Awards Entries and Campaign

[birchie]

Very disappointed to say the least! When Skyfall won best British film I thought for sure it was because Les Miserables was going to win best picture. Argo??? Paaallease!!! Good movie but not the best picture of the year. And DDL was pre-determined before anyone ever saw any of the nominated movies/performances thanks to that ridiculous Time cover. The saddest thing is that it wasn't the most historically correct Lincoln and it wasn't even the best portrayal of Lincoln I've seen so that makes it even more disappointing for me and convinces me that the fix was in long ago! I have a very slim hope for Hugh and the Oscar...only because I think he is more beloved than DDL. It should be because he gave a better performance (no doubt about that) but if it comes from love and admiration that will be okay too. Not holding my breath though. I wish he would stop saying things like..."I wouldn't bet on me..." and one interview he actually said that he bet on DDL and he was joking about coming out a winner either way but the next day all the headlines just said he bet on DDL. I hope he learns enough about awards campaigning to do things differently next time. I know he's a self-effacing guy but some recent comments have been bordering on putting himself down which is a less admirable trait. I really hope as we move towards Oscar night that I don't hear him say that he wasn't a good Oscar host again, that one was painful to hear. There is no way that Seth McFarlen(?) will be better than Hugh!! I know he'll win these awards some day but it probably won't be for a performance as good as this one (or The Fountain) so it will feel like a make up reward. Okay, I'll stop rambling now and just repeat...very disappointed!
Sue

[annetter]

Totally agree, Sue
Again I say what is wrong with these voters?

[carouselkathy]

I share in your frustration, Sue, but I've felt all along that DDL will win. He is, in my opinion, the definitive Lincoln. In any other year, Hugh would be the one taking the Oscar. Another factor in this strange year is the snubbing of Ben Affleck by the Academy. He's winning everything else because, I believe , the rank and file voters are angry that he didn't get a nomination. I'm also tired of the Academy's idea of giving "make-up" Oscars. Judy Dench didn't win for MRS. BROWN, so they gave it to her the next year for supporting in an 8 minute performance in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, which probably robbed someone else. (Barb says the Academy loves make-up sex. ;D)

The Oscar voters have an older demographic, and go with sentiment sometimes, so Hugh still has a chance. Online voting (for the first time) complicates things further because there have been glitches.
Anything can happen. The Pope just resigned. What are the odds of that happening? It's a very strange year.

[mamaleh]

It's an old stigma but one that nonetheless prevails: that a particular work is "only a musical" and therefore does not have the gravitas of a profound drama or dark comedy. I believe that unfortunate and ill-conceived view robbed LM of some major awards.

Ellen

[jo]

It looks like the fashion houses are finding Hugh as much an excellent movie star to show off their best fashion statements as well as they do dote on the actresses

The Royal Opera House is in Covent Garden and is just a short walk on from where the Lyceum Theatre is located ( where the run of OKLAHOMA! ended, after it transferred from the Royal National Theatre's home in the South Bank). It must have brought on some memories for Hugh. I remember that there was no tube nearby the Lyceum and you have to walk past the Royal Opera House and traverse Covent Garden for the nearest ride.

Ahhh...can't believe Oklahoma! opened 15 years ago!


Jo

[jo]

There is a very long and exhaustive article on Hugh in the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter. It is a cover story and I suspect this was aimed to boost Hugh's bid for Oscar glory. I feel a little sad that the publicity boost may already be a bit too late -- although, of course, hope springs eternal that a miracle can happen on Oscar night


www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hugh-jackman-les-miserables-oscar-420764

Hugh Jackman on His Surprising Hollywood BFFs and Mother's Abandonment

7:59 AM PST 2/13/2013 by Stephen Galloway



This story first appeared in the Feb. 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Hugh Jackman's image long has been that of a sunny-side up Australian -- a singing, dancing, easygoing actor, husband and father who can instantly transform from Academy Awards host (2009) to biceps-bulging heartthrob (Wolverine). But on this late-January morning, the movie star -- a first-time Oscar nominee for his role as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables -- drops surprise after surprise. First, he tells this reporter he is friends with self-help guru Tony Robbins, who helped Jackman, 44, prepare for Les Mis by finding ways to cope with fear and anxiety, which bedevils the performer more before the camera than a live audience (as in his acclaimed show Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway). Robbins suggested the strapping 6-foot-3 superstar name the secure and insecure sides of his personality. “Frank was the more confident, and Charles was the other,” says Jackman.

