Stars like Michael B. Jordan, Jacob Elordi and Rose Byrne have been racking up accolades left and right for their respective performances this awards season, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t spent time watching other Oscar contenders and been blown away by other performances.
Some, like Ryan Coogler, even went to see multiple films in a theater: “F1, me and Zinzi [Coogler] went on a date night; Marty Supreme, we went on a date night,” Coogler told The Hollywood Reporter on the day of multiple Oscar nominations for Sinners. “Hamnet, we went on a date night; One Battle After Another, we went on a date night.”
Nominees like Kate Hudson and Jessie Buckley singled out Paul Thomas Anderson, who wrote and directed One Battle, as someone who has not only made an impression on them this awards season but their entire careers. “PTA might be my favorite of the generation above me. He is my No. 1. His movies defined by childhood,” said Hudson following her best actress nod for Song Song Blue. Added Buckley, who was nominated for her role in Hamnet: “Paul Thomas Anderson has been a hero of cinema for me my entire life… for any actor, he is the north star.”
On Oscar nominations morning, THR asked nominees which movies they saw in theaters, the performances that blew them away and the scenes that made them ask, “How’d they do that?”
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Ryan Coogler
Best director nominee, Sinners
Which movies in the running have you seen in a theater?
“F1, me and Zinzi [Coogler] went on a date night; Marty Supreme, we went on a date night; Hamnet, we went on a date night; One Battle After Another, we went on a date night. I went to Telluride for two days and watched as much as I could, so I saw The Secret Agent in the theater at midnight. Bugonia, I saw in the theater. It Was Just an Accident and Train Dreams were in a screening room. I think we’re eight for 10 [of the best picture nominees].”
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Ethan Hawke
Best actor nominee, Blue Moon
What performance or scene really knocked you off your feet?
“If I had to pick one thing that I would like to champion, everybody should see No Other Choice. I thought Lee Byung-hun was just absolutely phenomenal. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, but this is staggering. It’s just a phenomenal movie.”
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Amy Madigan
Best supporting actress nominee, Weapons
What performance or scene really knocked you off your feet?
“Sinners is just so amazing because we’ve all seen the vampire genre, but this was different because of what it shows about Black music and Black culture and the Black experience. And the six-minute music scene [when Miles Caton sings in the juke joint an hour in, raising the roof] is the centerpiece. It’s the whole miasma of music and what everybody was going through. Just incredible.”
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Joachim Trier
Best director nominee, Sentimental Value
What performance or scene really knocked you off your feet?
“The film that has a great variety of amazing performances is One Battle After Another. I feel that that whole group is really, really incredible, and it’s led by a wonderful director [Paul Thomas Anderson], obviously, one of the — maybe the greatest director of our generation. So I’m very proud that we are traveling alongside that film.”
Which movies in the running have you seen in a theater?
“Several. I saw the wonderful Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent in the theater and really enjoyed that. It’s a great, great movie.”
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Kaouther Ben Hania
Director of The Voice of Hind Rajab, nominee for best international feature
Which movie stayed with you long after you had seen it?
“Among the nominees for best international feature, Sirat stayed with me longest because it’s hypnotic, and there is something about the end of the world there. I couldn’t stop thinking about Sirat.”
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Michael B. Jordan
Best actor nominee, Sinners
Which movie stayed with you long after you saw it?
“The Secret Agent is great. One Battle After Another. Hamnet is fucking great. Marty Supreme, a great movie.”
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Kate Hudson
Best actress nominee, Song Sung Blue
Which movie stayed with you long after you saw it?
“I really loved One Battle after Another. PTA [Paul Thomas Anderson]might be my favorite of the generation above me — he is my No. 1. His movies defined my childhood.”
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Jessie Buckley
Best actress nominee, Hamnet
Which movie stayed with you long after you saw it?
“I was so happy to see The Voice of Hind Rajab nominated. I’m a humongous fan of Kaouther Ben Hania. She’s extraordinary. I adored Sentimental Value. I think Joachim [Trier] is delicate, wild, bold, and it’s a deeply rooted film. Paul Thomas Anderson has been a hero of cinema for me for my entire life. Punch-Drunk Love, Magnolia, Boogie Nights. For any actor, he is the north star, and I’m so pleased that he’s being celebrated properly for everything he’s ever done in his life.”
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Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas
Best supporting actress nominee, Sentimental Value
What performance or scene really knocked you off your feet?
“The first one that comes to mind is the car chasing scene at the end of One Battle After Another. I felt emotional and motion sick watching that.”
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Clint Bentley
Best adapted screenplay nominee, Train Dreams
Which movie stayed with you long after you saw it?
“I remember the entirety of watching Sentimental Value and just having that film wash over me. I got to the end of that film, and I’ve now seen it twice, and I don’t know how [Joachim Trier] did it; I don’t know how it works. And I think that’s the mark of a very special artistic achievement — when it really moves you and changes you. I don’t know how he put it together.”
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Rose Byrne
Best actress nominee, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Which scene in a movie made you ask,,“How did they do that?”
“The car chases in One Battle After Another. They were unbelievable. And then there were a couple of incredible sequences in Marty Supreme, some ping-pong stuff and the beautiful scene where he’s running … because it’s period, just the scale of what they were doing to create the world was just stunning. When he was running through all that madness of the Lower East Side is so, so fantastic, with that music. Ron [Bronstein] and Josh [Safdie] created such an electric world, and Josh is such an incredible director. It was a great year for movies.”
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Renate Reinsve
Best actress nominee, Sentimental Value
What performance or scene really knocked you off your feet?
“The performances were so strong this year in all the films that were nominated, but I really want to mention [Harris Dickinson’s] Urchin and [its star] Frank Dillane. He’s not in the nominations now, but I feel his was one of the best performances I saw last year. It felt so raw and so special. Something that I’d never seen before.”
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Jacob Elordi
Best supporting actor nominee, Frankenstein
What performance or scene really knocked you off your feet?
“Even down to the performance that I’m nominated with — every actor grew up on Sean Penn. I mean, that’s the bar in terms of real performance. Then Stellan Skarsgard, Benicio Del Toro — these are people that I read the unofficial biographies of. It’s surreal to be in this esteemed company.”
Which scene in a movie made you ask, “How did they do that?”
“Timothée Chalamet, when he hits the winning shot in Marty Supreme — something so incredible happens in that moment in his performance that just sort of took my breath away.”
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