- Title: USA: OSCAR NOMINEES GATHER FOR OFFICIAL ACADEMY AWARD OSCAR LUNCH
- Date: 11th March 2002
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 11, 2002) (REUTERS) VARIOUS, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR NOMINEE FOR "SEXY BEAST" BEN KINGSLEY ARRIVING VARIOUS, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR NOMINEE FOR "TRAINING DAY" ETHAN HAWKE ARRIVING VARIOUS, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR NOMINEE FOR "IRIS" JIM BROADBENT ARRIVING
- Embargoed: 26th March 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVA28K65YURJE4HNIHLJ0RA480F8
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Oscar nominees gathered on Monday (March 11) for an honorary luncheon ahead of the 74th Annual Academy Awards.
Actors like Russell Crowe, Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, Denzel Washington and others, including some best director nominees, spoke to reporters about the race toward the big day, March 24.
The majority of nominees for the 74th annual Academy Awards gathered together in Beverly Hills on Monday (March 11) for an annual tradition on the road to the Oscars: the nominees luncheon.
Stars including Best Actor contenders Russell Crowe, Will Smith, Denzel Washington and Tom Wilkinson strutted in front of the cameras and then proceeded into a press conference attended by journalists from around the world.
Nominated for his role in "Ali," Will Smith addressed the fact that this year's awards ceremony is the first in which three African-Americans have been nominated in the top acting categories.
"... [T]he Academy is made up of a majority white Americans, so for the most part, white American films are going to be nominated and white American actors are going to win. In my mind, you can't allow an award to be the validation of your work," Smith told reporters.
Denzel Washington, nominated for his role in "Training Day," also commented on this year's first for African-American nominees.
"I think in this case, everybody voted for the people they thought were the best and their happen to be three African-Americans. I don't put any particular spin on it other than that. It may suggest that there are better roles for African-Americans also," Washington said.
Meanwhile, Russell Crowe, nominated for his role in "A Beautiful Mind," addressed a headline-grabbing issue of his own. The "Gladiator" greeted reporters with a poem in tribute to a recent incident at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards in which a poem he read during his acceptance speech was edited out for the show's broadcast.
For the U.S. crowd, Crowe offered this: "I was thinking I might do some poetry for you. There was a young man from Australia, who painted his ass like a Dahlia, the colour was fine, likewise the design, but the aroma, it was a failure!" Crowe crowed.
Best Actress nominees Nicole Kidman, Sissy Spacek and Halle Berry represented the leading ladies at the event and were joined by Supporting Actress hopefuls Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Connelly and Marisa Tomei.
Halle Berry, given a nod for her daring role in "Monster's Ball," also commented on being an African-American nominee.
"I'm very happy with it and I feel that it is a huge step in the right direction. I don't really know how it will transform to the industry, but what I do know is that hopefully it will instil hope in other people of colour and it will help them dream that maybe one they could be there ..."
Berry said.
Meanwhile, Aussie actress Nicole Kidman who received praise for two films this year, "The Others" and "Moulin Rouge," talked about her best actress nomination for the turn-of-the-century musical.
"I actually was really thrilled that it was 'Moulin Rouge' because I think my relationship with Baz and with Ewan and with that movie was such a long period of my life and so I almost felt like, I felt like I didn't let Baz down," Kidman told reporters.
On the men's side, Supporting Actor contenders Ben Kingsley, Ethan Hawke, Jon Voight and Jim Broadbent spent time in front of the press before heading into the luncheon proper.
Kingsley, nominated for his role in "Sexy Beast," talked about another big honour he's set to receive.
"I'm thrilled to be knighted. The citation reads 'for my services to drama' and therefore Tony Blair's government and the Queen have decided to honour me for being an actor, for being a storyteller and it's great to get that from one's language and one's culture," Kingsley said.
The highlight of the event was the traditional nominee group photo, where all nominees in attendance took the stage at the Beverly Hilton ballroom, had their group picture taken and picked up their certificates of nomination.
Among the directors in attendance, nominees Ron Howard, Ridley Scott, David Lynch and Baz Luhrmann put in appearances. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None