Deadline Hollywood - AwardsLine - 02/16/18

PRESENTS

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 OSCAR NOMINEES

Greta GERWIG Saoirse RONAN Guillermo DEL TORO Sally HAWKINS Aaron SORKIN Margot ROBBIE Mary J. BLIGE Dee REE S Octavia SPENC ER Timothée C HALAMET Denzel WASHINGTON Angelina JOLIE Nora TWOMEY Willem DAFOE COMMON Diane WARREN

How Jordan Peele and Daniel Kaluuya turned their February-released horror picture Get Out into one of the most talked about movies of the year.

DEADLINE.COM/AWARDSLINE

0216 - Cover.indd 1

2/14/18 12:26 PM

ACA D E M Y AWA R D N O M I N E E ®

B E S T D O C U M E N TA R Y F E AT U R E BAFTA AWARD NOMINEE DOCUMENTARY

DGA AWARD NOMINEE BRYAN FOGEL

CONSIDER TRUTH “A

FASCINATING EXPOSÉ.

COULDN’T BE MORE TIMELY.”

Untitled-11 1

2/13/18 10:58 AM

PRESENTS

GE N E RAL MANAGE R & C H IE F R EVE N U E OF F I CE R

Stacey Farish E D ITO R

Joe Utichi C R EAT IVE DI R ECTO R

Craig Edwards

AS S ISTAN T E DI TO R

Matt Grobar

D EAD L IN E CO- E DI TORS- I N - CHI E F

Nellie Andreeva Mike Fleming Jr.

AWAR D S E DI TO R & COLU M NI ST

Pete Hammond

D EAD L IN E CON T R I BU TO RS

Peter Bart Anita Busch Dawn Chmielewski Anthony D’Alessandro Greg Evans Lisa de Moraes Patrick Hipes Amanda N’Duka Dominic Patten Erik Pedersen Denise Petski Dino-Ray Ramos David Robb Nancy Tartaglione Peter White VID EO P RO DU CE RS

David Janove Andrew Merrill

S O C IAL ME DI A M AN AGE R

Scott Shilstone

C H AIR MAN & CEO

Jay Penske

VIC E C H AIRM AN

Gerry Byrne

C H IE F O P E RAT I NG O F F I CE R

George Grobar

EX EC U T IVE VI CE P R ESI DE NT, BU S IN ES S A F FAI RS AN D GE N E RAL COU NSE L

Todd Greene

EX EC U T IVE VI CE P R ESI DE NT, BU S IN ES S DEVE LOP M E NT

Craig Perreault

S E N IO R VIC E P R ESI DE NT, F I N ANCE

Ken DelAlcazar

VIC E P R ES I DE N T, CR EAT I VE

Nelson Anderson

VICE PRESIDENT, FILM & TELEVISION

Carra Fenton

2-20

FIRST TAKE Lady Bird’s Laurie Metcalf

The Shape of Water BTL Team Three Questions with Foreign Language directors Documentary Roundup This year’s animated nominees

22

COVER STORY Jordan Peele and Daniel Kaluuya on the early rollout of Get Out Plus: The Long Road to Oscar

36

THE DIALOGUE: OSCAR NOMINEES Greta Gerwig Saoirse Ronan Guillermo del Toro Sally Hawkins Aaron Sorkin Margot Robbie Mary J. Blige Dee Rees Octavia Spencer Timothée Chalamet Denzel Washington Angelina Jolie & Nora Twomey Willem Dafoe Common & Diane Warren

56

FLASH MOB Deadline Studio at Sundance 2018

D IR ECTO RS , E N T E RTAI N M E N T

Brianna Hamburger Tiffany Windju ACCO U N T MANAGE R

London Sanders

AD SAL ES COO R DI NATO RS

​Kristina Mazzeo Malik Simmons

P RO D U CT IO N M ANAGE R

Andrea Wynnyk

D IST R IBU T I O N DI R ECTOR

Michael Petre

ADVE RT IS ING I NQ U I R I ES

Stacey Farish

S FA R I S H@ PM C.CO M 3 1 0 -4 8 4 - 2 553

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA FAC EBOOK

f facebook.com/deadlinehollywood l @Deadline TWITTE R

INSTAGRAM

@Deadline

0216 - TOC.indd 1

ON THE COVER Daniel Kaluuya and Jordan Peele photographed for Deadline by Josh Telles ON THIS PAGE Margot Robbie photographed for Deadline by Michael Buckner

2/14/18 5:40 PM

Shape family portrait p. 8 | Three Questions: Foreign Language Film p. 12 | Doc-off p. 14

Motherlode How Laurie Metcalf authored one of the most memorable mothers in movie history with Lady Bird

BY A N T H O N Y D ’A L E S SA N D RO

IT WAS THE MONOLOGUE that launched a thousand casting calls. In 1984 Laurie Metcalf made her New York stage debut, appearing alongside her Steppenwolf peers in John Malkovich’s revival of Lanford Wilson’s 1965 play Balm in Gilead.

And in a sea of odd, unsympathetic characters, who ranged from heroin addicts to hookers in an upper Broadway café, it was Metcalf who stood out from the crowd. Just as all the buzz is occurring on stage amid overlapping conversations, Metcalf’s Darlene, a naïve whore, brings all the noise to a standstill with a 20 minute-monologue, one which New York Times critic Frank Rich declared at the time was “one of the year’s most memorable theatrical events”.

“In a play full of sad people, Miss Metcalf’s prostitute, Darlene, is the most pathetic— stupid, sweet and doomed. In her marathon stream-of-consciousness monologue, she reminisces to another whore (the excellent Glenne Headly) about her married past in Chicago—all the while wrapping tragic events within the most

2

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Opener - Laurie Metcalf.indd 2

PHOTOGRAPH BY

Michael Buckner

2/14/18 3:01 PM

WINNER

WRITERS GUILD AWARDS

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY JORDAN PEELE

WINNER

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS

BEST DIRECTOR FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM

JORDAN PEELE

universalpicturesawards.com

Untitled-31 1

© 2016 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

2/13/18 3:03 PM

BIRDS OF A FEATHER Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird.

inane and trivial digressions. Miss

role as Jackie Harris on Roseanne,

Metcalf’s delivery of the speech,

which she’ll reprise this March in

in which Darlene’s good-natured

the comedy series’ limited return on

gregariousness fights a losing battle

ABC, to her first Supporting Actress

against her unarticulated despera-

Oscar-nominated turn as Marion

tion, is a tour de force.”

McPherson, the grounded, but cyni-

That monologue opened the

cal mother to an ambitious Catholic

floodgates for Metcalf. Not only

high school senior (Saoirse Ronan) in

was she promptly casted in Susan

Lady Bird.

Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking

“I never felt that I was typecast,”

“I NEVER FELT I WAS TYPECAST. I GRAVITATED TOWARDS ROLES THAT WERE WORKING CLASS; ONES WHICH I COULD PERSONALLY IDENTIFY WITH.”

that I could reinvent myself in a way that would open up different roles for me.”

In capturing the turbulent relationship between a daughter and her practical mother in Lady Bird—one which was inspired by filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s own life—the truth lay in the comedy, whether it was a car fight that heightens to the point that

Susan and Making Mr. Right, but

says Metcalf about her 40-year-

Metcalf built connections with those

plus career which has included such

films’ casting directors, Risa Bramon

parts as New Orleans Assistant

organically quelling her daughter’s

Garcia and Billy Hopkins, a duo

D.A. Susie Cox in Oliver Stone’s JFK;

bickering in a thrift store when she

who also tapped her to audition for

social worker and Norm MacDon-

unveils the oh-so-right pink dress

ABC’s Roseanne, a gig that lasted 221

ald’s best friend in the ABC sitcom

from the rack.

episodes.

Norm, and the uptight, self-centered

When it comes to blending

Lady Bird throws herself out of her mother’s moving vehicle, or Marion

Extols Gerwig about Metcalf’s

Dr. Jenna James on HBO’s Getting On

talents: “She is a powerhouse

humor with incisive drama, Metcalf

for which the actress received her

emotionally, and she has a way with

is arguably the most dependable,

tenth Emmy nomination in a comedy

language that I think is astonishing.

nuanced performer out there.

series.

I write very specifically, and I don’t

And she’s been prized by directors

“I gravitated toward roles that

like to have the words changed at

across film, TV and the stage for

might be working class; ones which I

all, and she is an actor for whom

exercising such traits in a stock of

could personally identify with,” says

words help her grow a character. I

working class characters—from her

Metcalf. “That’s where my niche

think this comes from her extensive

three-time Emmy-winning breakout

ended up being and I never wished

theatre background. Language and

4

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Opener - Laurie Metcalf.indd 4

2/14/18 3:02 PM

EMBRACE LIFE F O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R AT I O N

THESHAPEOFWATERFYC.COM

Untitled-31 1

2/12/18 1:02 PM

voted Donald Trump in as the President of the United States (which both Barr and her alter-ego actually did).

Teasing out her arc over the series limited run which premieres on March 27, Metcalf explains, being coy, “There’s no mention of Jackie’s love life. Basically, she’s still doing the same thing, which is bringing laundry over to Roseanne’s house to hang out there.”

In the days leading up to her appearance at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 4, Metcalf has been working hard with Glenda Jackson and Alison Pill in the revival of Edward Albee’s 1994 Pulitzer Prizewinning drama Three Tall Women, in

IN ACTION Metcalf in the family home in Lady Bird.

which three different actresses play character are deeply intertwined for

of heads having had a teenage girl in

her, and she plays lines like a virtuoso

the house. There were a lot of tender

was as far-fetched as anything

musician. She is in full control and

moments between the two on the

imagined,” Metcalf recalls.

also lets the music take over. It’s

same page; comforting each other,

“Lady Bird doesn’t know that

Nora in A Doll’s House, Part 2, Lucas

utterly thrilling to watch.”

looking at houses together or having

she’s on a mission, doesn’t know

Hnath’s follow-up to Henrik Ibsen’s

a Christmas morning together. She

what’s in for her. I felt that way in

A Doll’s House. While the obvious

the screen for Gerwig, having the

found a delicate balance between

Carbondale and Edwardsville. I

question for any Oscar nominee is

pic’s theatrical-like language syn-

the two whereby one wasn’t the but-

wanted something and didn’t know

their next project, Metcalf has been

copate with its editing was key, and

ton or the pusher.”

what,” she says, adding that college,

too busy with Three Tall Women to

much like it was for Lady Bird, “was a

even sift through material. “Being in

changing moment for me too.”

a play eats up five months of your

In order for Lady Bird to sing on

having someone such as Metcalf in

But more than feeling it on the

her arena took the pic’s laughs to

page, there was coincidentally an

another level.

echo of Metcalf’s life in Lady Bird.

“We’d work through every single

“Supporting yourself as an actor

Amongst the greatest of turning

the same woman at different ages.

Last year, Metcalf won a Tony for Best Actress for her turn as the lone

time,” she insists.

Similar to the film’s young protago-

points in Metcalf’s career would

line in every single scene. It was

nist, who felt confined by the small-

be her run as Roseanne Barr’s

29 at Manhattan’s Golden Theatre

proper table work, like you do in the

town of Sacramento, CA, Metcalf

on-screen sensitive, underachiev-

and reteams Metcalf not only with

theatre. She is so rigorous and clear,

grew up in Carbondale (home to

ing sister Jackie on Roseanne. “I

Rudin, but also director Joe Mantello

and she would ask questions that

Southern Illinois University where

remember doing this pilot in a little

who directed her in Sharr White’s

would give me keys to the character

Bob Odenkirk studied and honed

bubble, then having it explode,” says

2011 play The Other Place. In fact,

that I didn’t know I needed. Laurie

his comedy chops) and Edwards-

Metcalf, “It leapt from number five to

Mantello was a drama school grad in

was the one who clarified Marion’s

ville, Illinois. While Lady Bird would

number one and stayed there week

1984 and saw Metcalf three or four

ability to be warm and funny with

ultimately fly to the Northeast for

after week. Nobody was prepared

times in Balm in Gilead; an experi-

everyone else in her life, and how

grander artistic aspirations (a mirror

for that.”

ence which reportedly changed the

she struggled with her daughter. She

of Gerwig’s segue to Barnard College

made bright lines of triggers for cer-

and ultimately great acting career),

man, Roseanne repped the first time

tain fights, and also for moments of

Metcalf would ultimately attend

that any of them had ever starred

that doesn’t necessarily have rules

tenderness. She embroidered every

Illinois State University, where her

in a TV sitcom. Metcalf and Barr’s

to it and allows you to make your

moment with meaning. She defined

peers included Malkovich, Headly,

pairing would be one of ultimate

own rules.”

when a discussion was one they had

Joan Allen and Terry Kinney, friends

complements: as strong as one was

had many times before and when it

who she’d continue on with to Chi-

in theatrical acting, so the other was

tunity to collaborate with Jackson,

was brand new. She never let any line

cago to solidify the city’s signature

in comedic timing.

the two-time Oscar winner of A

or moment or word be vague. She

Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

made my film infinitely better and

way he felt about acting.

Says Metcalf, “We’re all in a play

For Metcalf it was a great oppor-

“Roseanne always had her

Touch of Class and Women in Love.

pulse on what people were going

One of the cadences that the trio

calf recalls hers as “working class”.

to respond to. She knew her way

of actresses have been working on

And much like Metcalf’s Marion

around the material. As a scene

is “finding similarities to latch on to,

scene, Metcalf is naturally on Scott

warns Lady Bird about choosing the

partner, she was always everything

which is very subtle. It’s a reminder

Rudin’s radar, and it was through the

right path in life, acting for Metcalf

you could wish for in the moment,”

to the audience that we’re the same

EGOT-winning producer that she

“wasn’t looked down upon” when

says Metcalf. Heading for a revival,

person at different moments in life.”

came to Lady Bird. After reading the

she was young; rather, it “wasn’t

in its new incarnation Roseanne will

material, Metcalf exclaimed to Ger-

a thing you would consider” as a

tackle today’s issues, specifically

the actress turns the ordinary into

wig, “I could identify with the butting

career.

how and why the working class

the extraordinary. ★

richer.”

Being part of New York’s theater

6

Similar to Lady Bird’s roots, Met-

For Metcalf, Barr and John Good-

Three Tall Women opens on March

Again, another example of how

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Opener - Laurie Metcalf.indd 6

2/14/18 3:02 PM

Untitled-10 1

2/6/18 12:17 PM

THE BIG PICTURE

This page, from left: set decorators Jeffrey A. Melvin & Shane Vieau; production designer Paul D. Austerberry; producer J.Miles Dale; costume designer Luis Sequeira; composer Alexandre Desplat; co-writer/producer/director Guillermo del Toro.

Opposite page, standing from left: cinematographer Dan Laustsen; editor Sidney Wolinsky; sound mixers Christian T. Cooke & Brad Zoern. Sitting from left: sound mixer Glen Gauthier, sound editors Nathan Robitaille & Nelson Ferreira.

8

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Big Picture.indd 8

2/14/18 2:51 PM

In The Family As Guillermo del Toro would be the first to tell you, filmmaking doesn’t happen in isolation. So what better way for Deadline to honor the 13-time nominated The Shape of Water than by gathering its below-the-line nominees for a family portrait? With a Mexican director, a French composer and a Danish DP, as well as a good complement of locals from the Toronto shoot, the production was a truly international affair. And, save del Toro and Desplat, they are all first-time Oscar nominees this year.

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Big Picture.indd 9

9

2/14/18 2:51 PM

CHARTED TERRITORY

At press time, here is how Gold Derby’s experts ranked the Oscar chances in the top races. Follow all the races at GoldDerby.com

The Heat is On

Cinematographer Rachel Morrison battled budget constraints and Southern temperatures for Mudbound MUDBOUND CINEMATOGRAPHER Rachel

digital noise in-camera and experimenting with

Morrison always knew she was something of an

that noise in dailies, in pursuit of a classic, cin-

“anomaly”, though she couldn’t have realized that

ematic feel.

she was making history. Becoming the first woman

As one can imagine, on Mudbound, the primary

DP to be nominated for an Oscar with Dee Rees’

challenges came down to weather and other logis-

critically acclaimed post-war drama, Morrison’s

tics inherent to shooting on real Louisiana planta-

knowledge of Farm Security Administration

tions—where the summer heat had crewmembers

photography was critical in establishing the film’s

“dropping like flies”, and thunderstorms would shut

beautifully gritty aesthetic.

down production intermittently throughout the

Starting with artistic reference points including sculptress Mary Frank and husband Robert, whose

week.

