Both of their movies,SidewaysandThe Holdovers, scored Best Picture Oscar nominations.
Perhaps, though, he’s not grumpy just for the sake of it.
What is going through one’s mind [once it’s time for] your category?
Illustration by Patrick Leger
But what’s it like for you?
I take a stab at have no expectation of anything if I can.
[Laughs] I just don’t know what’s going to happen.
Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Paul Giamatti in ‘The Holdovers’.Seacia Pavao/FOCUS FEATURES
So it’s just a panicky moment in a lot of ways.
You’ve done well so far.
I don’t know if they have celebrity spokespeople, but I hope the offer comes your way.
Dominic Sessa and Paul Giamatti in ‘The Holdovers’.Courtesy FOCUS FEATURES
[Laughs] That would be nice!
Do you remember what it was?
No, I don’t.
Director Alexander Payne and stars Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph on the set of ‘The Holdovers’.Seacia Pavao/FOCUS FEATURES LLC
Alright, I’ll give you a little hint.
It was for Favorite Supporting Actor.
The year was 2001.
It was forBig Momma’s Houseat the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.
I had no idea.
I don’t think anybody ever even told me.
The 22nd Annual SAG Awards!.Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Stringer / Getty Images
I guess I didn’t, did I. I didn’t get [the trophy].
What are your memories of making that film?
It was a lot of fun, that thing.
She has a tiny role in that movie, but I remember hanging out with her.
It was very funny, and that whole thing was just goofy and funny and ridiculous and silly.
And here you are.
Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in ‘Barbie’.Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Okay, so you’re a graduate of Yale, got a degree in English.
At some point, were you perhaps going to be a Mr. Hunham yourself?
I also come from a family of teachers.
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in ‘Barbie’.Atsushi Nishijima/Warner Bros.
And I have cousins who are teachers, and everybody’s teachers.
Seacia Pavao/FOCUS FEATURES
So then did you know people like Huhham?
Did he feel familiar in any way?
Ryan Gosling in ‘Barbie’.Warner Bros. Pictures (2)
Oh, very much so.
There were girls there [by then], so there was that.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph is also a graduate of that.
We definitely were on the same wavelength.
She was one of those actors where we never talked about anything.
We never talked about, “On this scene, do you think…?”
Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan on the set of ‘Oppenheimer’.Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
Never, because it just was happening and we didn’t need to.
You want me to get really woo-woo?
We’re both Geminis.
Emma Stone in ‘Poor Things’.Searchlight Pictures/YouTube
See, I took it there.
[Laughs] That’s where I go with it.
The stars fated it.
I was about to say, the stars definitely aligned for that one.
Reuniting with Alexander Payne, had you two been looking for something else to do together?
Yes, we’ve been talking about doing stuff.
Damon’s phone rings when I turn something down.
I mean, but it’s not something…sure, I suppose.
I’m nothing if not a very realistic human being, especially when it comes to the business.
It didn’t surprise me.
I went on to do other wonderful things, and I got to do this with Alexander.
I understand why you wanted to play this character.
I want to do that part.
I want to have that thing to do.
There was a funny thing with this character.
I thought, how are we going to do that?
I’ve never done something like this.
I’d really like to do something like this.
And that was strangely a very enjoyable part of playing this character.
[Laughs]That was all from David Hemingson’s script from the get-go, right?
In that story, the character also has a sort of condition with his eye.
You have said those contacts kind of made you blind in that eye.
Yeah, well, it did.
They’re these little works of art.
So it was actually an interesting sort of thing to then have to play with.
It was really cool.How did that physical aspect impact your mental or emotional approach?
So it all contributes to that very much so.
In addition to the lazy eye, he has trimethylaminuria.
It increases through the day.
It’s terrible, terrible.
It is a bit of both.
I think he’s got a little bit of sort of self-loathing, but not a ton.
It’s an interesting character.
Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty
That kind of resignation in a person is intense.
It’s sad and it’s an interesting thing to play.
I really liked her.
Maybe she liked me."
He says, “You’re a fool,” to himself.
“Why did you ever even think that was going to happen for you?
Of course, it’s not.
Why did you put yourself in this position?”
It’s that, that he feels that’s really painful.
The sense that he could even aspire to, it’s not even there anymore.
Yeah, I think it happened a lot on this.
That scene really nailed it.
I think we’re getting it right.
The language of this thing was so “delicious” is a word that applies here.
So all of the baroque put downs and stuff like that were really great.
[Laughs] It’s very funny.
The guy gets off a good parting shot to those people.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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CanThe Color PurpleorBarbieupsetOppenheimerfor Best Ensemble?
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Other episodes of ‘The Awardist’ podcast
Hidden details (Sylvester Stallone!
“There was so much white and gold,” Durran recalls.
“It seemed like a real Barbie choice for a party.”
Both jumpsuits were modeled afterretro jumpsuitsmanufactured betweenthelate 1960s and early ’70s.
Durran once again mined from Mattel history, drawing inspiration from1994’s Hot Skatin' Barbie.
“The actual way that Barbie wears it then [was] slightly different,” Durran says.
“This evolved in the fitting,” Durran explains.
“There’s always something kind of extra in everything that they wear.
Ken’s all-American male headband that references his love of horses is also one of Durran’s favorites.
“It seemed so extreme and over the top, but also just so brilliant.
We were really wanting to get that in as a Ken image.
The lining of the fur coat once again nods to Ken’s love of horses.
“That’s one of my favorite things.”
Nothing can stopOppenheimer’s reign.
SAG will be the deciding factor here.
Whoever takes home that trophy takes home Oscars gold, too.
Click here for our predictions in the other 17 categories.
‘I want to wreck a train!
“He said, ‘I want to drive a motorcycle off of a cliff.
What do you want to do?’
And I said, ‘I want to wreck a train.’
I thought, I’ve earned that, I want to wreck one too.”
“A70-tontrain, yes,” McQuarrie, who produced the film with Cruise, tells EW.
“I am all set with trains until the end of time,” he says.
Read the full story here.
I love all of y’all.
