Live Blogged via Tape Delay! Woot
I've embedded the whole hour at the bottom of this post. Please to enjoy.
00:01 Photoshoots. We begin with a lot of hand to throat or chest or hair gesturing. And... pose! This year's models in order of first solo shot in the montage: Marion Cotillard, Sally Field, Naomi Watts, and Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway and Helen Hunt . Weirdly Rachel Weisz does not get a solo shot. Don't they negotiate every second of these things: "AGENT!!!"
00:38 One thing that's immediately clear about this latest edition of the Hollywood Reporter Actress Roundtable -- now one of the best Oscar traditions -- is that they're upping their game. The camera work is more expressive, and the spacious well designed interior with white couches is less corporate bland than I remember and more conducive to the group therapy session that follows. Psssh, it is so group therapy!. I mean they start with a question about fear and move straight into rock bottom trauma of careers the "should I give up?" moment before the big break.
00:43 Helen Hunt's "I'm thinking about the question" face is hilarious. PONDERING in all caps. [Lots more after the jump.]
01:21 Well, look at this. Naomi Watts is aware that we sometimes find her "too intense". On her auditions before Mulholland Dr
Too this. Too that. Not enough of this. Not enough of that. I was so afraid. Diluting myself into absolutely nothing. Too intense. Too shy. Too everything. I just didn't know who I was anymore."
Sounds like an ideal life long rehearsal for Betty/Diane, yes?
04:50 Amy reveals she cut out a magazine article about Naomi before she was cast in Junebug and put it in her journal to give her faith. I tried to capture Naomi's Moved/Embarrassed face in the screencap above which is Too Intense/Too Shy but enough of this and that!
7:23 Do we attract what we fear? Anne Hathaway makes a joke about her past...
That would explain some relationships."
Anne then does my favorite thing. She stops waiting for the moderator and asks a question herself of Rachel Weisz eliciting and awesome story about her performance art days at 19 and gets the room laughing.
It's true I have avant garde roots. I've sold out steadily since then."
09:07 Anne tells a story about auditioning for Fantine. Turns out her mother was one of the original understudies. It's here where I noticed that Anne is wearing green nail polish and further making me wish she wanted to do a Liza Minnelli biopic ("Divine Decadence!") instead of yet another Judy Garland one... not that that movie seems to be happening anymore.
11:08 I wondered how long it would take to bring up Helen Hunt's nudity and here it is. Very smart answers from Helen.
13:36 Helen brings up something I am obsessed with when it comes to actors and that I never hear anybody talk about. And it's this: When you have a character that people talk about a lot in the movie before your intro, how do you live up that in your first scene? Better come up with something.
16:00 Marion Cotillard speaks. It only took fifteen minutes. The question is about if a role every changed the way you viewed your life. Her answer involved a transition period after La Vie En Rose when she felt the need to start fresh and "clean up" her relationship. Cynics would say this is a really fancy way of rationalizing dumping pre-fame friends/relationships once global fame hits.
Amy imitating an obnoxious threatening paparazzo
18:35 Amy Adams reveals her temper. It's a peak into her real personality that doesn't really show in her movies but for maybe The Fighter and that one scene in The Master (ahem). She's furious that paparazzi are taking photos of her daughter. Why is this allowed? (Her daughter not being the public figure). The room gets very lively with discussions of how do you raise kids, how do you have a family day if dozens of cameras are chasing you. Anne is concerned and wants to move somewhere "off the grid" -- it's the second time in the conversation she brings up wanting a baby an--- Noooooooooo. ANNE, No. Don't leave us in your prime!
23:00 Sally Field makes me really glad that this roundtable has actresses of a certain age "My age is more certain than yours" -HEE! She talks about how different fame was when she was young. Fame hit in 1964 so she's going on 50 years of celebrity. Interestingly she talks about arranged dates for fan magazines with actors she hated. Makes me desperate to know who? who?
Eventually this leads into a lengthy discussion of when you should say "no" to things and Anne says she said no to arriving at the Princess Diaries 2 premiere in a carriage. Off Topic: but physiognomically speaking, could Anne & Helen BE ANY MORE DIFFERENT? If you were drawing them Anne would be made of circles all round giant eyes, full lips, and soft curves and with Helen you'd adjust to thin straight lines everywhere.
31:09 I've been so wrapped up in Sally Field's stories that I forgot to type! Great 1960s fame stories including flying across the Coconut Grove at the 2nd Annual Golden Globes (because of her role in The Flying Nun) into John Wayne to present an award. She refused to wear the habit because she was so miserable being typecast as a sitcom cutie so the bit made no sense and it was just 'porky little Sally Field flying in a pink dress my mother made'.
What's your favorite part of this roundtable?
What do you think of sex surrogacy? How soon do you think Anne will leave us to be a full time mom? Would you fly across the stage of the Golden Globes in a nurse's habit? Sound off in the comments.