“It was incredibly difficult. The only shelter was

work was “a metaphor for the American dream

our two sharecropper homes, and there were no

versus the American reality”—not to mention Doro-

windows, so you couldn’t air-condition them. It was

thea Lange and Gordon Parks—Morrison viewed

actually so brutal that we had to shift our sched-

the project as a natural fit for celluloid, though

ule,” Morrison recalls. “But I think it really worked

budget constraints ultimately dictated going in a

in our favor, ultimately—certainly for the perfor-

different direction. At this point, the DP worked to

mances. The characters live that life, and you can

approximate the film aesthetic digitally, introducing

feel it on the screen, in their sweat.” –Matt Grobar

BEST PICTURE

ODDS

1

The Shape of Water

6/5

2

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

10/3

3

Get Out

4/1

4

Lady Bird

18/1

5

Dunkirk

66/1

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

ODDS

1

Gary Oldman Darkest Hour

2/13

2

Timothée Chalamet Call Me by Your Name

14/1

3

Daniel Day-Lewis Phantom Thread

50/1

4

Daniel Kaluuya Get Out

66/1

5

Denzel Washington Roman J. Israel, Esq.

100/1

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

ODDS

1

Frances McDormand Three Billboards Outside Ebbing...

1/10

2

Saoirse Ronan Lady Bird

33/1

3

Sally Hawkins The Shape of Water

50/1

4

Margot Robbie I, Tonya

66/1

5

Meryl Streep The Post

80/1

CHILDLIKE WONDER

Makeup designer Arjen Tuiten transformed young Jacob Tremblay beyond recognition for Stephen Chbosky’s family film FOR WONDER—an adaptation of R.J. Palacio’s beloved children’s novel about Auggie, a boy growing up with Treacher Collins syndrome— makeup designer Arjen Tuiten was asked to produce work without precedent, transforming a nineyear-old (Jacob Tremblay) beyond recognition through full prosthetics.

A genetic disorder resulting in

10

facial deformities including underdeveloped ears and a cleft palate, Auggie’s condition was replicated through an intricate silicon build, prosthetic teeth, a “carbon fiber under-skull” attached to a mechanical rig (which allowed Tremblay’s eyes to droop on cue), and contact lenses, which would dilate the irises, filling in the bottom of the eyes

exposed by Tuiten’s apparatus.

Looking back, Tuiten vividly remembers tears in the eyes of director Stephen Chbosky and Tremblay’s mother, as they saw the boy in prosthetics for the first time.

“It was very emotional,” he says. “I think it was the first moment where people believed, ‘Okay, this can be done.’” –Matt Grobar

BOY WONDER Arjen Tuiten experly applies Jacob Tremblay’s prosthetics.

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Short Items.indd 10

2/14/18 5:36 PM

Untitled-6 1

2/9/18 12:38 PM

Three Questions: Best Foreign Language Film The five nominated directors answer Deadline’s most burning inquiries

BY NA N C Y TA RTAG L I O N E

LANGUAGE LAB Left to right: The Insult, On Body and Soul, A Fantastic Woman, The Square and Loveless.

1

2

What has been the most surprising or enlightening reaction to your film since you began traveling with it?

The Foreign Language Oscar category rewards a director who is considered the author of their work, whereas the main Best Picture category gives recognition to the producer. What’s your relationship with your producers?

Doueiri: People who watched

film and the real world. A beautiful

Doueiri: The involvement of Antoun

of the outside world. A producer

the film, no matter what country

ambassador. I’m very proud of her.

Sehnaoui and Fred Domont from the

can destroy the integrity of a film (I

it played in, related to the story

Östlund: The best thing has been

early stages of the film is very signifi-

had that and I abandoned my own

and the characters and didn’t get

that we have built four squares

cant. They believed it was crucial to

script rather than continue with

bogged down to some local politics

[the art piece at the center of the

make the film at a time when Leba-

such a partner), and they can be the

of the film. I kept hearing, “It’s like

film] around Scandinavia. Two in

non is going through rough periods,

best guardians of it (I had that as

what’s happening in this country.”

Sweden and one in Norway, and

due to tensions between the various

well; for example, with On Body and

Enyedi: The biggest and most

they are planning to build two more

communities. Their involvement

Soul). I am happy to have worked

rewarding surprise was the

in Sweden. The squares have been

became even more significant when

and continue to work with Mónika

audience itself. It was stunning with

used in a beautiful way, especially in

the film and myself were legally chal-

Mécs who is such a character. Calm,

what a natural ease people from

Värnamo where it has created a kind

lenged back in September.

kind, respectful with everybody, but

Korea to Norway looked deeper

of movement, manifesting the film’s

Enyedi: Although I am an author

sharp, smart, relentless and a broad

than just the love story of the film,

themes of altruism.

who initiated and wrote all her proj-

thinker. A real partner in good and

understood effortlessly the hidden

Zvyagintsev: Probably the most

ects and took part also in the fight

bad.

layers, and at the same time, were

unexpected reaction that I have

for the necessary financing, I have a

Lelio: I’m very lucky to work with

“going with it”, enjoying the humor,

heard came from a woman, who

huge respect for this highly creative

producers that have been brave,

the emotions. The film made

waited patiently for the Q&A to

job. Beside good eyes, stamina,

crazy and passionate enough to sup-

people think without being “brainy,”

finish and for all of the other viewers

emotional intelligence and strategic

port even the more fragile ideas in

which just proves how much

to depart, to approach me. Then

thinking, what is perhaps the most

the film (that turned out to be the

audiences are underestimated by

when we were alone she told me,

important for them is the maturity of

more memorable ones).

distributors. We spectators are

her voice trembling with excitement,

character. They should not trust you

Östlund: I would say that my pro-

smart, sensitive, open and we want

that she came to the screening

but in fact, they should trust them-

ducers are very European and have

more daring films in cinemas—I

specifically to thank me for my

selves, trust their own good instincts

a great respect for the auteur tradi-

have the proof for it!

film and to tell me, “After watching

and their own initial decision to team

tion. They are fighting just as hard for

Lelio: The love that Daniela Vega

Loveless, I decided to come back

up with you. If they are able to share

the films to be unique as I am. In the

has triggered everywhere we have

to my husband.” That was a very

your priorities, they can be a tremen-

award speech for the Palme d’Or in

shown the film. She has been

precious moment for me.

dously effective shield against the

Cannes, I told a story that points that

less deeply understanding forces

out. After seeing the film in Cannes,

a beautiful bridge between the

12

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - 3Q Foreign Films-01.indd 12

2/14/18 2:42 PM

ZIAD DOUEIRI The Insult

ILDIKÓ ENYEDI

On Body and Soul

3

SEBASTIÁN LELIO A Fantastic Woman

RUBEN ÖSTLUND The Square

ANDREY ZVYAGINTSEV Loveless

Each of your films seems to be so relevant to today, and yet you began the process with them years ago.

How do you explain being so prescient?

Erik Hemmendorff, one of the produc-

Doueiri: I ask myself the same

inspiration in this very present. My

is that I try to update the project

ers, said to me that we have to recut

question. Probably because

films are never dealing with a topic

constantly during the process. I

the film and make it longer. This is even

the world is cyclical and I just

concretely attached to the present

add things, change things and take

though The Square is two-and-a-half

happened to fit in the right

day; they are rather searching for

away things when I feel that it’s no

hours long. Erik and I have been work-

loop. We live in a very exciting

the hidden, eternal patterns in

longer needed, or if I need to tell it in

ing together for 16 years and I’m very

and relevant time. The world is

today’s life. I consider ourselves

another way because the world has

grateful to have someone next to me

distressed and out of balance,

like a rock covered with the thin

changed.

that fights for the films as he does.

polarized, but very dynamic.

moss layer of our culture. I try to

Zvyagintsev: I trust my intuition

Zvyagintsev: The key element in

Certainly having grown up in Beirut

understand how our present is

and the intuition of my closest

our relationships with my producer

during the Civil War made me

dealing with this duality.

friends and collaborators. My focus

Alexander Rodnyansky is trust. We

sensitive to what’s going on today.

Lelio: When you’re filming you’re

has always been on people and the

did three films together, and we both

Enyedi: I always compared

blind. But if you follow what really

nature of human relationships. I

know that each one of us can be relied

filmmaking to dancing, where

moves you, then you operate from

strive to honestly depict my heroes

upon to do his job responsibly. Rod-

your partner is the world itself.

a place of hope: maybe that the

and the world that they inhabit, and

nyansky is a film director himself and

You have to ‘feel’ your partner,

story you’re telling will resonate

if I succeed and my films are honest

he understands how important cre-

then you do not have to logically

with whatever the world will have

to reality, and my characters are true

ative freedom is for a director. I know

analyze and make plans for your

become when the film is ready to

and complex, then it creates the kind

that he will always support me in any

next step. It would kill the main

be born.

of resonance that you mention.

unexpected event during production.

appeal of the dance. If you and your

Östlund: I’m happy that you think

He is a great partner and I hope he

partner are tuned together, you

so, because it’s a great challenge

feels the same about me.

can safely make even surprising,

when you’re making movies. Not at

daring moves. The dance will not

the least nowadays when there are

fall apart, but will become even

so many ways to express yourself

more thrilling. So, as a filmmaker I

more quickly. Basically it takes

should not resist the present, but

three years for me to do a movie,

should be part of it. Then I have a

from impression to expression,

chance to bring in something new,

so to speak. An approach that I

something surprising, that finds its

have, which may not be unique,

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - 3Q Foreign Films-01.indd 13

13

2/14/18 2:42 PM

FACT FILES Left: Strong Island. Right: Abacus: Small Enough to Jail.

Doc-Off

because it’s broken,” Ford asserts.

The film has won numerous

from the 2008 financial crisis, but James believes it was a case of selec-

The final five non-fiction features go head-to-head in Oscar’s Best Documentary category

awards, including the Gotham

tive prosecution—the Manhattan

Independent Film Award for Best

District Attorney’s office picking on a

BY M AT T H E W C A R E Y

Documentary, but Ford says landing

small bank run by Chinese-Americans

that Oscar nomination felt anything

who lacked political muscle.

but certain.

IN A YEAR OF FIRSTS FOR THE ACADEMY Awards, more history is being made in the ranks of Best Documentary Feature than perhaps any other category.

Take Agnès Varda, for starters—co-director of Faces Places with artist-photographer JR. At age 89 she may well qualify as the oldest nominee in a competitive category in Oscar history—a week older than another of this year’s nominees, James Ivory, a Best Adapted Screenplay contender for Call Me by Your Name. The Academy confirms she is the oldest nominee ever among actors or directors, the only categories for which it maintains age statistics.

But Varda doesn’t find that distinction very, well, distinctive.

Ford spent a decade working on the documentary, a deeply personal

“I think there was racism involved,”

“I was thrilled. I was shocked and

James says of the D.A.’s decision to

surprised,” Ford reveals, adding that

press the case. “I don’t think it was

his joy extends to others recognized

overt and explicit.”

in the Best Documentary Feature

Thomas Sung, his wife and

field. “I was also really excited for

daughters will head to Hollywood for

Steve James. That’s a historic nomi-

the Academy Awards, but whether

nation too.”

seats inside the Dolby Theatre can be

The history-making aspect to

arranged for them remains in doubt.

James’ nomination has to do with his

“One way or another they’ll all

previous record with Academy voters.

be there because win or lose we will

Despite being widely acknowledged

want to celebrate together,” James

as one of the leading documen-

shares. “We certainly hope we’ll be

tary filmmakers of the past quarter

able to get them all tickets to be in

century, he had never earned an

the house.”

Oscar nod for directing until this year with Abacus: Small Enough to Jail.

Filmmaker Feras Fayyad earned a ticket to the Academy Awards

“It meant a lot to me to get

with his documentary Last Men

be the oldest?” she asks Deadline with

charged killing of his older brother

the nomination because I’ve been

in Aleppo, about courageous civil

some amusement. “Okay, I’m the old-

in 1992 impacted the Ford family.

doing this for a while and there were

defense workers—the so-called

est. Say it three times, then it makes no

William Ford Jr. was shot to death

certainly several other films over the

White Helmets—in Aleppo, Syria.

sense. Should I come [to the Oscars] in

by a white auto mechanic after a

years that people thought might

After relentless bombing raids by

a wheelchair to look old?”

simmering dispute over a car repair,

get nominated that didn’t,” he says.

Russian and Syrian government

“Should that be a title of glory to

Strong Island director Yance Ford

exploration of how the racially-

and the killer escaped prosecution

“I never let that upset me so much

forces, the White Helmets rush in

enters the Oscar record books as

by claiming he felt threatened by

because I feel like I got so much

to try to rescue the injured trapped

the first transgender filmmaker ever

the African-American Ford. The film

support when certain films weren’t

under the rubble.

nominated for an Academy Award, a

raises troubling questions about

nominated or even shortlisted that

distinction he embraces.

what constitutes reasonable fear,

it told me people really felt strongly

ing the first Syrian director ever

and whether racial bias among law

about the work.”

nominated for an Oscar. He learned

“I am tremendously proud to occupy that space,” Ford says. “It’s

enforcement officials inhibited a fair

something that I have to get used to—

evaluation of the case.

being a public talking point—and I hope

the news while attending the World

on Thomas Sung and the bank he

Economic Forum in Davos, Switzer-

founded—Abacus Federal Savings,

land, where he screened Last Men in

what I can do with this nomination is

has really affirmed for many, many

which caters to New York’s Chinese

Aleppo for dignitaries.

to help people realize that transgender

people what they know, which is

immigrant community. Abacus

folks are not some sort of alien species

there needs to be wholesale systemic

became the only U.S. lending institu-

was jetlagged, lying on the bed in the

that you’ve never seen.”

reform of our criminal justice system

tion to face criminal charges resulting

hotel actually, and my mobile was

14

“Strong Island has been a film that

James’ documentary centers

Fayyad made history by becom-

“On the day of the nomination I

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Doco Roundup-01.indd 14

2/14/18 2:54 PM

Untitled-11 1

2/13/18 10:58 AM

the Olympic Winter Games in South

nominations—will unite on the world’s

Korea.

most famous red carpet. The glitter-

Fogel’s main character, chemist Grigory Rodchenkov, formerly ran Rus-

a touch of glamour into a nonfiction

sia’s anti-doping lab, but in Icarus he

space more often associated with

came clean on the cheating operation

grittiness. Most of the filmmakers—

that climaxed at the last Winter Olym-

though not all—are making plans to

pics—the 2014 Games held in Sochi,

don their Oscar Sunday best.

Russia. With Fogel’s help, Rodchenkov

“I bought a tuxedo in Paris two

eventually fled Russia and now lives in

weeks ago. And at the time I didn’t

hiding in the U.S.

know we were going to be nominated

Fogel calls his run to the Oscar

TRUTH From top: Last Men in Aleppo; Icarus; Faces Places.

ing occasion will introduce more than

for the Oscar but we had the BAFTA

nomination “absolutely nerve-

nomination, the DGA nomination,”

racking,” adding, “I’m so happy

Fogel notes. “I think the real question

the Academy nominated the film

is whether or not I wear the same

because for me and I think Grigory

tuxedo at all three events. I’m being

[Rodchenkov] and the team behind

told that I can change my tie.”

the film, it’s been very important for

Ford is suiting up for action too.

us to keep the story in the news and

“I went for my first fitting for my

to have people see this film because

tux and I’m pretty happy with it,

the events surrounding it are continu-

honestly,” he shares with Deadline.

ing to unfold on a daily basis, and the

“My alumni magazine described me

film has been incredibly impactful on

as short and stocky and it’s true. I’m

those events.”

a short, stocky guy with broad shoul-

Next to the weighty issues

ders so I’ve been working with a tailor

tackled in Icarus, Abacus, Strong

in midtown [Manhattan]… No matter

Island and Last Men in Aleppo, the

what happens I’m looking forward to

nominated film from directors Varda

dressing up and going to a big party

and JR may seem comparatively

with a lot of people that I know and

whimsical. In Faces Places the

care about.”

pair—separated in age by more than

Fayyad tells Deadline he may

50 years—travel around rural France

borrow a tux. And James may take a

in a van equipped with a photo

similarly economical approach.

booth, encountering everyday people

“I don’t own a tuxedo, even

including a postman and the wives of

though I’ve been to a few awards

dock workers. They take large-scale

ceremonies,” James relates. “I went

pictures of their subjects, affixing the

to the Oscars back in 1995 for Hoop

gigantic images to buildings and ship-

Dreams—the film wasn’t nominated

ping containers, giving their charac-

for best doc but it was nominated

ters an outsized perspective on the

for editing. I rented a tux then and

meaning of their lives.

I’ve rented a tux every other time I’ve

“Most of the people JR and me

needed to dress up.”

next to me but [turned off],” Fayyad

filmmakers were arrested and killed

met, they were damn interesting

recalls. “Then I got a call on the hotel

in prison under torture [by the Syrian

people. All of them are strange or sad

pageantry is Varda, who laughs off

line and a friend of mine asked me,

regime] and others killed in the war

or nostalgic,” Varda tells Deadline by

talk of her Oscar attire.

