so youthful.

“I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do drugs,” she explained. “I eat healthily and I exercise. I just got a new stationary bike. You have to do the things that will get you there.”

Living in a pandemic has been difficult for Burstyn, as it has been for all of us. She has protected her own health by staying inside at all times, except when she takes her daily hour-long walk in the park.

“I’m coping, but have dips. One day I had a sinking feeling of loneliness and a Frisbee landed near me. I handed it to a little girl who said ‘Thank you,’ and my spirit lifted!” she recalled. “Kindness is really an important element of human interaction, you know?”