"I always thought strength came from getting rid of that fear," he adds. "And Tony said: 'Charles is your sensitivity. Charles makes you question. Charles makes you work harder. When you walk on set, thank Charles for everything.' " He pauses. "Tony really transformed my life."

Another unexpected friendship is with News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, who even asked Jackman to be his daughter Chloe's god­father shortly after her birth in 2003.

PHOTOS: Photos of Hugh Jackman: An Unconventional Superstar

"I met him first in a family situation," says the actor of their decade-old connection. "[Murdoch's wife] Wendi and Nicole Kidman were very good friends. It was Nicole's birthday, and we all went to Soho House in New York, and we were in the pool. He was holding his daughter, and I was holding my son, and we became friends."

He says many people have the wrong impression of Murdoch: "He loves having friends and family around. A lot of people in his life are there for a long time. He looks after them and appreciates them. He's very caring and thoughtful and incredibly respectful of everybody around him."

Sitting at the Peninsula hotel in Beverly Hills, Jackman reveals himself to be a far more complex and far-ranging figure than many of his peers realize. As he gobbles down a breakfast of oatmeal, wheat toast and a five-egg omelet -- muscling up for his next movie, X-Men: Days of Future Past, in which he returns as Wolverine for the sixth time -- he adds to this impression by discussing a turbulent past that still lingers with him.

Open and immensely likable, he describes being 8 years old when his mother, Grace, abandoned him and his four elder siblings, leaving them in Sydney with their father, Christopher. His mother's departure never was fully explained to him, and indeed Jackman only realized it was permanent when he was 13 and his father's attempt at a reconciliation failed.

STORY: Oscars 2013: Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman Among Acting Nominees Attending Annual Luncheon

"Dad went off to England to bring her back, but by this point she was married to someone else, with a kid," he says. "It was really complicated. So when Dad arrived back -- not three weeks later, as planned, but five days later -- I just knew. I was old enough to go, 'This is not happening.' "

With his mother an ocean away in her native England (both parents had immigrated to Australia in 1967), Jackman remembers being too frightened even to enter his house alone. "I was terrified because I was the first one home every day," he says. "I used to walk home from school and wait outside. I just wouldn't go in."

He recalls growing up in a deeply religious family, his parents having been converted to conservative Protestantism by Billy Graham, after which they strictly adhered to the Church of England's tenets; and he also recalls breaking away from their beliefs in his late teens. Today, he is not particularly religious and says he never prays, though he believes in some form of God and afterlife and meditates twice daily for 30 minutes. "It is about quieting that part of the brain and just seeing and being," he explains.

But meditation and his growing success, which has reached a climax this year with Les Mis, have only paved the way for a life that is centered just as much on Jackman's wife, actress Deborra-Lee Furness, 57, and their children, Oscar, 12, and Ava, 7, as on his work -- which might create conflicts in the wake of the career-transforming Les Mis.

STORY: A-List Grooming Experts on Red Carpet Prep for Stars Like Bradley Cooper and Hugh Jackman

"I told my agent [WME's Patrick Whitesell], 'After Days of Future Past, I need to be home [in New York's West Village],' " Jackman says -- particularly to support his son, who has certain learning disabilities like dyslexia.

All this leaves a question about whether he will return to X-Men once he completes the time-spanning sequel that starts shooting mid-April in Montreal, after Jackman wraps the crime drama Prisoners, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis. He hasn't ruled it out, but for now he says simply, "I need to be home."

In addition to his family, Jackman has surrounded himself with friends, including 11 high school buddies who accompanied him on a reunion trip to Japan four years ago and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus (whose micro-finance campaign Jackman actively supports).