‘Where are you?’ I said, ‘I’m in the

who tried to tell stories about the suf-

phone from Paris.

hotel.’ ‘Why didn’t you answer your

fering of the people.”

mobile? You got nominated!’ I said,

Vladimir Putin’s Russia factors

She described the duo’s mode of

The exception to this sartorial

“I won’t put special attention on how I will be dressed. Do not expect

filmmaking as, “listening to people,

me to be the model of anything. I’m

‘Don’t joke.’ He said, ‘No, you got

in the background of Last Men in

giving them a lot of empathy, a lot of

too small, too fat, too old. I cannot be

nominated!’ He also said, ‘Tell [Presi-

Aleppo, as the key backer of the

love and because of that they were

a model,” she insists.

dent] Trump you got nominated and

brutal Assad regime. But it’s front and

very open, very interesting. They

now he will watch the film.’”

center in Icarus, the documentary

talked. It’s not a question-answer. It’s

is known as something of a natty

that earned an Oscar nomination for

a conversation. So the audience feels

dresser and, given their warm per-

director Bryan Fogel.

it. That’s what our job is, to make links

sonal relationship, they may walk the

[between the film’s subjects and

carpet arm in arm.

Fayyad says the Oscar announcement triggered strong emotions.

“I cried. It’s a moment where my

His film played a decisive role in

Her Faces Places co-director JR

feelings are mixed,” he admits. “My

blowing the lid off Russia’s state-

viewers]. That’s what we made. We

mind went back seven years [to the

sponsored athletics doping program,

made links. Voilà.”

start of] the tragedy in Syria and

a scheme so brazen it prompted the

feeling I’m lucky to survive, humbled

International Olympic Committee to

all five documentaries—and the

happens. We’ve decided that we will

to have this honor. A lot of artists,

formally ban Russia as a country from

films’ producers, who share in the

be in a very good mood.” ★

16

On March 4 the directors of

“I don’t accept that JR is going alone [to the Oscars],” she says.

“We’ll both go. We’ll laugh, whatever

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Doco Roundup-01.indd 16

2/14/18 2:54 PM

Italian Masterpieces CANAPÉ CHESTER. DESSINÉ PAR RENZO FRAU. SALA DEL CAMINO, PALAZZO GALLARATI SCOTTI, MILANO. poltronafrau.com Los Angeles, Beverly blvd Ph. 310.858.1433 - New York, Wooster Street Ph. 212.777.7592

Untitled-4 1

11/7/17 1:53 PM

TOON ARMY Main image: Ferdinand. Right: Coco.

Next In Line

A look at the contenders for Best Animated Feature Film BY M AT T G RO BA R

stories Pixar pursues.

category, Coco is nominated for Best

Following aspiring musician Miguel

Original Song, for Kristen Anderson-

(newcomer Anthony Gonzales) on his

Lopez and Robert Lopez’s “Remem-

journey through the land of the dead,

ber Me.”

Coco sees the boy reconnect with

LIKE LEE UNKRICH’S VIBRANT Day of the Deadthemed Coco and Nora Twomey’s The Breadwinner, the annual Academy Awards are an affair marked by the collision of two worlds.

In Coco, there’s contemporary Mexico and the land of the dead; in The Breadwinner, early 2000s Afghanistan and a world of imagination. At the Oscars, there are waves upon waves of contenders passing through, and those precious few who make it all the way to the big show.

Once again, the Oscar fields

animated feature in cinema history,

long-lost ancestors while pursuing his

Ferdinand

musical dreams.

Based on a 1936 children’s book

Musically oriented, though not

by Munro Leaf that was previously

a ‘break-out-into-song’ musical,

adapted into an Oscar-winning

Coco’s portrayal of Mexican families

Disney short, Carlos Saldanha’s

and their shared cultural identity was

Ferdinand hopes for a similar fate on

backed by a number of journeys into

March 4. Telling the story of a Spanish

Mexico itself, in which Unkrich and his

bull who was built to fight, born to

team took hundreds of thousands of

love, the Fox film resonated strongly

photographs and experienced the Día

last year with its universal message.

de Muertos celebration firsthand.

“I knew from the beginning that I

“The true message for me was being true to who you are,” Saldanha

have narrowed, leaving five films to

and the aforementioned Breadwinner,

needed to endeavor to make a film that

says. “With tolerance, Ferdinand

compete for Best Animated Feature.

a tale of a young Afghan girl providing

was free of clichés and stereotypes, and

changes the world around him.”

Winning a Golden Globe, a PGA

for her family by dressing as a boy.

tell a story that was culturally authentic,”

Award and 11 Annie Awards so far, Pixar’s latest is the presumptive

Unkrich says, looking back at Coco’s

of the book while presenting a more

this year’s worthy animated nominees.

inception. “That responsibility never

colorful, textured take, Saldanha set

left me for a single day in the six years I

out to capture the palette of Spain.

worked on the film.”

“My previous movie was Rio, and I

frontrunner this season—but in a strong and unpredictable year, no

Coco

nominee can be counted out.

Long holding onto the dream of a

Among the list this year, there’s

Aiming to support the classic feel

Take a look below to hear about

Fortunately, Mexico’s affirmation

wanted to capture the palette of Bra-

Día de Muertos-themed animated

of the film is clear: Coco became

zil. But that was a lot easier because

Ferdinand, revisiting a classic tale of a

feature, Lee Unkrich saw the oppor-

the country’s biggest box office hit

I’m from there,” the director says.

pacifist fighting bull, with a message

tunity to make an entertaining, funny,

ever, outgrossing previous leader

tailor-made for today; DreamWorks’

colorful and celebratory film that

The Avengers with over $57 million in

oranges and earth tones, Saldanha

wonderfully inventive The Boss Baby;

retained a strong emotional core, the

receipts.

was helped along in the process of

Loving Vincent, the first fully painted

defining quality when it comes to

18

Beyond the Animated Feature

Landing on a warm palette of reds,

making his film by a large contingent

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Animation Roundup-01.indd 18

2/14/18 2:56 PM

ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE — BEST ANIMATED FEATURE ®

“THE BEST ANIMATED FEATURE OF 2017.

It cements Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon as an animation powerhouse.”

David Ehrlich, INDIEWIRE

“BREATHTAKING. JEWEL-BRIGHT AND HEART-WRENCHING! Not unlike her gutsy protagonist, Twomey moves through the charged landscape with extraordinary agility.”

Sheri Linden, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

CRITICS CHOICE

“CAPTIVATING, LUMINOUS. A work of striking beauty and affecting emotional heft … ‘The Breadwinner’ reminds us yet again that the best of animation takes us anywhere at any time and makes us believe.”

Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES

WINNER

WINNER

ANNIE AWARDS

TORONTO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE INDEPENDENT

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

WINNER

WINNER

GRAND PRIZE

AUDIENCE AWARD

ANIMATION IS FILM FESTIVAL

ANIMATION IS FILM FESTIVAL

WINNER

WINNER

LEEDS INTERNATIONAL

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

FILM FESTIVAL

BEST ANIMATION

AUDIENCE AWARD – FANOMENOM

thebreadwinner.com

Untitled-9 1

2/14/18 2:22 PM

Gogh, an artist whose every painting was a window into his world.

“Vincent painted his shoes, his bedroom. He painted his food,” Welchman says. “You can actually get a picture of his world in a way that’s not possible with other painters.”

Loving Vincent involved training a workforce of highly-skilled oil painters—most of them from Poland— putting them through animation tests and 100 hours of training in the particularly difficult style of Van Gogh.

For Welchman and Kobiela, oil paints were an ideal format for the same reason they worked so well for van Gogh. “One of the great things about oil paints is that people can get a very intricate picture, particularly of human faces,” Welchman explains. “Computer animation really cannot do this.”

The Breadwinner of Spanish artists. “I was relying on

Based on a best-selling novel by

them as a gauge to understand what

Deborah Ellis and executive pro-

is right for the story,” he says. “I think in

duced by Angelina Jolie, Nora Twom-

the end, if you know Spain, you prob-

ey’s The Breadwinner tells the story

ably will see yourself in that world.”

of Parvana, a young Afghan girl who must dress up as a boy to provide for

The Boss Baby

her family, after her father is unjustly

Going from soup to nuts on Dream-

thrown in prison. Reminiscent of

Works’ The Boss Baby—starring Alec

Disney’s Mulan and tales from all

Baldwin as the baby in the black

cultures, the film depicts Parvana

suit—Tom McGrath created a charm-

with naturalism and humanity, while

ing story about sibling rivalries that

capturing through cut-out anima-

would play like “Inception for kids”.

tion the fantasy world into which she

Following seven-year-old Tim,

escapes from her life’s challenges.

who is met—disagreeably—with the

“The whole film is really about

sudden appearance of a briefcase-

contrasts, characters moving out

carrying toddler, The Boss Baby was

of shadows and into light,” Twomey

a love letter to McGrath’s brother,

says of the film’s dichotomies. “It’s

visually imaginative in its hodgepodge

about the contrasts between that

of styles.

one room where her family spends

Telling the story principally from the perspective of a child’s imagina-

a lot of their time, and the expanse ANIMATED From top: Loving Vincent, The Boss Baby, The Breadwinner.

tion, McGrath saw an opportunity to

of Kabul. It’s about Parvana’s interior life.” Designed by Twomey as a meal

harken back to ’50s animation, look-

that should consistently cleanse

ing to the works of Mary Blair, Maurice

of the ’60s—these huge columns,

frames—including 77 replicating the

the palate, The Breadwinner is an

Noble, and painters from the Chuck

and this palette that was ’60s colors,”

exact work of an iconic Post-Impres-

empowering, relevant story, with

Jones era, as well as classic Disney

McGrath says. “Because Baby Corp.

sionist painter—Loving Vincent is the

a strong, dimensionalized female

animation.

was a fantastical place, I wanted to

first fully-painted feature in history,

protagonist.

shoot it with tilt-shift photography,

an anomaly on every level.

Then, there was Baby Corp., a slick corporate space inspired by mov-

meaning everything looks kind of

ies of the ’60s and ’70s, like How to

miniature, kind of toy-like.”

Succeed in Business Without Really

The initial concept behind the

“In areas of conflict, women and children are always the first

film, for directors Hugh Welchman

to suffer. I’m a feminist, but I really

and Dorota Kobiela, was to tell the

feel that inequality hurts everyone,”

Trying. “We tried to stay true to that

Loving Vincent

story of an artist through his own

Twomey reflects. “In an unequal

era of architecture. We had great

Composed of 1,000 canvases and

works of art. Looking for a subject,

society, the world is not as good as

images of the Johnson Wax Building

65,000 individual, hand-painted

the pair landed on Vincent van

it could be.” ★

20

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - First Take - Animation Roundup-01.indd 20

2/14/18 2:49 PM

PRESENTS

1 DAY 25 NETWORKS 50 SHOWS Spend the day with creators, writers and talent from many of the most acclaimed shows on television today.

SUNDAY, APRIL 15, 2018 DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA THEATRE 792 0 S UNS E T BLV D, LO S A NGE LES , CA 90046

TELEVISION ACADEMY & GUILD MEMBERS PLEASE VISIT:

C O N T END E RSE MMYS. D E A D LINE.COM

0216 - First Take - Animation Roundup-01.indd 21

2/14/18 2:49 PM

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 22

2/14/18 5:48 PM

WRITER /DIREC TOR JORDAN PEELE AND STAR DANIEL KALUUYA BOTH C OLLEC TED O SCAR NOMINATIONS FROM THE MO ST UNLIKELY OF STARTING POINTS: A LOW-BUDGE T HORROR MOVIE RELEA SED MORE THAN A YEAR AGO. THEY TELL MIKE FLEMING JR. HOW GE T OUT BECAME THE MOVIE ON AMERICA’ S LIPS IN 201 7.

J O R DA N PEELE & DANIEL KALU U YA PHO T O G RAPHED E XC LU S I V ELY F O R D EAD LINE BY JO SH T EL LE S D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 23

23

2/14/18 5:48 PM

WHAT LED GET OUT

toward becoming the rare genre film that, on a $4.5 million budget, grossed over $255 million globally and drew the most Oscar nominations of any horror film since The Sixth Sense and The Silence of the Lambs? On January 23, Jordan Peele’s hit scored four nominations, for Best Picture, Actor, Director and Original Screenplay. At a hotel in Los Feliz shortly after landing the noms, Peele and his star Daniel Kaluuya are puzzling out the answer to that very question; how Peele navigated a meticulously constructed storytelling track with alterations that including a shocking alternate ending; how Kaluuya delivered a performance carefully metered between an awkward first encounter with the WASP-ish family and friends of his white girlfriend and the nagging fear that something more sinister lurks beneath; and how the movie's saving grace was also its secret weapon: that it played to a black audience that could react to every twist and turn in its polemic on racism, using the horror genre as its propulsive engine.

Every movie has challenges; some are more

Peele: It was Black Mirror. I had this immediate

tortured than others. Jordan, you’d won

feeling of, how is this guy so good and I haven’t seen

Emmys, but your entire resume is comedy.

his work before? The way I can best describe it is,

How difficult was it to mount a thriller with

he showed the full range of the two opposite sides

such a pointed political message?

of Chris. Different characters, different emotions.

Jordan Peele: I worked on the whole outline and

The character goes from being quiet, introspective,

story for about five years. This is while Key & Peele

subdued, with a relatable sense of compliance to

was going on so it wasn’t full-time. And then I

the system, and then by the end he explodes and

pitched it.

is primal. In the Black Mirror episode, he showed it in just monologue, this primal, frugal, passionate

To how many places?

monologue that just feels like a Greek tragedy. And

Peele: I sat down with Sean McKittrick at QC

so I knew I needed somebody who could do both

Entertainment. I wasn’t there to sell this movie,

of those things, and either one of those, he does

and I certainly wasn’t thinking of directing it. But I

better than anyone else.

thought it was a great conversation starter. I said, “Here’s a movie I’ve never seen before, that no one

Then what?

is ever going to make.” I told him the story. He said,

Peele: Skype. I Skyped him. He was in England. He’s

“I’ll buy that movie right now.” There was no script.

like, “Yo, yo! This script, this script, man! This script!”

Daniel Kaluuya: His impression of me has gotten

When did you become Get Out’s director?

so much better.

Peele: Halfway through the script, I’m writing the

Peele: [Still in Kaluuya mode] “Me and my friends!

party sequence with Chris and all the old white

This is the movie we’ve been waiting for!” So I talk

people. And I was just like, “No one else can direct

to him like, “Look, this is a movie about the African-

this. I can’t trust this with anyone else.” I realized I

American experience and how you relate to it.” I

knew what every moment looks and feels like,

learned a lot in that conversation because first of all

and that this movie had no wiggle room with tone

I felt like he connected to the same feeling I put into

or character. I went back to Sean and said,

the script. My experience of being the minority in a

“Look, I need to direct that.” And to QC’s credit,

white space and you’re seen as that minority on the

they said, “Yeah.”

micro-aggressive level, but then on the bigger level, the fear of being in the wrong place in the wrong

24

How did you find Daniel, this British actor

time as a black man. The one thing he said to me

who’s a fresh face to most of the audience,

that resonated was, “Black is black.” Like wherever

who became an American everyman hero?

you go, black is black. That came across for me.

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 24

2/14/18 5:48 PM

I was like, “I’ve got the guy who I’ve already declared is the best actor for this role in his technique, in what he does and who he is.” And now for me to even question and begin to divide black into different categories, as if there is a different experience? One of the things about Get Out that works is the emotion it taps; a fairly universal experience of a black person, the experience of many minorities, which is fairly universal to the experience that women have in navigating maledominated spaces. And the Sunken Place is a feeling that a lot of people needed to express when our voices are marginalized, taken away or silenced.

The rest was history after we made that connection; had that Skype conversation.

Daniel, the film is about racism in America, and you come at this from experiences forged in England. Why did it connect so strongly with you?

Kaluuya: Because I’m black! No, but in the sense that… there’s stuff that’s weirdly enough left unsaid. Everyone says this in private or kind of communicates it with an eye, a look, at a party. But no one ever really unpacks it and goes, “What is that? Why is that?” Because it’s kind of perceived as a given. This is what we have to go through. And so I really enjoyed the script. He’s just calling it out, like naked, calling it out, like this is this, this is that. I was kind of like, “Oh, wow. I’m not alone.” Because I see that look and how you feel when you don’t communicate something. You still feel alone with it.

You still feel like it’s your paranoia. It’s your problem.

