VARIOUS: Reese Witherspoon, Matt Dillon and others reacts to their Oscar nominations

Record ID: 478342

  • Title: VARIOUS: Reese Witherspoon, Matt Dillon and others reacts to their Oscar nominations
  • Date: 1st February 2006
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 31, 2006) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) TERRENCE HOWARD SAYING: "I thought 20 years ago, when I said I was going to be an actor, I said 'You know what, I want to get an Oscar nomination one day.' And a lot of people said, well, you know, you need to keep the job at the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company. And I got on that plane in the middle of my workday and left Cleveland and went to New York, and I called my brother who was at [that company] and said, will you pick up my car -- he worked there also -- because I'm not coming back, and I was going to be an actor. I was going to be an actor. And look at me now. It's good."
  • Embargoed: 16th February 2006 12:00
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  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA95JEO5OJT2G8WB7JZE40S5XVX
  • Story Text: Various actors, directors, producer and otherwise people related to film reacted to the news of the Oscar nomination.
    A jet lagged Reese Witherspoon arrived in Berlin on Tuesday (January 31) to hear the news that she had been nominated for Best Actress for her role as June Carter Cash in the Johnny Cash biopic, "Walk the Line."
    In town to promote the European release of "Walk the Line," Witherspoon appeared pleased yet surprised by the announcement.
    "I don't think you can ever expect anything.... so yeah, I was completely surprised and thrilled!... I never thought I would be nominated for anything," said Witherspoon.
    The film took in five Academy Academy Award nominations including best actor [Joaquin Phoenix], best actress [Reese Witherspoon], best costume design, film editing and sound mixing.
    Among the five women nominated in the best actress category was also Felicity Huffman. "I feel thrilled and excited and flying around and I feel, you know you can't negotiate an Academy Award nomination, you can't, it's unalloyed, it's unpasteurized, it is the real thing, so I'm drunk on the pure nectar of it shall we say, I'm thrilled," said Huffman.
    The actress, who plays a male-to-female transgendered character in the low-budget off-beat road picture, "Transamerica," also stars in the nighttime American television soap opera "Desperate Housewives."
    Journeyman actor Terrence Howard achieved a measure of fame this year, by appearing in two well received films, the Sundance film festival audience favourite, "Hustle and Flow," and the ensemble piece, "Crash." For Howard, Tuesday's announcement of his best actor nomination for portraying a southern pimp turned budding hip hop star was sweet vindication for years of toil in the labour force.
    "I thought 20 years ago, when I said I was going to be an actor, I said 'You know what, I want to get an Oscar nomination one day.' And a lot of people said, well, you know, you need to keep the job at the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company. And I got on that plane in the middle of my workday and left Cleveland and went to New York, and I called my brother who was at [that company] and said, will you pick up my car -- he worked there also -- because I'm not coming back, and I was going to be an actor. I was going to be an actor. And look at me now. It's good," said Howard.
    With Tuesday's Oscar nominations announcement, George Clooney will be a double threat when the Awards are handed out on March 5. In addition to grabbing a best supporting actor nod for his turn as an unorthodox CIA operative in "Syriana," his own film, "Good Night, and Good Luck" had six nominations, including a best director and best original screenplay for Clooney. It also earned David Strathairn, who plays Murrow, a best actor nomination.
    Both director and producer were thrilled that such a low-budget movie can be a big hit with the critics.
    "Listen, to do a seven and a half million dollar (USD) film and get six nominations is really something -- it makes you feel pretty good," said Clooney.
    And co-producer Grant Heslov added: "We literally thought if we could get one full theatre one full night we'd be happy."
    The oscar nomination for Marc Rothemund's film 'Sophie Scholl - The Last Days' as Best Foreign Film delighted the director and the production team of the Munich production company even though they did not dared to hope.
    "I tried not to hope. The movie did so well over the last year around the world and won so many prices. It would have been unfair to be disappointed so he did not even dare to hope. He saw the trailers of the other movies and they were of great quality, those were great movies from Finland, Sweden, Korea and so on. And he thought with their intimate play they thought they could not compete. They felt already very honoured to have been the German Oscar suggestion. But this is a knock-out. He saw all the recording from the U.S. and they said: Sophie Scholl is amongst the nominations, he could not believe it. Everyone is stunned. The phones keep ringing."
    French production house Nord Ouest (North West) expressed its great satisfaction on after hearing that "Joyeux Noel" ("Merry Christmas") had just received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film.
    Production director Stephane Riga stressed that the nomination was already an award and a child's dream too.
    "The nomination is already an award. It's a great satisfaction for us at Nord Ouest (production house), we are very pleased for (film director) Christian (Carion) who spent ten years working on it, we are pleased because it gives us a personal satisfaction for our three years of work, we are pleased for our partners and then it's an award ! It is a little bit like a child's dream to go to Hollywood to present a French film, it's a real pleasure", he told Reuters Television.
    "Joyeux Noel" is a warmly reviewed World War I drama inspired by a true story and which happens on Christmas eve 1914. That night will disrupt the destiny of four characters : a Schottish priest, a French lieutenant, an exceptional German tenor and the one he loves and sings with, a wonderful Danish soprano. It will be an unprecedented fraternisation between German, British and French troops.Riffles will be left in the trenches and they will shake hands, exchange a cigarette or a piece of chocolate and will wish each other "Merry Christmas".
    Maybe not the biggest but certainly one of the loudest parties took place in Johannesburg, where the cast, crew member and fans of 'Totsi', the South African entry for the best Foreign Movies, watched the announcement on the big screen.
    'Totsi' is a bold and emotional story of an angry youth leading a difficult life of severe urban deprivation. In the film, modern South African ghetto music known as Kwaito fills his world, reflecting his troubled state of mind. The film has a human face to both the victims and the criminals and is ultimately a tale of hope and victory of love over rage.
    This is the second South African film to be nominated for the Oscars. The AIDS/HIV feature, "Yesterday" was nominated for the same award and same category last year but didn't win the prestigious award.
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