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.
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CONSIDER TRUTH “A
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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
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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
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COVER STORY Jordan Peele and Daniel Kaluuya on the early rollout of Get Out Plus: The Long Road to Oscar
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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
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D IST R IBU T I O N DI R ECTOR
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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
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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
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Michael Buckner
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WINNER
WRITERS GUILD AWARDS
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY JORDAN PEELE
WINNER
DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS
BEST DIRECTOR FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM
JORDAN PEELE
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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
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EMBRACE LIFE F O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R AT I O N
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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
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Similar to Lady Bird’s roots, Met-
For Metcalf, Barr and John Good-
Three Tall Women opens on March
Again, another example of how
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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ZIAD DOUEIRI The Insult
ILDIKÓ ENYEDI
On Body and Soul
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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,
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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Jon Hamm
M.I. A. with director Steve Loveridge
Claire Danes
RE X /S H U T T ERSTOC K
Octavia Spencer
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Signs of the Times.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
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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
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