And the last 20 pages of the script, the last act, that last 20 minutes of the film… that letting go of that pent-up rage? Personally that’s how I feel, and Get Out for me is about the repression of emotion. It’s like if someone says something that’s kind of really weird and you can’t say, “No, don’t do that.” This character can’t because he’s trying to be a good boyfriend but he’s boiling inside, and it manifests itself in my life and what I’ve experienced, and it would kick off an argument with your girl, or an argument with your mom or your family. It needs to be released. And it was so cathartic to see a script have that release in a context that felt real. It’s fighting back, and here, it’s cool to fight, to be who you are and to survive and to thrive.

One of the first things I said to Jordan was, "Yeah, the message speaks to me," but most important, he’d done the work, structurally and storytelling-wise. This was great cinematic storytelling, on the page. During that time, I was reading scripts for fun, trying to understand what I like and trying to get better as a writer myself. And here, this guy had done the work. It was exciting, and in parts I was laughing, and then it was, whoa,

SUNKEN DREAMS From top: Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams; Catherine Keener and Kaluuya; Lakeith Stanfield (right) with Geraldine Singer; Kaluuya.

whoa. It was all those things I felt when I read a D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 25

25

2/14/18 5:49 PM

great script for an old film. I’d go, “Oh, that’s a great

could find it racist. That all the white people in

system is disrespectful, but if you’re disrespectful

read.” But it already had been made into one of my

the movie are villains, so I’m trying to say all white

back, it’s like, you’re the crime. So when they go low

favorite films. This one was different, because it

people are evil. Those are two huge problems if we

you go higher. You have to go, “OK, cool. I’m going to

hadn’t happened yet.

don’t get the tone right. And so the trick for me was

go above it. But when I need to I can bring it.” And

first of all, ground it in amazing talent in the acting.

that’s what the last act is. When I need to, I can get

Perhaps the most audacious thing was setting

You need a protagonist that everybody relates

out and I can fight.

the polemic in a genre film.

to, understands, is rooting for and feels like he’s a

Peele: You’ve been gas-lit to this point.

Kaluuya: I am a fan of genre, but I love great stories

surrogate for them as an audience member. That’s

whatever the genre is. It don’t matter where it

where Daniel was crucial. Not only his skill, but that

In what way?

comes from, it’s like, wherever the truth is at. This

who he is as a person is a perfect match of natural

Peele: There’s a certain type of subtle racism that

was more exciting, because you use the metaphor,

charisma and talent and the hard work he’s put in.

black people have grown to expect and accept

and someone will come from the street because

But then also you need to constantly subvert where

on a day-to-day basis. If we were to pop off at

they’ve bought into a genre piece, and they’re going

the audience thinks it's going and that’s something

everything that felt racist we’d be popping off all

to get something else in return. It’s funny to me that

that I picked up from years of sketch comedy.

day. Another of the most strategic scenes that

people felt this came all quite out of the blue. It is

There’s a way to talk about anything important,

speaks to that is after Chris has just basically been

Jordan’s voice. It’s like something that goes viral.

in any genre. You just need to make sure that

threatened in this menacing way by Jeremy, Caleb

The most exciting thing is when someone is about

you’re not doing it in such an obvious way that the

Landry Jones. Chris and Rose are in her room later.

to go into a space and they’re brave enough to go,

audience loses intellectual respect for you. If they

Chris is on the computer, Rose is seeing these

‘Fuck it. Let’s put all our all in.’

know where the road is going, you’ve failed before

minor racist things, or we think she is. Being the

you started.

character we think she is, she is for the first time

Jordan, who did you have to convince

seeing racism through the context of being in this

that Daniel was the person to convey this

That paranoia-instilling early moment where

interracial relationship and what it’s like for him

message?

the cop stops Chris and his girlfriend Rose,

when her dad is saying, "My man, my man," and her

Peele: It was the opening weekend of Sicario; that’s

and she gets outraged; Daniel, we see your

brother is being aggressive, all these things.

when we auditioned Daniel. He physically already

character trying to keep it together and not

And so she’s getting riled up like it’s time to go

had the role but I had to show his performance,

allowing things to escalate, with something

march. For Chris, he’s like, “Whoa. Hold on. What

so he came and he honored us with an audition

bubbling beneath. What in your life informed

you’re waking up to right now is everyday life, the

where he crushed the hypnosis scene. It was a

those subtle emotions?

best case scenario for me, after I was worried that

beautiful moment, it was undeniable. You could

Kaluuya: I’ve been getting stopped since I was 12

I could be literally killed here but everything is… OK.

see he doesn’t do anything for the sake of doing

years old. I know how that plays. I feel like what you

It’s just normal, average...”

something. His specificity in what he chooses to do,

do is, if you’ve been through a worst-case scenario

you could tell he was into some good, interesting

of that and you’re a veteran of that, you have a take

It’s the Twilight Zone, but not that different

shit. One of the things that really stood out to me

on it. And it’s all about pacifying. You don’t have

from the Twilight Zone that is Chris’s life?

was, he understood the risk of Get Out and instead

the license to be emotional because you know

Peele: That’s such an important part of the puzzle.

of it pushing him away, it drew him closer. I felt like

where that road leads. They see it as a disrespect

Daniel, do a lot of black people in England yell at the

we had this bond of like, holy shit, they’re going to

of the power they’re trying to reaffirm over you. And

screen in horror movies the way African-Americans

let us make this movie? We’re going to do things

you understand that dance, so you’re trying to go,

do here?

you’re not supposed to do in this movie and it could

cool, cool, cool. And then Allison Williams as Rose,

Kaluuya: Yeah, they do.

go very wrong.

she is exercising her white privilege. She has the

Peele: So that’s just like this feeling like, “Yo, if

Kaluuya: I did feel that, when I read the script.

right to be emotional and to be outraged in that

a black person was in this movie they’d be out

I was like, “Jordan is going to get in trouble. This

situation because nothing is going to happen to

the second some shit went down.” It was very

guy is going to get in trouble for this. I need to be

her. And Chris is like, “All right, cool, cool, cool.” Even

important for me, for both of us, that the audience

around... I need to be there. Because I’m all about

that new ending, it’s a powerful message. The old

not feel like Chris is betraying that sensibility at any

trouble.” I said, “Let’s go.”

ending was about rage, but the new ending is like if

point.

you want to stay safe… It’s all about love, at the end

Kaluuya: That’s what I found to be the most

What in your mind was the worst scenario of

of the day. You have to let go, you have to forgive,

incredible moment in this whole process. There

what could have gone wrong in the execution?

and you have to forgive yourself in order for you to

were certain direction points where Jordan would

Peele: In my mind? Black people might not

keep going and keep fighting, because Chris’s fight

say, “Nah, man, no.” And we’d be talking about

appreciate the depiction of the victimization of

is not over, in how he’s going to be treated.

how the audience would be reacting to a certain

black people, which is really happening every day.

action, a bit in a scene like when Georgina walks

They might not appreciate that in genre, a format

Can you describe the emotions underneath

behind Chris when Chris has gone out for a smoke.

meant to entertain.

the cool façade?

Like he knew what they would say. And when I

Kaluuya: You’re feeling, pick your battles. You’re

watched it in Atlanta, those exact words came out

You could be viewed as exploiting or satirizing

feeling strategic. It’s chess. It’s like, "OK, how do I

at those exact points. This movie was made for

a painful problem?

minimize this whole situation?" And you’re feeling

the audience, and how the audience would react

Peele: If the movie was one note off it could very

it’s also an impossible situation. Every decision

as his mind processes things. So even in a simple

easily fall into the category where I’m exploiting

you make, you feel is the wrong decision because

scene on paper, like when me and Bradley Whitford

the pain of the African-Americans, of black people.

a wrong has been done to you. Ta-Nehisi Coates

are walking out onto the gazebo, it was all about

Obviously another big fear is that white people

said recently in his Eight Years in Power book: The

how Chris reacted to the black help. How would

26

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 26

2/14/18 5:49 PM

THE LAST 20 PAGES OF THE SCRIPT, THE LAST ACT, THAT LAST 20 MINUTES OF THE FILM… THAT LETTING GO OF THAT PENT-UP RAGE? PERSONALLY THAT’S HOW I FEEL, AND GET OUT FOR ME IS ABOUT THE REPRESSION OF EMOTION… IT WAS SO CATHARTIC TO SEE A SCRIPT HAVE THAT RELEASE IN A CONTEXT THAT FELT REAL. IT’S FIGHTING BACK, AND HERE, IT’S COOL TO FIGHT, TO BE WHO YOU ARE AND TO SURVIVE AND TO THRIVE. —DANIEL KALUUYA

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 27

2/14/18 5:49 PM

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 28

2/14/18 5:49 PM

THERE’S A CERTAIN TYPE OF SUBTLE RACISM THAT BLACK PEOPLE HAVE GROWN TO EXPECT AND ACCEPT ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS. IF WE WERE TO POP OFF AT EVERYTHING THAT FELT RACIST WE’D BE POPPING OFF ALL DAY.

—JORDAN PEELE

This movie was made for only $4.5 million, which means a compressed shooting schedule. Aside from the ending, what moments changed as you and Daniel filtered the script through this imagined black movie audience?

Peele: It was little tweaks. It always came down to these moments where maybe Daniel would come up to me and say, “But are black people going to be with us here?” And that would send me into figuring out how to make it so that they would.

Kaluuya: I just wanted the script to be the best it possibly could. My friends just watch things with complete logic. So it would be little things. I’d turn to Jordan and go, “Is this logical? Does this make

the black audience react? Jordan thought about

you. And the audience feels like, OK, we’re taken

sense?” I’m just here to serve the story, and in a

that. Would it be, “Ugh”? It is such a thin line and

care of because he’s doing what I would do. His

way be invisible so the audience is able to project

that has all been a part of this process. Us thinking,

guard is up. And then it’s my job as a director to

for Chris to be a surrogate. That is why it was

what are they going to think? We can’t lose them,

hypnotize the audience before they know it’s

important to ask, are we going to lose black people

we can’t lose them.

happening, the same way we do with Chris. That’s

here? Especially in the party scene. We did a lot of

Peele: The black audience hasn’t really been

where that teacup comes in.

takes with a certain bit…

thought of, with these movies, but we knew that we

Kaluuya: And even that moment where she

Peele: You’re talking about when someone says,

couldn’t lose them for one second, and that task

says, “You’ve been smoking around my daughter.”

“Black is in fashion,” and then Chris walks away.

was made difficult by the fact that we also need

Delivering the guilt. Getting his guard down. And

Kaluuya: Yeah. We did takes where Chris is very

Chris to stay in the situation because of his love for

she’s got him because she made him feel bad

vocal in that situation. He said, “This is ridiculous,

this white woman. And that led to another really

about something. There’s a lot happening.

this is bullshit.” What ended up being in the film is a

pivotal scene, the hypnosis scene.

Peele: And the place she’s ultimately trying to get

feeling that I’m checking out. And so the audience

him is to the paralyzing effect of guilt. His guilt for

is able to project. “Oh, he’s had enough,” and that

has already declined, and now all of a sudden he’s

not showing up for his mother, years earlier. The

motors his next step into the story. He’s not having

invited in to sit down and talk with her. We both

Sunken Place is… I always thought everyone has a

it. He’s left his girlfriend because he just needs to

discussed it. We had this task of bringing the black

different Sunken Place, what it looks like. But the

step out of it. That dialogue is just leading up to a

audience, and really the entire audience, with us.

feeling is the same. It’s a construct of the mind, built

conclusion, a solution. It was just a little tweak here

In accepting why Chris would sit down, when we

by your trauma, when you were the most paralyzed

and there. Even in the “give me the car key” scene.

all know this is not going to a good place. So, the

with fear and guilt. That’s why Chris’s Sunken Place

That was a long conversation when he was com-

way Chris sits down, the way he engages in this

is looking at a television, just like when he was sitting

ing down. I was like, “Yo, this guy just needs to get

conversation became extremely important. He had

in front of the screen when his mother was dying.

out, just get out.” He knew that Rose had cheated

The audience knows Missy hypnotizes. Chris

to be...

on him, lied to him, so then how did he justify those Your attention to how the audience responds

two spins?

Uncomfortable?

to each moment and scare. It always seemed

Peele: And realistically polite. She hasn’t revealed

like Hitchcock was adept at anticipating that

logical isn’t that way emotionally. You may hear

herself to be a dark person.

audience response. How does a first-time

that your girl was cheating on you but when she

Kaluuya: Sean McKittrick mentioned it recently,

director know to do this?

says it, that’s the real heartbreak. When she admits

that the pivotal bit in that scene is everyone realizes

Peele: That’s where the comedy comes in. The

it. There’s two moments: when you see it, and

Chris is just trying to be a good boyfriend. I think

first half of my professional career was spent in

when you feel it. When he dropped the bag and

someone has a noble reason to say he’s just trying

front of a live audience. That training teaches you

then she goes, “I ain’t giving you the keys,” it was

to do right by his girlfriend that he loves. Everyone

to ride the audience like a wave. When I did Key &

heartbreaking. There was a conversation that was

can identify with that, and ask themselves...

Peele, because we are live performers, comedians,

had on set and then Jordan was like, “Trust me,

Peele: What would I do?

we know when an audience is going to laugh. It’s

man. Trust me.” And so in that situation, I thought,

Kaluuya: What would I do?

almost like it’s in the back of our heads, and that

I’ll trust him, because he’d done the work and he

Peele: Nobody’s going to say, “Nah, I’m going to

goes for anybody who does comedy. I love the art

gives a fuck. And it’s there on the screen.

sleep. I’m out. Thanks for the invitation but I’m

form of comedy because the audience is vocal.

For me, it was about, logically, is the audience

out. I’m a guest in your home and I’ve been dating

You get something back and you sort of begin to

going to question this guy’s decision, and especially

your daughter. I’m out. I’m not going to sit with you

internalize the science of that.

the black audiences he represents? We were on

and have some tea.” So, that to me... I mean, look,

How I justified it was, something that is obvious

that. I knew it was a short shoot and I tried not to

Daniel goes through an amazingly vulnerable place

You listen, and alter course based on the

take too much time but if I felt it was important… I

emotionally in that scene, but I think the piece of

reaction?

felt like there was no point doing all this work if you

the puzzle that makes that scene truly classic is

Peele: It got so that if I was writing a Key & Peele

were going to lose them.

how he plays all those things.

sketch, there’s a live audience in my mind, and I

Peele: This was the hardest scene, but also the

know how they’re going to react or I’m pretty close.

most rewarding as a director, because the entire

He plays the guy who, OK, I’m going to sit but you’re not going to hypnotize me and I’m watching

cast… it was almost impossible for me to explain D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 29

29

2/14/18 5:49 PM

how I knew it would work. That was kind of a new

real green lights for me was The Stepford Wives,

made sense to us, and to me as an artist, there

thing for me. It doesn’t make sense and it kind of

and Rosemary’s Baby as well. In Stepford Wives, the

was something that made sense in the gut of the

shouldn’t work. We reveal that he knows the real

men are evil. But I didn’t come out of that movie

audience. And that was, we’ve been watching this

Rose, and then four minutes later, we reveal it

feeling persecuted as a man. I felt in touch with

journey because Chris is going to get out, because

again. And everyone in the cast was correctly iden-

Katharine Ross’ character. I felt like I was her, dur-

we’re going to get our exhale, we’re going to get the

tifying, how does this work? Often on set you ask

ing that journey. That introduced me to the power

catharsis and the exaltation that we rarely get in

your characters, "How do you feel?" Daniel said, “I

of the protagonist. You can make people give up

the real world. And whether or not they knew it was

want to get out.”

their identity and take on the identity of this other

going that way or felt it, that’s what the movie is

person. When we got Daniel on board, when I saw

supposed to be.

We worked together pretty hard and got to this thing Daniel is talking about. It was beyond logic.

the performances, when we edited it, I knew we

And I think one of the things that made it click, if

had accomplished that. I still felt like there might be

What was the difference in the test scores

I’m correct, is we connected it to the trauma this

white people out there who hadn’t seen the movie

between those endings?

character has been dealing with his whole life. Not

but had heard about it who might object. But I was

Peele: I think it was one point. Maybe not even. It

showing up for his mother, and in a sense feeling he

confident that when anyone sees the movie they’re

might have been the same. Which just shows you,

abandoned his family. This was a situation where

on the same journey.

test scores are bullshit. Test scores have nothing

he needed to have a moment with Rose, where

Kaluuya: That is the importance of having film

to do with anything. It’s a controlled experiment

she affirms his deepest fears, even if he knew

change your perspective. Jordan saw Chris as a

where people come in and they’re told that they’re

already. He needed that, otherwise he would be

three-dimensional human being, first. Jordan is a

going to be a part of creating film. It’s not the actual

abandoning his family for a second time in his life

black man, he knows what Chris has to navigate

experience. What I did was scrutinize the notes

even if there was a small chance that there was a

and the emotions he’s going through. Jordan’s

people had, and the ideas in them. Basically any

misunderstanding. We talked about other movies,

spirit is behind him, translating and communicat-

response that someone has with the movie or the

like Donnie Brasco. There’s a point where Al Pacino

ing his truth and how he sees the world, and the

script for me, it may not be right but there might be

knows Johnny Depp is a cop. He’s like, “Donnie, if

audience goes with it. Because it was so carefully

a way to do something so that you never hear that

you’re a cop…” and he holds a gun to his head.

considered and it’s coming from like a place of deep

response again.