[pagebreak]

Despite these friends and a seemingly idyllic life, Jackman admits rumors about his sexuality have taken a greater toll than previously acknowledged, especially on his wife. "Just recently, it bugs her," he says, blaming the Internet, which she frequents more than he does. (Jackman largely sticks to cricket sites and The Economist.) "She goes: 'It's big. It's everywhere!' "

His X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner shrugs off the gossip. "I have seen him with Deborra since the beginning of their trip to Hollywood, and I've been on five movie sets with him and have never seen him stray, have never seen him eye anyone. I met him when he did Oklahoma! [at London's Royal National Theatre in 1999]. He was genuine, hugely talented. He was in love with his wife that day and still is."

STORY: Hugh Jackman Teaches Jay Leno 'Gangnam Style' on 'Tonight Show' (Video)

The actor took his first extended leave from their family (the children were adopted after Furness suffered two miscarriages) for Les Mis, which started shooting in March 2012 in England. Until then, he says they had never spent more than two weeks apart.

He had heard the long-in-the-works musical might be coming to the screen from Whitesell, who loved it from his youth. "Patrick has seen every version of Les Mis," says Jackman. "It was the only video they owned. And his family -- six boys -- used to watch it every year. He said, 'That's it! We're going to get this!' "

After an informal chat with director Tom Hooper, who hadn't committed to the project at that point, Jackman offered to do a proper audition when Hooper signed on. Following an hours-long interview that landed him the role, he embarked on seven weeks of rehearsal before the shoot began, living in Spring Cottage, a storied residence on the grounds of England's Cliveden House, the very place where call girl Christine Keeler began a scandalous affair with British Secretary of War John Profumo in 1961.

Jackman turned to Robbins for guidance. "I said: 'I want some help. I got this job, and sometimes in front of the camera I can't feel as relaxed as onstage' " -- though he says he has grown more comfortable with film over the past couple of years. "He said it's not about denying the character within you who feels nervous. That fear serves you to work hard. It's not about going, 'F--- you, I wish you weren't here, get out.' It's about embracing that. He goes: 'Man, you're playing Jean Valjean. You should be scared!' "

STORY: The 5 Best Quotes From Hugh Jackman's NYC Tribute

Jackman pushed himself to the limits for the role. After weeks on a crash diet, before he began shooting the movie's opening sequence -- where he is seen waist-deep in frigid water, hauling cables attached to a great ship -- he gave up fluids altogether.

"I didn't have anything to drink until late in the day when we did the opening scene with Russell Crowe," he says, explaining the dehydration gave his skin a gaunt, haggard look that makes his initial appearance as Valjean so shocking. "You lose up to 10 pounds of water weight, mainly from the exterior of the body. But it was really brutal. About 20 hours in, a headache came. Then I wanted to drink water out of the ocean! I see the scene now, and I look really thin, really sunken."

Admits Hooper: "I was worried. I thought, 'This is probably the kind of thing I should discourage.' I said, 'Have a sip of water.' But he was very determined. He'd obviously consulted doctors, but I do remember he eventually got very cold, really cold."

Throughout, his star "never said a sharp word. I don't know how he remains so calm. He really is an extraordinary man."

STORY: 'Les Mis' Stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway Storm London's Leicester Square for World Premiere

Jackman wasn't always like this, especially during the years when he grappled with his mother's absence.

"To be in Australia at that point, with my father working hard, I think Mom just felt incredibly isolated," he says. She did not have an easy transition with the relocation from England. "Fairly soon, she had difficulties. She was in the hospital a long time after I was born. She had very bad postpartum depression. I'm guessing it lasted years because I remember she used to go off for little periods. I think she was feeling trapped."

When her own mother fell ill, she went back to the U.K., leaving the children with their father, an accountant and Cambridge graduate. Jackman remembers him praying that his wife would return, but she never did.

Christopher's commitment to work -- an ethos Jackman has inherited -- did not help: "My father could only come to one [school sports] game a year because he had five kids, and on Saturday he had to shop. If my father was there, it would be 50 percent greater. Having his approval is something that still drives me."

