Innholdsfortegnelse for Award Special 6B February 2019 i The Hollywood Reporter

“They feel like it’s for everybody in Mexico.” MARINA DE TAVIRA The Roma actress, opening up to THR about the country’s reaction to both her and Yalitza Aparicio making history with their Oscar nominations in the same year. “Since probably Lord of the Rings, I haven’t seen and heard so much intensely passionate reaction to a movie.” VIGGO MORTENSEN The Green Book actor, on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, about the film’s mixed reception and string of recent controversies. “It’s OK, I can still do this with a piano background.” LADY GAGA The singer and A Star Is Born actress, calling out the Critics’ Choice Awards for trying to play her offstage during her acceptance speech. “I now accept that they’re looking at me rather than looking over my shoulder at someone…

Warner Bros. The test to see whether A Star Is Born would really work came in the very first week of shooting, according to producer Lynette Howell Taylor. The team was out in the desert for four days in between Lady Gaga’s sets at Coachella, filming onstage performances and backstage scenes as part of the montage when Ally (Gaga) first goes on tour with Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper). “Everybody was like, ‘Will this work? Can he sing? Can we be convinced that she’s never done that before?’” Howell Taylor recalls. The answers were yes, yes and yes, she says. “It became so apparent that there was this comfort level and trust between these two artists. Him trusting her musically, trusting himself, that he could be this rock star. It was…

THE FAVOURITE Fox Searchlight Olivia Colman had a small role in Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2015 film The Lobster, playing the manager of a hotel where single people are sent to find partners. But for the Greek director’s latest work, she took on the central role of Queen Anne, the colorful royal leader who finds herself torn between two suitors (played by supporting actress Oscar nominees Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz), both of whom are vying more for her power than for her love. For the role, Colman, 45, gained 35 pounds and embarked on a unique journey with Lanthimos that involved a strange rehearsal process. What was your initial reaction when you read the script? My initial reaction was just, “Yes, please.” There was no question about whether I wanted to…

GREEN BOOK Universal Mahershala Ali received an Academy Award in 2017 for his performance in Moonlight, but fast-forward less than two years and the actor is already a contender for another golden statuette, for his role as famed pianist Don Shirley in Peter Farrelly’s Green Book. Ali, 44, spoke with THR about creating onscreen “magic” with co-star Viggo Mortensen and taking on the story of a pioneering prodigy. How did you and Viggo foster chemistry? Did you spend time together before shooting? We didn’t hang out at all, really. Where we did spend time with each other was just at the table reading the script. I think it’s like a dance. You want to enjoy working with your partner because that’s where you can create magic. I didn’t feel like…

VICE Annapurna Pictures Just one year after winning the Oscar in the best supporting actor category (for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Sam Rockwell has returned with another nomination, this time for playing George W. Bush in Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic, Vice. The reigning Oscar holder may have a smaller part in Vice than Christian Bale’s (who plays the former VP) — but it’s just as memorable and took a significant amount of research by Rockwell. Taking a page out of his leading co-star’s book, the 50-year-old actor dove into meticulous research for the role. “I obsessed and listened to [Bush] and watched him on talk shows,” he said during an appearance on Ellen. “The [2017 Jimmy] Kimmel interview was very useful. Lots of interviews, just like listening to…

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Annapurna Pictures Regina King had just told her agent she wanted to take a break from playing “mom” characters when she heard that Barry Jenkins was looking to cast one for an upcoming project, an adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk. The prospect of working with Moonlight’s Oscar-winning director on a rare adaptation of an iconic black author’s work proved irresistible for the fan of Baldwin’s 1956 novel Giovanni’s Room — so King made an exception to her new no-moms rule: “It’s one of those, ‘Oh, my God, are you serious?’ moments,” says the 48-year-old star, a first-time Oscar nominee (and three-time Emmy winner). “It shows you how quickly you can eat your own words.” What was your research process…

ROMA Netflix “I never expected the way that people are sharing their own experiences.”DE TAVIRA, AT THE SAVANNAH FILM FESTIVAL Though Marina de Tavira, 44, has played dozens of characters across her decades-long career, the Mexican actress had to change her usual approach to her work in order to star in Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, which shot chronologically and without rehearsals — and mostly without a script. How did Alfonso Cuaron’s personal connection to your character — she was inspired by his mother — inform your performance? I did meet [his mother] one day on set, but that was when the process already started, and I only got the chance to say hello. But [Alfonso and I] had a long conversation about who she was, and I could sense that I…

ROMA Sony Pictures Yalitza Aparicio was planning to pursue a career as a schoolteacher when her older sister, a singer, dragged her to a casting in Oaxaca for Alfonso Cuaron’s epic black-and-white family drama, Roma. Cuaron met with more than 3,000 women all over Mexico while searching for his lead, and says he knew as soon as he met the 26-year-old Aparicio that she was the right one to play Cleo, a domestic worker who looks after an upper-middle-class Mexico City family in the early 1970s. To help prepare for the role, Aparacio talked with Liboria Rodriguez, the real-life inspiration for Cleo, with whom Cuaron has maintained a close relationship. What parts of Cleo were easiest for you to play? The love she has for her adopted family. They form…