We did that scene many times, and Daniel’s side

work. Someone else is just going to take that on as

And there was a collective feeling, from black

of it, and I believe you stayed pretty subdued and

escapism. You see another horror film where there’s

and white audience members, that the original

within, and very cautious for most of the takes.

a ghoul, and that’s not the real world. It just shows

ending was a betrayal. What I read from it was

And then the final take, which is the take that we

the importance of different perspectives and giving

that it was a betrayal by me, as the writer/director.

used, he explodes at her. And it was just one of

those people an opportunity to tell their story.

And by the way, it was. When I wrote it, I had this

those moments where, I didn’t know what we were

mischievous laugh, like I was saying, “Ha, ha, fuck

fishing for, he didn’t know what he was fishing for,

When you shot the final ending—after the first

you guys. This movie is going to be so subversive

but when it happened it happened and we’re like,

one where he kills Rose and is arrested by the

that it gives you the truth, at the expense of your

“Let’s go. Let’s move on. We got it.”

cops and winds up behind bars—which did you

experience.” It was also a betrayal of the character

think was the right way to end the movie?

Chris, after the audience was Chris through this

performance, but that is my favorite because of my

Kaluuya: When we shot the second ending I knew

whole journey. There was a look in his eyes in the

whole concern about that scene and the possibility

it would be the ending, but I was so happy about

original ending that he was resigned to never

the audience would say, “Why are we even talking

the first ending.

breaking out of the system. Never truly breaking

about this? Run!” It all makes sense when you see

Peele: We shot the first one and then went back to

out of the sunken place. And I realized they were

how he needs to confront her and that that’s why

the second one.

like, “Wait a second. I’ve been him and I’m fighting.

he’s still there. It all makes sense and it’s in the

Kaluuya: I just felt like, yeah, that’s what happens.

He can’t give up.” I remember specifically just

performance.

Jordan’s message was about the prison system

wondering—and by the way, people knew that

Kaluuya: You owe it to me, to tell me the truth.

and about how they’re locking up people.

it was true and this is how real life works—but I

There are many exceptional moments in his

Just tell me the truth. I think that will identify with

remember somebody saying, “But he just gave up!”

anyone who has been in a relationship and been

I watched the original ending on DVD and I

And I realized, that’s what the problem was there.

heartbroken. Just tell me the fucking truth. And if

thought, this is so strong. But I’m so glad that

Kaluuya: A lot of stories are seemingly progressive,

you found the truth later on you just feel cheated,

it wasn’t the ending of the movie.

but structurally conservative. So, with Get Out

again. That’s what he was digging for and that’s

Kaluuya: But you get the hint of that, with the

and that other ending, he gave up, and the system

what I felt when I watched it. That’s what we were

flashing lights, and that’s the genius of the new

wins. That new ending is empowering, like if we

searching for. It was like oh, he needs to mine the

ending. And the fact is, in the ending, I didn’t feel

come together we will fight. And, love wins. The

truth out of this woman he loves.

that Chris is safe. He has been through this new

storytelling structure with that new ending is radical

kind of trauma now and he has to go out into the

to me. It’s actually forward movement. Just that end

If your guidepost was, how will a black

world. And that’s honest. He will have to process

note changes the whole context of what we’re trying

audience accept each of Chris’s reactions, how

that. This isn’t the last battle he’s going to have.

to say and that’s why I feel this movie was discussed

surprised were you that the collective white

Peele: That whole process taught me a lot

the whole year. What I’m realizing is that people

audience completely identified with your black

about movies and how I want to approach my

have been resigned to conservative structures in

protagonist who was being menaced by these

movies. The original ending was a very intellectual

storytelling and entertainment in most films. What is

white people?

statement, and it was true, and I think you have

the insight, what is it actually saying in its heart? The

Peele: This is something I was trying to take care

to access truth. But I bowed to the audience, and

aesthetics here are new age and forward thinking.

of since the beginning of the project. One of the

the audience’s experience. Whatever intellectually

Does it make the person that’s marginalized feel

30

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 30

2/14/18 5:50 PM

empowered? And I feel Get Out does.

solved. Despite all kinds of flashpoint events around the country that said otherwise. So

Leave it to a first-time director trained to be

you guys and your film get Oscar nominated,

sensitive to audience need to put aside his

as does Denzel Washington, Octavia Spencer,

own political belief to realize after you took

and Mary J. Blige and Dee Rees for Mudbound.

the audience on a great ride, you didn’t have to

I’ve seen press reports wondering if this

crush them with a reminder how the real world

means the #OscarsSoWhite crisis is over. Does

is for black men and incarceration.

this showing mean, problem solved?

Peele: The statement still was that the real world is

Peele: If Mary J. Blige wins Best Supporting

the real horror. We come out of this horror/science

Actress, I’m good for another few years.

fiction plot where some things feel real and then

Kaluuya: No more drama!

some things feel invented, but at the end, you see

Peele: I’m kidding. The #OscarsSoWhite

how the biggest holy shit horrific moment in this

conversation is always going to be an important

movie is the cops showing up when they do. And

concept for us to think about. But I do feel it’s also

then the beauty of the ending we have now is we

important that the right nominations happen. What

get that message, but instead we get this hero. My

I’m trying to say is I don’t want the #OscarsSoWhite

initial feeling of trolling the audience was, I wanted

hashtag to take away from the fact that the black

to make that movie for the black audience member

people who have been honored by nominations

who has been yelling at the screen for this shit to

absolutely deserved their nominations. What I see

be realistic, for the character to be smart the whole

this year, the representation of the nominations

time. What I wanted was to give them the movie

does not feel like to me that it’s involved in the

they were asking for. But there are problems with

#OscarsSoWhite conversation, at all. Daniel earned

that sensibility. His friend Rod tells Chris, “Look,

that shit. Mary J. earned that shit. Octavia earned

you’ve got to figure shit out. I’m not coming up to

that shit. So it’s kind of a complicated...

the country to save you from a witches’ coven.”

Which is like the kind of stereotypical white thing to

Denzel, too?

do in the movie. I wanted to serve that movie where

Peele: Denzel earned his. I don’t want Denzel

he doesn’t come because he said he wasn’t going

coming after me, man.

to come and he’s a self-respecting black person,

Kaluuya: Except to be in your next movie?

and I don’t care how good a friend you are with

Peele: It’s an important conversation because we

somebody, if you know they’re getting killed by a

have to demand progress and we have to demand

secret society, odds are you’re not driving up there.

that people who deserve it aren’t shut out. But

So, I wanted to kind of let that part sink home too

as we see with so many of these movements, so

but in a positive way that it still sinks home. And by

often we’ll take a step forward and then two steps

the way, the other change with the ending is, in the

back later, take a step forward and two steps back

original one, he does kill Rose. So he succumbs to

later. So we can never get complacent that we’re

the monster of hatred.

past the systemic racism until we have justice on all levels. From the level of justice where people are

As opposed to loosening his grip, realizing he

killed by police to adequate representation in the

can’t do it, watching her hateful smug smirk as

industry.

she sees the flashing police lights, and seeing

SINK INTO THE FLOOR From top: Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener; Jordan Peele; Betty Gabriel.

she’s not going to win, this time.

Daniel, you’re an up-and-comer after Sicario

Peele: We both thought he could have done it,

and Get Out, and Black Panther has just been

but chooses not to and the reason he chooses not

released. How are you feeling about the future,

to is because he doesn’t want to let her take his

and the idea that it might be better for a black

humanity. There’s a difference between violence

actor than it was three years ago?

as a means of survival and violence as a means of

Kaluuya: I think this now is the business that it was

hatred and revenge. She was bleeding in the road

supposed to be. I think the old business was wrong.

and his decision was to let her have the same fate

That’s it. I’m appreciative, I’m honored, and it’s

his mother had, to bleed in the road.

amazing what’s happened for Jordan and me, but we’ve got work to do now. I’m here to work. It’s not

I hadn’t even thought of that…

a game. The way we feel is, the Oscars has been

Kaluuya: And that leaves him with guilt of what he’s

evolved toward the way it’s supposed to be. That’s

done, leaving her there, because he’s done it again.

how I feel. This is the way it’s supposed to be. It’s more true to what the world looks like, and we keep

You told Deadline in an early interview that

going from there. How it has been has alienated

the original ending came from your frustration

people. But we don’t now go, “Oh, no. Now it’s cool.”

with the idea that, because we had a black

We are here because Jordan put in the work, and so

president in Barack Obama, racism was

did I. Let’s keep doing the work. ★ D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Cover Story - Get Out-04 copy.indd 31

31

2/14/18 5:50 PM

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME THE EXHILARATION OF each year’s crop of Best Picture nomi-

too old to direct a film.

Guadagnino stepped up once

nees comes from the range of dif-

more, with the notion that he

ferent movies that makes it across

could pair up with Ivory and direct

the line. Where else would Dunkirk

the film together. “It was impor-

and Call Me by Your Name—or any

tant to me to make this happen for

of the others—compete on equal

James. I would have loved to see

footing?

his version of the film,” Guadagino

If Luca Guadagnino’s ode to

says. “We worked a lot. But nobody

those youthful pangs of first love

believed two filmmakers could

is this year’s smallest, quietest

make a movie together—unless

Best Picture hopeful, consider that

they were brothers, or a pair to

it may not have been heard at all.

begin with.”

When Guadagino first boarded the

EACH OF THIS YEAR’S BEST PICTURE NOMINEES HA S SURVIVED A JOURNEY TO CROS S THE FINISH LINE , BEFORE EVER EARNING THE ACADEMY ’S C ONSIDERATION. HERE’S HOW THEY CAME TOGE THER.

Guadagnino could be fast

project he came on as a consul-

and nimble in a way Ivory wasn’t

tant, there to help producers Peter

practiced in. He was used to tight

Spears and Howard Rosenman,

shoots and compressed sched-

and a different director, find loca-

ules, and that would be attractive

DARKEST HOUR

tions in his native Italy. He toured

to financiers. It soon became

FOR WORKING TITLE partners

the country with them, starting in

undeniable: if this movie was going

Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, the

Bordighera where the book is set.

to go ahead, Luca Guadagnino

desire to make a movie about

would have to direct it. “I believed

Winston Churchill has burned

Spears, finally, suggested perhaps

in this project and I didn’t want

for 20 years. Director Joe Wright

James Ivory, who had adapted

to see it go,” he says. “That was

had the same aspiration. But it

André Aciman’s delirious summer

the reason I did it. Everybody got

wasn’t until Anthony McCarten’s

Gary Oldman’s first film too,” he

romance, should be the one to take

paid nothing. We did it because we

script for Darkest Hour came in

recalls. “He was taken by it and

the helm. By that point, the idea

wanted to do it.”

that it seemed possible. McCarten

we then did an awful lot of work

That director dropped out, and

was that Ivory and Guadagnino

painted a picture of the career

on the prosthetics and he had to

would work on the script together,

that decision had been made,

politician’s rise to prime minister,

get totally comfortable with the

a collaboration that excited

Call Me by Your Name was sailing.

his refusal to bow to those in Par-

idea. Because after you have met

Guadagnino: it’s not often you get

Eventually, the production would

liament who favored a deal with

Gary, you know he does not scream

to work with a filmmaker whose

find itself in Crema, Guadagnino’s

Hitler, and his plan to evacuate

Winston Churchill physically when

career is so storied. But they

home town, and its American cast,

English soldiers from the beaches

you meet him.”

couldn’t raise finance; financiers

including Timothée Chalamet and

of Dunkirk. “I live in England and

Oldman tempted Kazuhiro

feared the octagenarian Ivory was

Armie Hammer, discovered the

I never knew this story,” Fellner

Tsuji, famed make-up artist, out of

vibe of an Italian movie set. “It’s

says. “I had no idea that, in the

retirement to help him disappear

just that much more relaxed and

span of three weeks, Europe could

beneath Churchill’s iconic visage.

laid back,” Hammer says. “Waking

have come crashing down in the

And still, his mastery of captur-

up in the morning and squeezing

way this story shows.”

ing the essence of Churchill and

"EVERYBODY GOT PAID NOTHING. WE DID IT BECAUSE WE WANTED TO DO IT.” —DIRECTOR LUCA GUADAGNINO

As if ordained by fate, once

apricot juice to drink. It was about

The opportunity they saw was to dig into the psychology of the

has turned him into this year’s Best

those little things.” —Joe Utichi

man in the middle of these momen-

Actor frontrunner.

tous events. “There’s a big statue

Odd after all these years that

of Churchill in Parliament Square,”

Working Title, Wright, McCarten

adds Fellner. “What Joe wanted to

and Oldman weren’t the only

do was to take him down off that

ones who dug back into history

plinth and look at him straight in

to look at the heroic and unlikely

the eye, warts and all. His doubts,

Dunkirk evacuation executed by

his depression, his fears, his family,

a small squadron of boats. Fellow

his love, his drinking.”

Brit Christopher Nolan wound up

But capturing every aspect

32

projecting it through the make-up

slowing down and enjoying all of

telling that story from different

of this complex figure demanded

perspectives, and there was room

the right actor for the role. Fellner

for both. Each film got six Oscar

looked to his past. “My first film

nominations, including Best Pic-

ever was Sid and Nancy, and it was

ture for both. — ­ Mike Fleming Jr.

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Road to Oscar-06.indd 32

2/14/18 5:54 PM

HER.

LADY BIRD

DUNKIRK FEW FILMS OPENING in the

WHAT WOULD THE MOVIE

wasn’t sure she nailed the char-

Boyhood be like for a girl? It’s not

acter. Then Brooklyn and Atone-

often that we see female coming-

ment Oscar-nominated actress

of-age stories, and that’s exactly

Saoirse Ronan read for the part,

why actress-turned-filmmaker

and “she started to bring her

Greta Gerwig created Lady Bird—a

to life. Lady Bird was really this

personal story, though not an

collaboration between the two of

autobiographical one—about a

us. That character would not be

high school girl just like the Frances

that character if not for her,” says

Ha actress, who went to Catholic

Gerwig.

School in Sacramento, CA, and

For Thomas and Nolan, rigging

Producer Scott Rudin was

hungered for the liberties and

key in finding financing with IAC

artistic greatness of a Northeast

as well as connecting Gerwig

college.

with three-time Roseanne Emmy

busy summer season, that go on

their boat to ride up the river in

to gross more than half a billion

search of Colonel Kurtz is the only

mother-daughter comedy about

grounded, working class mom. A24

way to fly. With Dunkirk, that meant

the push and pull of teenage

took global rights last July.

trouble Academy voters come

an arduous shoot on open seas,

angst, with plenty of heartfelt

year’s end. But Dunkirk is not like

capturing the action practically

most films. Christopher Nolan had

and favoring 35mm and IMAX film

been making utterly unique block-

to come as close to placing the

busters ever since his Hollywood

audience on those beaches as will

debut, Memento, put him on the

ever be possible. “Chris’s idea from

map. He helped reinvigorate the

the very beginning was not really to

superhero genre with his run on

make it a war film,” Thomas says.

the Batman movies, and followed

“It was to make it a thriller and a

The Dark Knight with Inception, a

suspense story; a survival story. It’s

wholly original epic that became

something you wouldn’t expect.”

dollars at the global box office,

another rare summer movie to score a Best Picture nomination.

But what does it take to inspire

Dunkirk offers a comprehensive look at the confusion of evacuating so many troops from such a thin

a cross-generational comple-

sliver of beach. The production

ment of filmgoers toward a story

challenge was immense. Thomas

about the British evacuation from

says Nolan, who produces his films

Dunkirk—a slice of history unfamil-

with her too, understands those

iar to audiences better adjusted to

challenges better than anyone.

supercharged genre movies? Start

Still, when he hands her a new

with a director who has become a

script, she reads it “with a large

brand as powerful as Marvel, DC

glass of red wine,” she jokes.

and Star Wars, and his obsessive

What transpired was a

winner Laurie Metcalf to play the

More important than the pic-

moments: a mother’s doubts

ture being inspired by Gerwig’s life,

about her daughter’s ambitions,

setting Lady Bird in Sacramento

a girl jamming the bathroom door

was crucial given the pic’s mythol-

for some privacy, their bickering

ogy of dreamers. “The quality of

“IT’S THOSE LITTLE STORYTELLING MOMENTS, IT’S JUST THAT QUALITY OF PRECISION THAT I LOOK FOR AND LIKE.” —DIRECTOR GRETA GERWIG

lost dreams and the people who haven’t lost them yet; California has lost dreams,” explains Gerwig, “Sacramento

in public, and their immediate surrender when the other finds a great dress in a thrift store.

