|
Power Member
|
81st Oscar Nominees' Reactions
From T he Hollywood Reporter...
Quote:
Best actress nominee Angelina Jolie said of the recognition she earned for "Changeling": "Working with Clint Eastwood was a reward in itself that will last me a lifetime. To receive a nomination from the Academy on top of that is a privilege beyond any expectation. It has been an exceptional year for acting, and I am honored to be in the company of these talented actors whose performances all deserve this recognition. I am also happy that 'Kung Fu Panda' also was noticed by the Academy and proud to be a part of a film my entire family loves so much."
*****
Nominated for his supporting role as county supervisor Dan White in the Harvey Milk biopic "Milk," Josh Brolin -- who also played President Bush in the 2008 release "W." -- said he was pleased to be recognized for his work on the "important" film. " 'W.' was probably the most difficult job in film that I've ever done because you carry his age from a young age through (his presidency). 'Milk' was different," he said. "When I read it, I was so emotional and taken with the story that I just wanted to do this story. It's a timely story, and as timely as it can be with Prop. 8. So obviously, it's an important movie and a very visceral film at that." Brolin acknowledged that Oscar nominations can help an actor attract offers for future meaty roles. "There's more confidence that I can pull off more complicated roles, and luckily, because of the nature of the role of Dan White, we're getting offered really, really interesting roles." Brolin's next film -- Warner Bros. comics-spawned "Josh Hex," which he calls "a throwback to spaghetti Westerns" -- begins shooting in March.
*****
Just back from Washington and the inauguration that she attended with her father, "Rachel Getting Married" star Anne Hathaway stayed overnight at her parents' home to await word on whether she had received a best actress Oscar nomination. "I figured I'd be crying either way," Hathaway said. "But it was tears of joy." Hathaway said she was humbled by receiving a nomination for such an ensemble drama, when the actress is usually known for lighter comedies like "The Princess Diaries." "I feel very lucky." She remembered being surprised when her manager told her about halfway through the shoot that there was some Oscar buzz surrounding her performance. "It was weird," Hathaway said. "That thought hadn't crossed my mind, not even in the little back of my mind saying, 'Wouldn't it be cool?' That's not really why I'm doing it." She spoke to "Rachel" director Jonathan Demme, who is working on his Bob Marley documentary on Thursday. "I'll go to the editing room and give him a hug," Hathaway said.
*****
Nominated for best actor for playing a widowed professor who befriends two immigrants in New York, veteran actor Richard Jenkins said: "This nomination is such an unexpected honor, and I am grateful to the Academy for the recognition. I've been awed by the work of my fellow nominees this year and am truly humbled to be in their company. Having been an actor for many years now, I am moved by the fact that something like this can happen at this point in my career, particularly for a film that has meant so much to me."
*****
Viola Davis, nominated for her brief supporting performance in "Doubt," did a lot of screaming to express her excitement on Oscar nomination morning, which she spent at the Four Seasons Hotel. "I screamed in my husband's ear. He was sitting next to me," Davis said. The same was true when she called her mother back in Rhode Island and left voicemails for her sister and messages on some friends' answering machines. Davis lauded the ensemble effort that brought "Doubt" to life. "You are only as good as your partners," she said about the slew of acting nominations the film earned. And she has no time and reason for feeling competitive with fellow "Doubt" star Amy Adams, who also earned a nom. "I love her too much and respect her too much," Davis said. "She is so wonderfully nuanced, and I am just happy we both got nominated." What's her next project? "If you know anybody who can get me a job ...," Davis quipped, adding she is looking for another challenging opportunity. "I am trying to be picky," she said. She would love to work with Meryl Streep again or get a chance to play opposite her longtime inspiration Cicely Tyson.
*****
Speaking from his office in London, Mike Leigh said that despite this being his fourth best screenplay nomination, "You can't help getting excited, because this is wonderful." But he did admit some disappointment about "Happy-Go-Lucky" not having earned an acting nomination. "Obviously, I'm a tiny bit disappointed about Sally Hawkins," he said. "That's what we really thought, what I thought would happen -- if anything was going to." But he expressed excitement about Hollywood giving a nod to his screenplay and the cast's contribution to its evolution. Asked why the film was snubbed at the BAFTAs but showed up on the Oscar nominations list, Leigh suggested: "I think it's that the Americans don't genuflect obsequiously to Hollywood in the same ways the Brits do."