A STAR IS BORN Warner Bros. “There is a strength in vulnerability. I still feel like I am recovering from playing this role.”GAGA, AT THR’S ACTRESS ROUNDTABLE Lady Gaga may claim that the star in A Star Is Born isn’t born until the final frame of the film, but the songstress and first-time Oscar nominee for acting this year sure has been shining bright this awards season. Not only does she play musical ingenue Ally opposite Bradley Cooper, but Gaga, 32, was also instrumental in writing the music that would bring the characters’ love story to life — including the Oscar-nominated “Shallow,” which she is set to perform (with Cooper) at the ceremony. “I’ve been such a Lady Gaga fan from her first single. So it’s been awesome to collaborate…

BLACKKKLANSMAN Focus Features Adam Driver has earned his first Oscar nomination for his performance in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. He plays Flip Zimmerman, the officer who helps black detective Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) infiltrate a Colorado chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Now busy working on his next film — J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode IX — Driver, 35, spoke with THR about Lee’s shooting style and the first time he put on a KKK hood. What was your impression after reading the script for the first time? I remember having an impression that this is an unbelievable story. As soon as you start reading something, you can’t help but start working on it a little bit. It’s like, “Can I pull it off?” The character’s journey became clear to…

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Fox Searchlight In Marielle Heller’s dark comedic biopic Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Richard E. Grant stars as Jack Hock, an accidental friend turned accomplice to Melissa McCarthy’s literary forger Lee Israel. Although he has an accomplished screen career that dates back to 1983, the Swaziland-born actor’s nomination for the role is his first Oscar nod. “Every aspect of the whole ride since we premiered at Telluride in September has felt like a roller coaster that hasn’t stopped,” says Grant, 61, who opened up to THR about his awards-season motto, the most difficult scene he filmed and the “gift” of working with a director who is a former actor. What were you doing when you found out you were nominated? I was sitting at a…

THE FAVOURITE Fox Searchlight “I’m essentially a bundle of nerves that are outside my body a lot of the time.”STONE, AT THE TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL Emma Stone, fake blood on her face, is calling from the Zombieland 2 set in Georgia. “I’ve been shooting zombies all day,” the 30-year-old Oscar winner (for 2016’s La La Land) explains. The three-time nominee, this year for her turn as the ambitious Abigail in The Favourite, reveals to THR her love for her “bitches” (that’s co-stars Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz), the importance of family and friends in awards season — and whose Favourite spinoff she’d want to see. How is it returning to the Zombieland world? We’re in Macon, Georgia, right now, trying to get rid of zombies. It’s so fun. It’s so…

VICE Annapurna Pictures Christian Bale spent up to four hours in the hair and makeup trailer every day and gained 45 pounds to become the 46th vice president of the United States in Adam McKay’s Vice. He cheekily thanked Satan for inspiration in his Golden Globes acceptance speech — but on set, the 45-year-old immersed himself so deeply in the world of Dick Cheney that McKay claims Bale became somewhat of an advocate for the politician. Says Bale, “I was always looking for the good.” You were born in the U.K., but you also have American citizenship. When did you become an American citizen? I can’t remember when, but I’ve been one for bloody years because I wanted to vote. It was a wonderfully significant moment for me because I…

A STAR IS BORN Warner Bros. After spending an evening talking with Bradley Cooper about everything from their mothers to the star-director’s vision for A Star Is Born, Sam Elliott, 74, knew he could trust the first-time helmer. For playing Bobby Maine, the brother and manager of Cooper’s Jackson Maine, Elliott landed his first Oscar nomination after 50 years of screen work — to which he says, tongue in cheek, “It’s about fucking time.” A Star Is Born received eight nominations, but how did you feel about Bradley’s directing snub? I was very surprised and sorry to see that Bradley wasn’t nominated as a director. He clearly deserved to be nominated. I’ve never worked with anyone who worked as hard as Bradley in every way. How did you come to…

VICE Annapurna Pictures In the satirical Dick Cheney biopic, Adams plays Cheney’s wife, Lynne, whose own political passion and ambition often serve as the driving forces behind her husband’s rise to power. The 44-year-old actress, who earned her sixth Oscar nomination for her performance, spoke with THR about singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” on set, what she admires most about her character and what other films she enjoyed this year. How was that first meeting with Adam McKay? You know, I agreed to the film before really sitting down and talking with him about it. He sent me a text saying he was sending ahead a script and would I take a look at it, and I read it and knowing it was Adam [McKay, the director] and Christian [Bale, who plays…

THE FAVOURITE Fox Searchlight Pictures Even though they were in different parts of the world (and were juggling new projects, rehearsals and a newborn), Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone and Olivia Colman made sure to congratulate one another after each receiving Oscar nominations for Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite. “We have a group text,” explains Weisz, 48, who plays the consigliere and lover to Colman’s Queen Anne and nemesis of Stone’s royal court upstart. The actress and new mom (with husband Daniel Craig), who won an Oscar in 2006 for The Constant Gardener, talked with THR about Lanthimos’ directing style and shooting an 18th century pistol. What has been your favorite audience reaction to your character? What has been interesting is, in relationship to my character, people have responded to her in…