“It’s those little storytelling

does too because of the Gold Rush.

“When we were figuring out how to shoot the movie, I was asked if I could write it for a dif-

moments, it’s just that quality of

ferent city because of tax breaks;

precision that I look for and like,”

that it was cheaper to shoot in

says Gerwig about her inspira-

Ohio,” she adds.

tions. In creating a young girl who

“I don’t know the mythol-

changes her facets depending on

ogy of Ohio. This is a California

who she is with— best friend, rich

story in its bones.” ­—Anthony

friend, head nun or mom— Gerwig

D'Alessandro

There’s also, now, the pressure

interest in capturing the visceral

of an unbroken run of successes.

scale of one of the most complex

For Nolan and Thomas, it’s

military maneuvers in world his-

because they take these kinds

tory. Start, too, with Nolan’s par-

of risks that audiences are

ticular disregard for the received

engaged to see what they create;

wisdom of what audiences want

cinemagoers are crying out for

to see. “We definitely thought this

bravery and originality, of that

would be the one that killed us,”

they’re sure. “We definitely feel the

says Emma Thomas, Nolan’s part-

pressure of the streak,” Thomas

ner and producer who has worked

says. “It has been an incredible run,

with him since the earliest days.

and I would certainly feel a lot less

“This seemed like such an unlikely

worried about the next one if we

thing. But then, if you look at any of

would have taken the safe bet. But

the nominees this year, they don’t

when you have an opportunity to

look like obvious movies to make,

push boundaries, you have to grab

necessarily.”

it.” —Joe Utichi

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Road to Oscar-06.indd 33

33

2/14/18 5:55 PM

THE POST AS HOLLYWOOD REELED from

year later, the movie was in the

an envelope mix-up that saw the

can, ready in time for awards

wrong film announced as Best

season, where it competes for

Picture at last year’s Oscars,

Best Picture and Best Actress.

first-time screenwriter Liz Han-

this happen? Chalk it up to

the quickest ascendancy ever

Spielberg’s bad luck trying to

in Hollywood. On the previous

find the right kid for another

Friday afternoon she had got her

project he was developing, and

script for The Post to producer

an opportune moment of timing

(and former Sony chief) Amy

on Pascal’s part, tipped off by

Pascal, and by the evening she

Spielberg’s regular producer

had landed a deal. Before the

Kristie Macosko Krieger. “I didn’t

weekend was over, Steven Spiel-

think to give it to Steven because

berg was committed to directing

I knew he was doing a different

it, with Tom Hanks and Meryl

movie,” Pascal says. “But I gave

Streep set to star. Less than a

it to Kristie because I knew she

PHANTOM THREAD

would like it.”

Pascal was right. “This had a relationship I had never seen in

YOU COULD SAY IT ALL started

As Anderson drafted the

in bed. While Paul Thomas Ander-

screenplay, he would feed pages

son had the impulse to make a

to Day-Lewis for input. In fact, it

relationship movie with Phantom

was Day-Lewis who came up with

Thread, the filmmaker—much like

his character’s name. Day-Lewis

his couturier protagonist Reyn-

threw himself into the part, learn-

olds Woodcock—found himself

ing how to sew—literally 100 but-

in bed, sick. “And my better half

ton holes—so that he’d look like a

Oscar-winning Spotlight co-

[Maya Rudolph] looked at me with

natural fashion designer.

writer Josh Singer for a second

love and affection that I hadn’t

“You don’t go to work with

seen in a long time,” Anderson

Daniel Day-Lewis, you go to work

told fellow director Rian Johnson

with whoever his character is,”

in a recent podcast interview

Anderson says.

about the spark for his British period drama.

A confluence of ideas fueled

a movie, the one between Ben Bradlee and Kay Graham, and I told Steven he just had to read it,” Macosko Krieger said. “He was in.”

Hannah was soon joined by

pass of the script. “Liz’s script is as good a first script as you’ll find, but we had two months before production. Josh knew journal-

Halfway through writing,

ism, and Steven wanted the Pen-

Anderson and Day-Lewis spoke

tagon Papers to be a character in

about the actresses they should

the movie,” Pascal said. Hannah’s

Anderson’s Phantom Thread: his

cast. Anderson enjoyed Lesley

love for 1950 gothic romance

Manville’s work from Mike Leigh’s

films, the desire to team with

canon. Meanwhile, Luxembourg-

“mouse to lion”, as Pascal puts

Daniel Day-Lewis again, and to

born actress Vicky Krieps sent in

it, was the secret ingredient that

have him play an Englishman.

an audition tape which wowed

charged Streep’s performance

Anderson had a story that was

Anderson so much, he called her

toward an Oscar nom, and it

in search of characters, and real-

in to read with Day-Lewis.

made The Post incredibly timely.

izing that Phantom Thread would

grasp of Kay Graham’s path from

But perhaps the biggest ques-

revolve around a man and two

tion that Anderson has faced

women, the filmmaker also found

while promoting Phantom Thread

inspiration in Spanish fashion

is whether he’s responsible for

designer Cristóbal Balenciaga, a

causing Day-Lewis to retire from

man who led a monastic life, and

acting. “I suppose it suggests

put his work ahead of his needs.

either he had such a good time

Phantom Thread tells the story of

doing it that he didn’t want to

British fashion designer Reynolds

bother to top the experience,” he

Woodcock, whose 1950s heyday of

told Jimmy Kimmel recently. “Or

dressing celebrities and dignitar-

the other thing.”

ies ascends to another level after

34

How does something like

nah was experiencing perhaps

Still, there’s hope. “I’m going

he meets Alma, a waitress who

to wait a little while before I try to

promptly becomes his muse. Love,

talk him into something else.” ­

essentially, upsets life.

—Anthony D'Alessandro

Getting The Post completed in less than a year wasn’t easy.

Once Spielberg had committed and Fox had agreed to pay for the movie, it was clear that the film would be released within that calendar year. Still, “Steven can

“THIS HAD A RELATIONSHIP I HAD NEVER SEEN IN A MOVIE, THE ONE BETWEEN BEN BRADLEE AND KAY GRAHAM.” —PRODUCER AMY PASCAL

do amazing things when he puts his mind to it,” Macosko Krieger says. Adds Pascal: “I bet John Ford, Preston Sturges, Howard Hawks and all those guys made movies at that pace all the time.”

—Mike Fleming Jr.

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Road to Oscar-06.indd 34

2/14/18 5:55 PM

THE SHAPE OF WATER GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S love

bottom rung of the bottom lad-

of monsters and the macabre

der—might be the one to free this

started when he was a kid, at

aquatic God. Ideas flowed freely

home in Guadalajara, Mexico. But

from there—like setting it in the

he may have swung the hammer

1960s, as man struggled to reach

blow for their social acceptability

the stars and as America fought

this year with The Shape of Water,

the Cold War. It would be a film

which has charged to a not-so-

about—and for—outsiders; the

unlucky 13 Oscar nominations.

marginalized and disenfranchised.

The film has been more than 20 years in the making, starting

A movie for today’s America.

Fox Searchlight took the bait,

with a vague idea del Toro had,

but only to the tune of $19.5 mil-

about an amphibian creature that

lion; the shoot for The Shape of

falls in love with a human. But del

Water was arduous, as del Toro

Toro knows the rocky road of Hol-

injected his own salary back into

lywood better than many. There’s

production to buy himself the

even a Wikipedia entry dedicated

shots he needed. At times, nerves

to “Guillermo del Toro’s unreal-

frayed and tensions were hard

ized projects”. “I do contemplate

to shake, but del Toro’s secret

how many times you can give your

weapon was a cast and crew who

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

blood to this particular brother,

believed in what he was trying to

MARTIN MCDONAGH TAKES

collaborators, like Sam Rockwell

which is cinema,” he says. “In my

do, and they carried one another

a sanguine view of the many

and Woody Harrelson. But it was

case, I have bled quite a lot.”

across the line. When the film

complications inherent in writing,

the casting of Frances McDormand

finally unspooled at this year’s

raising finance and directing major

that made the project a no-brainer

light The Shape of Water when his

Venice Film Festival, the reaction

motion pictures. Formulas are

for British production house Film4,

Trollhunters collaborator Daniel

from the crowd drew tears from

“fucking boring”, script notes are

and Fox Searchlight. McDormand

Kraus shared a similar idea, with

del Toro. “That screening in Venice

verboten, and when you work with

was a fan of her fellow McD, and

a few extra titbits of setup; the

was one of my favorite nights in

someone who tries to push you

she had, years ago, begged him to

movie would take place in a secret

a 25-year career,” he says. “And

around, you just don’t do it again.

send her a part she could play.

government lab, the woman would

I’ve felt the same way in screening

So by the time he reached this, his

McDonagh cops to some

be a janitor. Del Toro loved the

after screening. It doesn’t go away.

third feature, Three Billboards Out-

friction, in the early days on set,

notion that a lowly cleaner—the

It never goes away.” — ­ Joe Utichi

side Ebbing, Missouri, McDonagh

with his headstrong lead. “It was

had largely figured his way through

Frances’s first time with me,” he

the Hollywood labyrinth. The

says, “so all of her choices about

secret? “You kind of have to stick

her integrity as an actress, and

to a budget that’s not like low-low,

about the character, created a

but also not so high that the future

teeny, tiny little bit of—in the early

He found the spark that would

days—discussions,

“YOU KIND OF HAVE TO STICK TO A BUDGET THAT’S NOT LIKE LOW-LOW, BUT ALSO NOT SO HIGH THAT THE FUTURE OF THE COMPANY IS RIDING ON IT.” —WRITER/DIRECTOR MARTIN MCDONAGH

shall we say.” Over the course of the shoot, though, the pair found their rhythm, and now, “she’s family.” Its why he likes his

of the company is riding on it,” he

little rep company of performers.

says.

“Because with each one, it’s mates

It helps, too, that the script

and it’s a new part with a new char-

comes from McDonagh, a

acter. You don’t have that ‘first day

playwright-turned-filmmaker

of school’ thing.”

who has been described as one

The result of their collabora-

of the greatest of his generation.

tion is at turns angry, hilarious,

Three Billboards, which tells of

heartfelt and tender. The Audience

a mother who turns to banner

Award followed the film’s early

advertising to expose the inaction

rollout at Toronto Film Festival,

of the local police force in the

and McDormand won the Globe

investigation of her daughter’s

for her performance. With seven

rape and murder, also attracted

Oscar nominations this year, Three

a few of McDonagh’s frequent

Billboards stands tall. —Joe Utichi

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

O5 - Road to Oscar-06.indd 35

35

2/14/18 5:55 PM

D THE DIALOGUE

OSCA R N O M I N E ES

Greta

GERWIG

Best Director Best Original Screenplay Lady Bird It seems like a challenge to create a character like Lady Bird who’s still fuzzy around the edges.

Both as a writer and as an actor, and now as a director, I feel it’s always good if a character feels just a little out of reach. I think if you feel that you’ve caught up to them, somehow they perish on the vine. It’s hard to describe a 17-year-old, especially because who they are with their friends is different then who they are with their parents, who they are at school, and who they hope they’ll be when they leave that place. I’m very wary of pinning a person down and saying, “This is exactly it.”

You made the unusual choice to not give Lady Bird any special talents—why?

Even children who are quote-unquotesuccessful, you’re still a mess when you’re figuring it out around 17—even with really directed teenagers, who are in the Olympics.

Weirdly, I love the Olympics because I love watching family dynamics. Some parents are like, “She just always loved to swim! I don’t know where this came from?” Others, everything is on the line. Even kids who don’t go to the Olympics, everybody’s parents sacrificed to get a version of life that is good for their child. –Amy Nicholson

36

DEADLINE.COM

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 36

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSH TELLES

2/14/18 5:28 PM

Saoirse

RONAN

Best Actress Lady Bird

How do you describe Lady Bird when even she doesn’t know who she is?

It’s been a process for me to find a way to articulate it. I feel like Lady Bird is one of those girls that’s trying on all these different characters because she’s trying to figure out which one fits. From one scene to the next, she’s confident or she’s filled with self-doubt, or she’s a showman, or she’s a writer. I wouldn’t say for me on day one that I had figured out how to play the whole thing.

What was that day like when your character lost her virginity to Timothée Chalamet?

Timmy and I were fine! I think it’s because we knew it was going to go into a full dialogue thing, which hardly ever happens in films. Usually, you’ll do a sex scene and it’s just two people having sex—where this, it wasn’t really about that, but about the nosebleed, and the conversation they have after on the edge of the bed, and the aftermath where she’s like, “Did that go okay?”

—Amy Nicholson

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSH TELLES

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 37

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

37

2/14/18 5:28 PM

Guillermo

DEL TORO

Best Picture Best Director Best Original Screenplay The Shape of Water

You were originally going to shoot this movie in black-andwhite. Why didn’t you?

Well, I decided against it. First, because it’s called The Shape of Water, and I wanted to have the greens and the blues of water. It felt to me that it should have a certain palette, saturated with a very narrow color scheme. I thought better of the black-and-white idea.

I thought the colors of the creature would be much more rich in color than in black and white.

How hard was it to get the creature right?

It was emotionally very difficult because you come to a point where the creature looks really good, but it’s still a creature. The last five percent is what makes it a character. A lot of people tell me, Hellboy is Ron Perlman painted red, and it’s horrible to hear that, but at the same time it’s great because every inch of Ron Perlman was covered with latex. The only things that were his were the upper eyelids. The rest was a sculpture

by Matt Rose and Chad Waters.

I like that people think that’s the guy. It doesn’t at all look like Ron Perlman, but it is Ron Perlman and it is Hellboy. The same is true here.

At the end of the process, when everything is done, when the suit is color corrected, there’s digital blinks, there are digital repairs on the suit, it looks like a living thing.

—Joe Utichi

38

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 38

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL BUCKNER

2/14/18 5:28 PM

Sally

HAWKINS

Best Actress The Shape of Water

Did you immediately know who your character, Elisa, was?

As soon as I knew about her, I felt I knew her. She is an extraordinary woman, and so complex. I love the contradictions and tensions within her. She’s not one thing or the other, she’s both. Finding the purity of Elisa, and getting her soul right—her energy, her essence—was such a delicate, fine thing. That purity of her soul was important. She has a real gentleness of heart, and yet there’s a real strength within her. I feel that so strongly because I think it’s something we are often really, really missing in this world. I find that very scary, that we have become more and more cynical. True innocence, and true purity of being, has been lost.

Elisa is mute and she communicates with sign language.

What was involved in learning how to do that?

It was a lot of work. I’d done a brief bit of sign language before, in a scene in a play. But it really is learning a new language. Having only a few weeks to do it in, you’re never going to be fluent, but I didn’t want to give myself away.

I wanted it to feel as seamless as possible. So I could never do enough preparation. It was a period piece, as well, so it was period ASL [American Sign Language], and yet, also with it being an amalgamation of things she cobbled together, because of where she’d probably have learned it.

—Joe Utichi

PP H HO O TT O OG G RR AA PP H H BB YY M CH A R IKS M CA HN AN PM AN

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 39

DDEEAADDLLI N I NEE. C. COOMM/ /AAWWAARRDDS SLLI N I NEE

39

2/14/18 5:29 PM

Aaron

SORKIN

Best Adapted Screenplay Molly’s Game You’ve written some iconic movies with riveting protagonists: The Social Network, Moneyball, Steve Jobs and now Molly’s Game. For you what’s the through-line between Mark Zuckerberg, Billy Beane, Steve Jobs and Molly Bloom?

I had never thought about that.

Zuckerberg was an anti-hero, so was Steve Jobs. Billy Beane was a genuine movie hero and so is Molly Bloom. I knew that from the moment I met her. An entertainment lawyer I knew socially asked me to read the book and it was a fantastic ride. But when I went to meet Molly, she wasn’t the person I was expecting.

The person I met was brilliant, strong as a tree, sly sense of humor, and built of integrity. The book was just the tip of the iceberg, and she left the breadcrumbs of a great story. But there would be hundreds of hours [of discussion] after that.

Why direct now?

My reasons for saying yes to Molly’s Game was because there’s a gravitational pull with the project toward the shiny decadence of its glamour and Hollywood names. I wanted to tell a story against the backdrop of this, with a bigger, deeper emotional story at the forefront. The first time I met Molly, I thought in this case, I might be the best director.