*****
The night before the nominations, Andrew Stanton, staying in an L.A. hotel, had arranged room service to wake him up before the telecast, so he was up watching when he heard his name and movie mentioned. He then opened his laptop and "e-mailed everyone I knew." While "WALL-E" received the most nominations ever for an animated film, six, the nom that held special meaning was the screenwriting one, which he shares with Pete Doctor and Jim Reardon. "I was really elated. That's the profession I've spent most of my life doing, more than directing, and something I work on constantly." Stanton said he was afraid that because there was no dialogue in the first part of the movie, people would think "the script just fell into place." "It was very hard writing it. There was no room for error because everything was interpretation when you watched it, and you had to be like an orchestrator. You just had to be in complete control in what the instruments were doing so that you didn't give the wrong signals." "WALL-E" is the fifth Pixar movie to be nominated in the writing category, Stanton noted. "We've always said it's story, story, story, so it's nice to see that pay off in this category."
*****
"Milk" producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen had very different ways of preparing for the Oscar nominations Thursday morning. Jinks: "I woke up wide awake at 4 a.m. and was showered and shaved." Cohen: "Dan is away ahead of me. I woke up three minutes before." The pair drew their second best picture nomination, after "American Beauty" took the statue in 1999. But Jinks noted that "Milk" has resonance this year in particular. "All these issues have come to the fore this season -- the passage of Proposition 8, the election of Obama." That, he said, gives the nom a special significance, especially for the people who worked on the passion project. "Nobody got rich making this movie," Jinks said. "Everybody did it for the right reasons."
Producer Eric Fellner took note of the timing of the best picture nomination for "Frost/Nixon." "It's interesting in the week when you get the antithesis of Richard Nixon gets sworn into office that a film like this gets honored," he said. "It's interesting to remember how the office of the president can be in one generation lowered to be virtually valueless and in another, like now, be elevated to that of potential savior." He also said it was fascinating for him to watch the peaceful transfer of power and change in political direction in the U.S. this week and fully appreciated it for the first time. "You have a guy sitting there who's president and then somebody swears in another guy, and literally the power just moves," he said. "And then suddenly, bang, everything that this last man stood for is now irrelevant." Fellner also lauded the great team behind "Frost/Nixon" for driving its critical success, adding that it could help with commercial success as well. The film goes wide in the U.S. and opens in the U.K. on Friday. "It helps in terms of giving it a larger profile," he said about the best picture nomination. Fellner added that he regularly talks to David Frost and that he is "over the moon, thrilled with this" film.
*****
For Tia Lessin, the nomination for best documentary feature with Carl Deal for "Trouble the Water" is made even more special by this week's inauguration of President Barack Obama. Last week, they -- along with the subjects of the film, New Orleans residents Kim Rivers Roberts and Scott Roberts -- screened the film that focuses on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at the King Center in Atlanta. But Lessin said "Trouble the Water" is more than just a film about Katrina. "It's about poverty in America," she said. "It's about people who were left behind by the government." Lessin said Thursday that Obama's election and inauguration was all about change and bringing true economic, social and racial justice to the U.S. "I think it's very much at the forefront right now," she said.
*****
Elliott Graham, the film editor on "Milk," who has been residing in Seattle of late, is impressed with the continued public buzz over the film. "I've been walking by and hearing people talking about it, and I never experienced anything like that before," Graham said. A first-time nominee, he was quite stoked over receiving news of his nomination in the film-editing category. "It feels amazing, and it feels all the more amazing -- if that's possible -- because it's part of this film."
*****
Danny Glicker, the Los Angeles-based costume designer on "Milk," a first-time Oscar nominee, said: "I'm so thrilled. It's really special, because it's one of the most important projects that I've ever been involved with and a project that I care so much about personally."
*****
"Bolt" co-director Byron Howard was on an afternoon tour of the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona when his phone began vibrating. But because he was part of small guided group, he felt it would be rude to answer the call from the States, despite knowing that the news was he either had a nomination -- or not. Excruciating minutes later, after the tour, he called back and received the news: "Bolt" was nominated for a best animated feature. "My mind was blown." Howard, in the midst of a world tour promoting the movie, said he was now going to drink. "They've got this lemon beer that I've become quite fond of in the last few days. I'm going to have some of that before we go to London."