—Anthony D’Alessandro

40

DEADLINE.COM

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 40

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL BUCKNER

2/14/18 5:29 PM

Margot

ROBBIE

Best Actress I, Tonya

What was it that compelled you to tell Tonya Harding’s story?

These characters are amazing; so flawed and wrong, and yet you empathize with them in a weird way, and you can see a bit of yourself in them at times. There was a real opportunity to surprise people, which to me has been the biggest compliment, when people come out and say, “I am so surprised that I felt this. I’m so shocked that I loved it.” That possibility is what I saw in that script; the upside to surprise people like that. People hadn’t seen a movie like this before, and I thought if we could pull this off, it would be truly original.

Harding has often been painted in an unflattering light within the public forum. What did you find most relatable about her?

I’ve had scenarios with other characters where I felt, “I don’t know what I like about this character.” And then I find it. With Tonya, I focused on the fact she was an athlete and the ultimate underdog. There’s something there that you can really get behind.

She genuinely was an athlete, an amazing skater who wasn’t getting the recognition because of all these bullshit rules that, in her opinion, shouldn’t have mattered.

I understand her ambition. I guess I can understand her relationship with Jeff in some respects, because Sebastian made him multifaceted.

He wasn’t just a villain, a bad guy.

They had fun together too. They were in love. She was constantly seeking validation and he was the first person to validate her in a certain way. —Mike Fleming Jr.

PP H HO O TT O OG G RR AA PP H H BB YY M MA I CRH KAM EA L NBNU C KNER

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 41

DDEEAADDLLI N I NEE. C. COOMM/ /AAWWAARRDDS SLLI N I NEE

41

2/14/18 5:29 PM

Mary J.

BLIGE

Best Supporting Actress Best Original Song Mudbound How do you tap into your emotions with so much honesty?

I relive everything because everything is real. A lot of my music is autobiographical. So when it’s time to sing “Not Going to Cry”, I actually relive the day in the studio when I wrote the song. It’s hurtful and it’s sad, but it’s happy as well.

There are a lot of rewards that come with suffering for people, for the greater good.

One your hardest scenes had to be washing your son after he’s been attacked by a mob.

That was a really heavy day. I think I was probably at the lowest of my own personal life, and then someone sends me a link to this picture on the internet where someone was being lynched in Atlanta like two days before. I was destroyed, and when I was washing his body, all I could think about was what happened in this lynching, and what happened to him in his scene, and how many more. Dee [Rees], I don’t even know how she knew how I was suffering, she just pulled back and let the camera do what it did. —Amy Nicholson

42

D E A D L I N E . C O M / A W A R D S L I N E

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 42

P H O T O GPRHA OP T H OBGYR A G PAHB R B IYEJLO G SH O LTDEBLELRE G S

2/14/18 5:29 PM

Dee

REES

Best Adapted Screenplay Mudbound When you adapted the novel, you didn’t just add big war scenes, but small details, like when Jason Mitchell gives his mom a chocolate bar.

I wrote that scene a couple days before we shot it because I wanted another touchpoint between Ronsel and Florence. I love that moment—it’s so sweet.

Jason Mitchell adores her, and you get that adoration comes through small luxuries. But even a small luxury is too much. He knows she’s going to try to share it, so he says, “No, no, eat it—I’m going to watch you.”

What conversation do you want Mudbound to start?

There’s been such a vacuum in talking about our history in this country, and all this misinformation can slip into the void. Unlike Germany, we’re not teaching our kids our history year after year. The void is open for lies to creep in—and the void never should have been there in the first place. —Amy Nicholson

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSH TELLES

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 43

2/14/18 5:29 PM

Octavia

SPENCER

Best Supporting Actress The Shape of Water How does Guillermo del Toro prep his actors?

Does he have you watch movies he’s inspired by?

He preps us each differently. There were lots of rehearsals over three weeks. He rehearses us as a group and then individually. I was never given any movies to watch. He wanted me to come from a place of empowerment. If Sally Hawkins’ Elisa and the creature are the voiceless, in responding for the disenfranchised, Zelda would be their mouthpiece.

Guillermo isn’t the type of director to yell out direction in a room full of people. He pulls you aside, which is the mark of a great director. In real life we don’t divulge ourselves. So not knowing what Sally’s motivations are with Elisa, what Guillermo is instructing her to do, evokes a sincere emotional response from me.

In the wake of #OscarsSoWhite, what’s your take on the Academy’s strides toward diversity?

Here’s the thing with diversity: It doesn’t just mean brown skin; it means African American, Latino, Asian, overweight actors, actors with disabilities. It means actors of different age groups. We have to turn to other people who are underrepresented. People might say #OscarsSoWhite. While I understand the outrage, I think it’s misplaced. As an actor, it’s hard to get an Oscar nomination. Awards are the end of the line. Just say, “Movies so white.” Just start with how movies are being funded. If you’re part of a group that’s awardworthy at the end of the year, you’re lucky. The reward is having the movie made, and if you get to the point of awards, that’s great. —Anthony D’Alessandro

44

DEADLINE.COM

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 44

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS CHAPMAN

2/14/18 5:29 PM

Timothée

CHALAMET

Best Actor Call Me by Your Name

Did you know there was something special in this project when you read it?

I think there was a sense of it, just from watching A Bigger Splash.

I love the way Luca shoots his films, and what the biggest pieces are. His films are as sensual as they are intellectually informative, and stimulating. So there was an idea from shooting it, and just being a part of it, but also just performing in the pedigree of a Luca Guadagnino film.

What did you make of your character, Elio?

There is a universally human quality to Elio in that there’s a tension on the surface of his existence, and he’s in a transitionary period in his life, becoming a man and dealing with feelings of sexual impulse for the first time. But it also felt rare to read a story about a young person who’s complex, conflicted and dealing with the biggest questions in life, and not just some sort of surface representation of what young people are. As an actor, you seize on that kind of opportunity.

For me, I felt like I had to seize on it because it’s just so rare to read roles that are so layered, at a young age. —Joe Utichi

PP H HO O TT O OG G RR AA PP H H BB YY M MA I CRH KAM EA L NBNU C KNER

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 45

DDEEAADDLLI N I NEE. C. COOMM/ /AAWWAARRDDS SLLI N I NEE

45

2/14/18 5:30 PM

Denzel

WASHINGTON

Best Actor Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Roman J. Israel is a world apart from many characters you’ve played in the past, physically and otherwise. What did you latch onto initially as a way into the character?

It led me down the path of the spectrum. I did a lot of research about Asperger’s, and what they call ‘mimicking neuro-typical behavior.’

He is brilliant, but he lacks certain social skills, and he’s been the brains behind the firm, or the man behind the curtain, for his whole career.

Looking back, how would you describe your collaboration with Dan Gilroy on the project?

Dan is cool. He’s got no ego, he’s a big boy; he’s tough and he’s honest and open. He’s like, “Whaddaya got, D?” We just kind of got in there and talked. I always say, “A movie will tell you what it doesn’t want. It will.”

—Pete Hammond

46

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 46

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL BUCKNER

2/14/18 5:30 PM

Angelina Nora

JOLIE

TWOMEY

Best Animated Feature The Breadwinner

Nora, what were your first impressions when you met Angelina for the first time?

Nora Twomey: The first time I met Angie, it really felt like a continuation of a conversation, rather than the beginning of one, because her sensibilities were so aligned with the type of film that we were trying to make. I remember the first thing she talked about was the ending of the film—how to be realistic about what Parvana would have gone through, but be hopeful. That was a really hard thing to do, I have to say.

Angelina, having worked through legislative channels as a humanitarian, what value do you see in storytelling that can spotlight certain global issues?

Angelina Jolie: If you can’t travel to places, we can bring these places and these people closer to you through film. If you haven’t had the good fortune that we’ve had to meet a Parvana or a Loung [Ung, whose memoir became Jolie’s film First They Killed My Father], you can meet them, and be moved by them.

You can spend time with them during the time you watch the film. Having a human connection, an emotional connection, is often the most important thing. It’s not just the act of changing law. It’s that people know why they feel compelled to do it, that they feel connected to other human beings across the world and feel emotional about what their needs are. Then, they’re compelled.

—Matt Grobar

HO O TT O OG G RR AA PP H H BB YY M MA I CRH EA L NBNU C PP H KAM KNER

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 47

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

47

2/14/18 5:30 PM

Willem

DAFOE

Best Supporting Actor The Florida Project How did you prepare for The Florida Project?

It was very important for me to be able to disappear into the material, but in this case, it was a world that I didn’t really know. So I met with people that worked in motels in the Florida area, and it was very instructive. From the obvious standing point that I studied how they presented themselves, but, also, more importantly, their attitude to their job was interesting, because the one thing that really struck me was that they were very proud of the work that they do. Even though it’s quite a modest living, and some of those motels are not the most elegant places in the world, they were very motivated to try to make things better. They were very proud that they would take care of their people—they know they’re about a paycheck away from their situation.

What was it like working with the children?

It was good, because Sean set them up to play. They weren’t thinking about performances, they weren’t thinking about acting, they weren’t thinking even about the movie. They were thinking about being in this situation with these adults. It was a kind of structured play, and Sean set that up beautifully. We let them run wild. That was kind of the idea—to tap into their chaotic energy and really let them have fun. Sometimes it was challenging! But they were good kids. It just forced me to be more patient than you’d normally have to be sometimes. —Damon Wise

48

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 48

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS CHAPMAN

2/14/18 5:30 PM

COMMON Diane

WARREN

Best Original Song Marshall

What inspired “Stand Up for Something”?

Diane Warren: It was crazy, how it was so meant to be. This song is almost a throwback to “A Change is Gonna Come” and “People Get Ready”, those stirring songs that make you want to change the world. They weren’t just protest songs; they were call-to-action songs. With this song, I thought, how cool would it be if someone like Common would do a great rap on it? It could take the song to a whole other level, and it would be like a mash of decades and genres, because you would never hear a rap in a song from then. But if you brought that to now and put that together, it would be amazing.

What compels you to make socially conscious art with songs such as this?

Common: A lot of the art that has stuck with me and shaped my life has been music that has a social consciousness to it, whether it’s John Coltrane or Bob Dylan, Kendrick Lamar, or Public Enemy.

To be able to say, “We’re going to use this to do good in the world, to put out a positive energy,” that is the best of being an artist.

I think when the song feels like it’s of the times, it can charge the times. Some songs, you play and they remind you of what your purpose is. They just say, “Hey man, wake up.” —Matt Grobar

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSH TELLES

0216 - Dialogue - Nominees Gallery.indd 49

2/14/18 5:30 PM

OSCAR H AN DICAPS / BY P ETE H A M M O N D

BEST PICTURE ONCE ONE OF THE MORE PREDICTABLE categories to call, in recent years the Best Picture race has turned into a real point of suspense on Oscar night and that is largely thanks to the Academy’s preferential voting system which, unlike the 23 other categories, asks members to list their choices from 1st to 9th in order of preference. This means those number two or three movies can be just as key as the number one in an effort to get “consensus” on the year’s Best Picture. In four of the last five years Oscar voters have turned their back on tradition and separated the Best Director winner from the Best Picture winner, favoring smaller underdog titles like 12 Years a Slave, Spotlight, and last year’s upset champ, Moonlight, over heavier favorites who racked up far more wins on the night.

Will that trend continue, and could we be in for another massive surprise on March 4th? The tea leaves may not tell the whole story but here’s my breakdown of the nine nominees' chances.

50

BEST ACTOR In what is considered one of the least competitive races in recent history, this year’s Best Actor contest has become a battle of past multiple Oscar winners (Daniel Day-Lewis and Denzel Washington) versus a pair of newcomers (Timothée Chalamet and Daniel Kaluuya)—for second place. There is no way this Oscar is going to anyone but Gary Oldman for his fierce, scene-blasting turn as Winston Churchill, and even without wins already at SAG, Globes and Critics Choice you can take this one to the bank.

The Winner: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

BEST ACTRESS Unlike the Best Actor race, this year has produced one of the most exciting and crowded Best Actress lineups ever. When you have a category that overlooks the likes of Judi Dench, Jessica Chastain, Annette Bening and others you know it’s brutal. I could give you a scenario for each of the nominees that include a 21st nod for Meryl Streep and exceptional work from Sally Hawkins, Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, but it is hard to imagine at this point that anyone gets to the podium other than Three Billboards’ raging mother Frances McDormand, who has dominated the pre-Oscar season, racking up one win after another. A second Oscar is hers.

The Winner: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR With 24 critics group wins, it looked like the third time would be the charm for The Florida Project's Willem Dafoe; that is, until Billboards’ Sam Rockwell started stunning him with wins at SAG, Globes and Critics Choice. Now Rockwell has emerged as the strong favorite with the added advantage of being in a more widely-seen film. His co-star Woody Harrelson probably doesn’t cancel him out either.

2012 winner Christopher Plummer could be a spoiler for coming in and saving All the Money in the World at the last minute, while another veteran, Richard Jenkins, could be an upset not only for Best Picture favorite The Shape of Water, but also a long and admired career.

The Winner: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

Handicaps - Best Picture & Directing-01.indd 50

2/14/18 5:14 PM

Call Me By Your Name DIRECTOR Luca Guadagnino PRODUCERS Peter Spears Luca Guadagnino Emilie Georges Marco Morabito STUDIO Sony Pictures Classics OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Actor Best Adapted Screenplay Best Original Song

Without directing, cinematography or editing nominations, this one would seem a longshot to take the big prize. That's despite near unanimous praise and goodwill towards this gay summertime romance between a 17-year-old boy and a 20-something academic visiting Italy. Its best shot for a win is 89-year-old James Ivory’s adapted screenplay, but there’s a Hail Mary pass that it sneaks in at the end of the night for Picture, a two-win scenario pulled off in recent years only by Spotlight.

Darkest Hour

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY It may say something about Hollywood these days that a category once dominated by major book and play adaptations is so sparse that it was hard to come up with five nominees. The Disaster Artist, based on the making of one of the worst films ever made, and Logan, based on a Marvel comic book franchise, would appear to have little chance to win. The well-liked Mudbound could gain traction for Dee Rees as the first black woman ever in this category, while past winner Aaron Sorkin’s dazzling use of language could put him over the top with Molly’s Game. However when in doubt give the advantage to the only Best Picture nominee in the bunch, Call Me by Your Name, given added gravitas by its writer, the beloved James Ivory, who is long overdue for Oscar recognition.

The Winner: James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY In contrast to the Adapted category, this one, usually much more sparse, is way overbooked and it is a barnburner of a contest with no clear winner in sight. Four of the nominees are Best Picture contenders, so that eliminates The Big Sick, the one for which writing is its sole nod. The winner of the WGA award also might not matter here as a frontrunner, Three Billboards, was ineligible there. Best Picture frontrunner The Shape of Water is more likely to win elsewhere on the big night, leaving the field more open to honor actors-turned-writer/directors Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird or WGA winner Jordan Peele for Get Out. Or not. Toss a coin. That’s what I did.

The Winner: Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

DIRECTOR Joe Wright PRODUCERS Tim Bevan Lisa Bruce Eric Fellner Anthony McCarten Douglas Urbanksi STUDIO Focus Features OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Actor Best Cinematography Best Costume Design Best Production Design Best Makeup and Hairstyling

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS All along, this race has boiled down to a battle between a couple of formidable (to say the least) mothers, in the form of I, Tonya’s terrifying Allison Janney and Lady Bird’s tough but loving Laurie Metcalf. In terms of precursors, Metcalf scored with lots of critics groups, but Janney has emerged with the bigger wins at SAG, Globes and Critics Choice. She’s the one to beat now, but it’s not a slam dunk. This is the category where upsets have often emerged so don’t discount another one, possibly from across the pond in Lesley Manville for Phantom Thread. It was a surprise nomination but the kind Oscar loves. Past winner Octavia Spencer and Mary J. Blige may well have to settle for just coming to the party.

The Winner: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

This British take on Winston Churchill’s strong leadership is a slam dunk for star Gary Oldman as well as his makeup team, but a much longer shot for Picture as it doesn’t have directing, writing or editing. The fact that Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is also in the race will take votes away, but the British contingent could try to put this one over the top.

Don’t count on it, but “never surrender”, as Churchill said.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM On the surface, the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner The Square would be the odds-on favorite for a victory here, but actually not too many Palme d’Or winners have repeated at the Oscars; the last was Amour.

Hungary’s On Body and Soul and Russia’s Loveless have their boosters, but the race may come down to firsttimer Lebanon for the accessible and provocative The Insult, and Chile’s ever-so-timely transgender story, A

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

Handicaps - Best Picture & Directing-01.indd 51

51

2/14/18 5:14 PM

OSCAR H AN DICAPS / BY P ETE H A M M O N D

Fantastic Woman. I am torn, but I have a hunch.

The Winner: The Insult (Lebanon)

Dunkirk

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM As usual this category is chock full of great contenders in a field that pits a couple of extraordinary indie successes vs. big studio ’toons. On the indie side there is Loving Vincent, a hand-drawn hit done completely in the style of a van Gogh painting, and the moving and rich The Breadwinner, which reps the annual GKIDS nod here.

For all its cleverness, I think we can knock out the frenetic The Boss Baby, and also probably Fox’s wonderful Ferdinand in favor of—drum roll please—Disney/Pixar.

You expected anyone else? And the Academy gets some diversity points along the way.

The Winner: Coco

DIRECTOR Christopher Nolan PRODUCERS Emma Thomas Christopher Nolan STUDIO Warner Bros.

OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Director Best Cinematography Best Production Design Best Film Editing Best Sound Editing Best Sound Mixing Best Original Score When it opened in July there were predictions that this epic look at the rescue of 300,000 British soldiers at Dunkirk in 1940 would be the one to beat and finally bring Christopher Nolan his much-deserved Oscar. Perhaps the early release date stalled its momentum, as well as the comparisons to the aforementioned Darkest Hour, but it has yet to cash in on any significant precursor wins with the exception of the ACE editing prize. A huge push by Warner Bros. has upped its chances for an upset win despite no acting or writing noms among the eight it got, but it may have to settle for several crafts wins as a consolation prize from the Academy in an age where being bigger is becoming a drawback in this race.

Get Out DIRECTOR Jordan Peele PRODUCERS Sean McKittrick Jason Blum Edward H. Hamm Jr. Jordan Peele

BEST COSTUME DESIGN The period designs of nominees Beauty and the Beast, Darkest Hour, and Victoria & Abdul are always contenders in a category that tends to reward older looks. The presence of The Shape of Water only reinforces its widespread appeal across every branch in the Academy, but this one is clearly past winner Mark Bridges’ (The Artist) to lose, with the exquisite creations of his love letter to fashion designers in Phantom Thread. How can a movie with 'thread' in its title possibly lose here?

The Winner: Phantom Thread BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN Each of the nominees here is imposing, and it could be a toss-up in many ways between Beauty and the Beast, Blade Runner 2049, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, and The Shape of Water. But because there is no obvious frontrunner, I think this is where we go with the more beloved movie, and the one that is likeliest to win Best Picture. That eliminated Beauty and Blade Runner. The 1940s looks of Darkest Hour and Dunkirk may also split the vote. Leave it to del Toro’s fantastical romance.

The Winner: The Shape of Water

STUDIO Universal Pictures OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Actor Best Director Best Original Screenplay

This is the big aberration in this year’s race as its February 2017 release date, plus its origins as a horror film, work against common wisdom on how to win Best Picture. But this smash low-budget hit, a first-time directorial achievement from an actor best known for sketch comedy, definitely hit a nerve and has defied the odds for a solid year just to get here. Don’t count it out, but it’s likely the nomination is the win this time around.

52

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY So Roger Deakins now has 14 nominations and no wins for Cinematography and is hoping Blade Runner 2049 will do the trick. It could well happen, but the names of the people don’t appear on the ballot, only the film.

That could mean good things for the other nominees like Darkest Hour, The Shape of Water, or Dunkirk, each with a Best Picture nomination. Then there is the wildcard of Mudbound, which brought Rachel Morrison the first ever nomination for a woman in the history of this category.

I could see her riding to victory, but again the name isn’t on the ballot. I am going more traditional this time and taking a shot with an epic.

The Winner: Dunkirk

BEST FILM EDITING This is an important category since it often signals a Best Picture winner. You are hard pressed to win as a rule if you don’t have an editing nomination. On the other hand, voters sometimes look differently at editing and go another way, which they could do with either Baby Driver’s wild ride of cuts, or I, Tonya’s flawless twists and turns on the ice. The latter beat the former in the ACE Eddies comedy category. Three Billboards seems like a minor player here compared to the achievement of The

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

Handicaps - Best Picture & Directing-01.indd 52

2/14/18 5:14 PM

Shape of Water, and especially ACE Eddie drama winner Dunkirk. I would go with that one.

The Winner: Dunkirk

Lady Bird DIRECTOR Greta Gerwig

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING Since there are only three nominees allowed here you might think your chances of picking a winner are increased. So why do I always go the wrong way? This year’s winner, though, seems obvious. Despite the wonders of the makeup job on Jacob Tremblay in Wonder, and the royal work in Victoria & Abdul that perfectly aged an 80-something Judi Dench, I think it has to go to the flawless melding of Winston Churchill and Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour.

The Winner: Darkest Hour

PRODUCERS Scott Rudin Eli Bush Evelyn O’Neill STUDIO A24 OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Actress Best Supporting Actress Best Director Best Original Screenplay Another nominee from a member of the actor’s branch turned director delighted the Academy enough to land five major nominations. Greta Gerwig’s achievement is prodigious, but some think it is just too “light” to prevail against heavier competition in the category. A key to a surprise win though is the fact that it’s hard to find anyone who didn’t have nice things to say, which means it could be the big beneficiary of the preferential ballot.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG Another really tough category. Mary J. Blige became the first person to be nominated for acting and music in the same year for Mudbound, and her “Mighty River” is memorable. Call Me by Your Name’s “Mystery of Love” is lilting but won’t win. The race, I think, could come down to past winners Robert Lopez and Kristen AndersonLopez’s sweet “Remember Me” from Coco and last year’s La La Land champs Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s anthem of independence, “This is Me”, from The Greatest Showman. The latter Globe winner is also being used heavily in NBC’s Olympics coverage, which could help. Should those two cancel themselves out, look for another stirring anthem, “Stand Up for Something” from Marshall, to sneak in for nine-time nominee Diane Warren and “Glory” winner Common. Another toss-up.

The Winner: “Remember Me”, Coco

Phantom Thread DIRECTOR Paul Thomas Anderson PRODUCERS JoAnne Sellar Paul Thomas Anderson Megan Ellison Daniel Lupi STUDIO Focus Features OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Director Best Costume Design Best Original Score

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE John Williams landed his 51st nomination for Star Wars: The Last Jedi but it is Star Wars. He won for the first one 40 years ago and they don’t need to give it to him again.

Hans Zimmer did some subtle and brilliantly understated work in Dunkirk, Jonny Greenwood’s score for Phantom Thread is sublime, and Carter Burwell had just the right constantly changing tones in Three Billboards. But it is once again the sweeping, old-fashioned and romantic sounds Alexandre Desplat managed for The Shape of Water that will take this one.

The Winner: The Shape of Water

If I had to pick one movie for a shot at a major Oscar upset for the ages, it might be this one. Academy favorite Paul Thomas Anderson once again proves he has the Midas touch with Oscar voters, because even its distributor didn’t forecast a Picture and Director nomination. But I can’t count the number of Academy members who have told me this is their favorite, and that was before its surprise Best Picture nod. The lack of a writing or editing nod holds it back, but beware—this one could come closer than you think.

BEST SOUND EDITING The Sound Editing and Sound Mixing categories often are duplicates of the same five nominees and, more often than not, deliver the same winner. It’s not inconceivable that Baby Driver could prevail in one or both since sound and music so perfectly collide in that film, but voters might also see it as a feature length MTV-style video in some ways. Blade Runner 2049 feels like an alsoran here, as does Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a case of been there/done that for both. That leaves The Shape of Water and Dunkirk. The latter was the more difficult to pull off and war movies often win here.

The Winner: Dunkirk BEST SOUND MIXING The same logic applies here as above.

The Winner: Dunkirk

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

Handicaps - Best Picture & Directing-01.indd 53

53

2/14/18 5:14 PM

OSCAR H AN DICAPS / BY P ETE H A M M O N D

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS The usual suspects populate this category with behemoth movies like Kong: Skull Island, Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi making the list. They all are descendants of other movies, as are the two likeliest winners Blade Runner 2049 and War for the Planet of the Apes, but the latter’s work is clearly the pick of this litter with brilliant effects effortlessly merged with an epic, almost David Lean-like style that makes this film a cut above everything else. It actually should have been a Best Picture nominee. This is a way to honor it.

The Winner: War for the Planet of the Apes

The Post DIRECTOR Steven Spielberg PRODUCERS Amy Pascal Steven Spielberg Kristie Mackosko Krieger STUDIO Twentieth Century Fox OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Actress

With a pedigree of Oscar juggernauts like Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep, plus a timely and important subject matter, The Post had Best Picture written all over it, especially since it took that prize and top acting honors right off the bat from the National Board of Review. But the love—and momentum— stopped there and it has gotten blanked at SAG, WGA, DGA, BAFTA and elsewhere for some inexplicable reason. It seems it is admired, but not passionately loved. With only this and a nod for Streep, its chances of a victory sadly are nil.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Considering such brilliant and unforgettable documentaries as Jane, City of Ghosts and Kedi didn’t even make the cut, we are dealing with a list of contenders that is definitely beneath what it should have been. This is not to say these are mediocre films, they just don’t reach the bar of some of those passed over. Netflix’s Icarus splendidly uncovered the Russian doping scandals and might benefit from voting coming right after the Olympics. If not, the Academy probably will fall for the charms, however slight, of Agnès Varda’s and JR’s Faces Places, although that film flies in the face of the kind of heavier material competing against it including Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Strong Island and Last Men In Aleppo.

The Winner: Icarus

THE WINNER

The Shape Of Water

BEST DIRECTOR

DIRECTOR Guillermo del Toro PRODUCERS Guillermo del Toro J. Miles Dale STUDIO Fox Searchlight Pictures OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Director Best Original Screenplay Best Cinematography Best Costume Design Best Production Design Best Film Editing Best Sound Editing Best Sound Mixing Best Original Score

54

With 13 nominations—one of the largest totals in Oscar history—plus PGA, Critics Choice and DGA wins, Guillermo del Toro’s romantic fantasy would seem on paper to be the one to beat here, without question. Del Toro’s near-certain directing win only increases the chances for Shape to take it all, but as I said, the Academy has recently warmed to the idea of spreading the love and giving Best Picture to something other than what they deem the best directed.

Still, the numbers and history are on the side of this one.

TRADITION WOULD HAVE IT that the winner of Best Director would also be the same movie that won Best Picture. If that’s the case then we are looking at an easy victory for Guillermo del Toro and The Shape of Water. His DGA triumph pretty much cements a win in this category. Only seven times has the DGA and Academy differed on Director in 69 years, and the statistics behind that fact are actually even more daunting than it appears. But there's a lot of variety in this category this year: an Oscar stalwart in Phantom Thread's Paul Thomas Anderson; an auteur so far overlooked by the Academy, Dunkirk's Christopher Nolan; and two fresh-faced Oscar (and directing) newcomers in Get Out's Jordan Peele and Lady Bird's Greta Gerwig. And that's to say nothing of the hugely varied movies themselves. Here's how I think things will shake out.

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

Handicaps - Best Picture & Directing-01.indd 54

2/14/18 5:15 PM

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT A fine group of films with the standouts being Heroin(e), Traffic Stop, and Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405, which could win just on the basis of its title. Edith + Eddie and Knife Skills bring up the rear. Traffic Stop has real timeliness in the era of Trayvon Martin, and Heroin(e) is a moving account of the fight against addiction in a small town and the heroic women at the center of that fight.

That may be the winner but there’s a race going on here.

The Winner: Heroin(e)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri DIRECTOR Martin McDonagh

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM The nominees are DeKalb Elementary, The Silent Child, My Nephew Emmett, Wate Wote/All of Us, and The Eleven O’Clock. My guess is they finish in just that order, but what do I know? This is a category where you win your office pool so proceed with caution and your own best guess.

The Winner: DeKalb Elementary

PRODUCERS Graham Broadbent Pete Czernin Martin McDonagh STUDIO Fox Searchlight Pictures OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actor Best Original Screenplay Best Film Editing Best Original Score

If anything would seem to have a real shot of upsetting The Shape of Water, it would appear to be this well-liked dark dramedy from Martin McDonagh, but the shocking lack of a directing nomination lowered the chances of a march to victory. Only Argo and Driving Miss Daisy have done it without at least a directing nomination, so the odds aren’t with it. The film has also been divisive in some quarters, which might mean a preferential ballot is also not in its favor. Look for it to score strongly in other categories, plus its Globe victory, to help it pull off what now might be labeled a surprise win.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM At the Oscar nominees lunch the loudest applause went to Lakers great Kobe Bryant who was clearly the star of that room full of stars. His ode to himself, Dear Basketball, is lovingly done and has veterans like animator Glen Keane and John Williams behind it too. Can it be beat?

Could Kobe ever be beat? If it can then Pixar’s LOU is a distinct possibility, or the lovely five-minute short about packing called Negative Space just might be the one to do it. Revolting Rhymes and Garden Party are the other nominees.

The Winner: Dear Basketball

THE WINNER

Christopher Nolan

Jordan Peele

Greta Gerwig

Paul Thomas Anderson

Guillermo del Toro

Until now, Nolan was perhaps Oscar’s most consistently overlooked director. Despite nominations in the past for writing and as a producer, he had been consistently snubbed by his fellow helmers, and that was despite having three DGA nominations. This year the wrong was made right when Nolan made a film, Dunkirk, that was just too hard to ignore. That would seem enough to make him the frontrunner except he has failed to win any of the key precursors and lost the DGA award, usually a tell-tale sign of a winner, to Guillermo del Toro. Now it is an uphill climb, as challenging as getting all those soldiers out of Dunkirk.

Peele, best known for sketch comedy in his Emmy-winning series Key & Peele, has really only ever wanted to direct, and he finally got his chance with Get Out, a hard film to categorize but with one foot firmly planted in the horror genre. Despite being released a year ago it stayed in people’s minds and has become an awards juggernaut, most recently winning Peele the first time director prize at the DGA. His screenplay also won at WGA. The film’s social relevance could help him, but Oscar voters probably will figure he will get another shot.

It is rare to win first time out, but not impossible.

Like Peele, Gerwig came out of acting to hit a home run in her first solo directing outing. As only the fifth woman ever nominated here, it is an achievement on its own, but she delivered the goods with a movie that had the likes of Steven Spielberg at a loss for words of praise. Considering the fact only one woman has ever won the prize in 90 years, it is a long shot, but she, like Peele, will have plenty of other shots if the pundits have called this one correctly.

With eight nominations over the years, Anderson has become an Oscar favorite.

But his inclusion here over the favored Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards) was a headturner and proof positive of Anderson’s unique appeal.

After There Will Be Blood, this remains only Anderson’s second directorial nomination, and the fact that he got this far at all means you can’t count him out. The film was released late and voters catching up now like what they see. If there’s an upset, it could happen with Anderson.

Starting the season with the top prize at Venice, and going on to win such predictive precursors as the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and—most importantly—the DGA Award, this race is del Toro’s to lose, and I would bet a lot of money that he won’t. Apart from being this year’s most likeable presence on the awards circuit, he has delivered a movie that is a director’s dream and one with wide appeal. It can’t be compared to any other nominee, and it puts del Toro on the precipice of being the fourth Mexican-born director in five years to take this Oscar.

Don’t bet against it.

Dunkirk

Get Out

Lady Bird

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

Handicaps - Best Picture & Directing-01.indd 55

55

2/14/18 5:15 PM

Idris Elba

Deadline Studio at Sundance 2018 JA N UA RY 1 9 -2 2 / PA R K C I T Y, U TA H

The Deadline Studio presented by Hyundai opened its doors on Main Street to the most riveting and groundbreaking filmmakers at the Sundance Film Festival. Special thanks to Calii Love (www.caliilove.com)

Peter Dinklage and Elle Fanning

Joel McHale

Usher & Forest Whitaker

Jim Parsons

Nick Offerman with Tim & Jack Henry Robbins

56

Jon Hamm

M.I. A. with director Steve Loveridge

Claire Danes

RE X /S H U T T ERSTOC K

Octavia Spencer

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

0216 - Flash Mob.indd 56

2/14/18 3:53 PM

Signs of the Times.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Untitled-30 1

2/12/18 1:02 PM

HISTORY-MAKING ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS ®

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

MARY J. BLIGE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“MIGHTY

RIVER”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

VIRGIL WILLIAMS AND DEE REES

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

RACHEL MORRISON

“MARY J. BLIGE IS THE FIRST PERSON EVER TO RECEIVE AN ACTING AND SONGWRITING NOMINATION IN THE SAME YEAR.” “DEE REES IS THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TO BE NOMINATED FOR AN ADAPTED SCREENPLAY.” “RACHEL MORRISON IS THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE NOMINATED FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY.”

TO EXPE RI ENCE MARY J. BL IGE'S SONG, “M IGHT Y RI VE R,” VISI T:

GUI LDS.NE TFLI X.COM/MUDBOUND/MUSIC

Untitled-11 1

2/13/18 10:59 AM