*****
Now living in Copenhagen, "Man on Wire" director James Marsh was surprised Thursday afternoon with a call from the BBC asking for comment for his Academy Award nomination for best documentary feature. "I didn't quite believe it," Marsh said. It wasn't until he got a call from his publicist in Los Angeles that he realized it was true. The film is about the high-wire walk that Philippe Petit took between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Marsh said that in reconstructing the event he was aiming to make a movie, not just a documentary. "I realized it should be an adventure story, a heist film, if you like," he said. What's not in it is any mention of Sept. 11. That's by design, Marsh said. He was looking to "reposition" the audience's view of the buildings without denying or denigrating what happened there. "Everyone who sees the film is very aware of the future, and you can respond to it on a personal level if you want," Marsh said.
*****
When the Oscar news came out before dawn, nominee Irene Taylor Brodsky was already up nursing her 4-week-old son. Taylor Brodsky, the director of the documentary short subject "The Final Inch" -- about the fight to eradicate polio in rural India -- found out about her nom by checking Oscar.com. The Emmy and Sundance winner then got a phone call from HBO's Sheila Nevins. The "Final Inch" tracks the resurgence of the deadly disease, which had been eradicated in the U.S. She said that like many Americans, she didn't know much about polio when called to do the documentary by philanthropist Dr. Lawrence Brilliant. She said she hopes the nomination for "Final Inch" draws help for the people who are still suffering from the disease.
|
From The Associated Press...
Quote:
Reactions to nominations for the Academy Awards:
"I'm ecstatic! Thank you to the Academy from the cast and crew here in Mumbai where the film was made and where it's being premiered tonight. It feels like you've given us a billion nominations!" — "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle.
___
"Working with Clint Eastwood was a reward in itself that will last me a lifetime. To receive a nomination from the Academy on top of that is a privilege beyond any expectation. It has been an exceptional year for acting, and I am honored to be in the company of these talented actors whose performances all deserve this recognition." — Angelina Jolie, best-actress nominee for "Changeling."
___
"It's everything that you could possibly imagine it is, and not that I needed the nomination to know I was on the right path, but it certainly helps. It really does." — Viola Davis, supporting-actress nominee for "Doubt."
___
"I couldn't have imagined anything like this a couple years ago. You just do your work and are happy you're able to make some money. This is very, very special, especially because of the movie. It wasn't that I read this character and said, `I have to do this character.' It was more about the movie." — Josh Brolin, supporting-actor nominee for "Milk."
___
"I didn't know at first what awards we'd won, and when I finally found out, I thought it was pretty great. To have as many as eight is pretty good." — "Milk" director Gus Van Sant. Van Sant received a best-director nomination for the film.
___
"I am overjoyed by these nominations and deeply grateful that the Academy has embraced the music of this film. `Slumdog Millionaire' has paid magical dividends for so many people around the globe. I am deeply honored to be a part of a film that has inspired so many." — A.R. Rahman, nominee for original score and original song.
___
"I'm delighted for Kate. I think she did two astonishing performances in `Revolutionary Road' and in `The Reader.' Whichever one the Academy went for, I think it's her year. I think it's her turn. I think that it's wonderful for her, but I do think she's done two astonishing performances." — Stephen Daldry, director of "The Reader." Winslet received a best-actress nomination for her role in that film.
___
"It is such a thrill to be recognized in this category with these remarkably talented women. I was with my parents and my dog when I got the news and we were all overjoyed — although I'm not sure my dog knew what was going on. This is a great day to be an actress!" — Anne Hathaway, best-actress nominee for "Rachel Getting Married."
___
"I'm extremely happy to have been nominated. And very fortunate. Playing Hanna Schmitz will always remain one of the biggest challenges I've ever been blessed with. I'm genuinely thrilled not just for myself but for the wonderful Stephen Daldry and David Hare. These nominations are a testament to their unwavering commitment to this film. And I'm also very happy for all the people in Germany whose hard work on `The Reader' has been rewarded by these nominations. Surely Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack are smiling down on us today!" — Kate Winslet, best-actress nominee for "The Reader."
___
"It's very thrilling and also for me kind of funny. You're a documentary filmmaker, you don't ever expect to find yourself in this kind of world. So there's something almost hilarious about it, like God is laughing at me — or perhaps with me, as well." — James Marsh, director of "Man on Wire," nominated for best documentary.
|
More from Variety here.
Last edited by J_UNTITLED; 01-22-2009 at 05:10 PM.
|
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Linear Mode