His father's devoutness also influenced him: "I was involved with so many things in the church. It was my social group. It was where I met girls. It was sort of my life out of school. Then around 16 or 17, I started questioning. 'How come all these nonbelievers are going to hell?' "

STORY: BAFTAs 2013: 'Les Miserables' and 'Argo' Take This Year's Big Awards

His beliefs evolved when he attended Sydney's University of Technology and focused on journalism before stumbling upon acting through a drama course he had to take in order to graduate. Later, he continued his acting studies at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, learning about meditation at the nearby School of Practical Philosophy. "That really started to change my life," he says.

Upon graduation, he landed his first professional job on Correlli, a prison-set TV series starring Furness, who at first held off the 26-year-old Jackman's romantic advances.

[pagebreak]

"I was single when I met her, and she was single," he recalls of his future wife, also the product of a single-parent household, whose father had died in a car accident when she was a child. "I was happy being single. I was out of a difficult relationship I'd had through drama school, and it was tumultuous and hard. I'd been living off 120 bucks a week as a student until I was 26. Then, when I met Deb, it was 10 times better than my single life. She was very beautiful. She was unbelievably fun -- this energy, this spirit -- irrepressible. And she had a confidence in herself. I had a massive crush on her instantly."

He adds: "She was sort of the opposite of me. I was very 'Even Steven,' and she was thrilling to me. I was always really attracted to that -- though at one point, as it was getting really serious, it terrified me."

They married in 1996, and Furness put her career on hold as Jackman's exploded. Now, he says: "It feels like she needs to get back into it. She needs to act again."

STORY: Oscars 2013: 'Les Miserables' to Be Honored in Movie Musical Tribute

His own career took off with stage roles in Australia including Trevor Nunn's production of Sunset Blvd., followed by Oklahoma! in London, which drew the X-Men producers' notice.

Shuler Donner and director Bryan Singer were looking to cast Wolverine, the stout, stubborn, enigmatic main character of their Marvel Comics adaptation. Shuler Donner admits the director at first was unconvinced. "Hugh was a lot taller than the character, and Bryan wasn't sure if he was the right guy," she says. "So I said, 'Let me send him up to you in Toronto,' " where the film already was underway. "And Hugh went up, and Anna Paquin was there already, and they did a scene together, and after Bryan yelled 'Cut!' one of the crewmembers said, 'Wow! That's Wolverine.' "

When Singer and Shuler Donner asked for a multipicture commitment, Jackman was delighted. He didn't realize that the fewer films he signed on for, the more leverage he would have if the producers wanted him back. "Here's my naivete," he laughs. "I was like, 'Fantastic!' My agent goes: 'No. You'll learn.' I said, 'They're going to guarantee me three jobs, and you've got it down to two?' I was so stupid. By the third, X-Men: The Last Stand, I understood."

The X-Men franchise has become a pillar of 20th Century Fox's movie slate, pulling in a robust $1.8 billion worldwide and bringing Jackman a reported $20 million for The Wolverine (his second spinoff as that character), which wrapped in late 2012. He is not committed to any more outings in the series following Days of Future Past.

Even that film came out of the blue.

STORY: 'Les Miserables' Costume Designer Paco Delgado On His First Oscar Nod: 'I Was a Little Bit Nervous'

"I first heard about it around October or November [2012]," he notes. "I was literally finishing The Wolverine and dreaming about lasagna, and about three weeks before the end, they told me." The role was large and reunited him with many of the original cast. "There was no way I was not going to be part of that." He says he still has not read a finished screenplay, however, and has seen only a synopsis of about eight pages.

Outside these films, Jackman's work has spanned a dizzying array that has complicated his onscreen persona, occasionally making it hard to determine who the real Jackman is -- from the romantic comedy Kate & Leopold (2001) to Darren Aronofsky's philosophical drama The Fountain (2006) to Baz Luhrmann's epic Australia (2008). And then there's Movie 43, the much-maligned recent sketch-comedy flop by Peter Farrelly and other directors, in which he has a small scene as a man with testicles attached to his throat. Jackman committed to it four years ago, he says, and appears unperturbed by the reception: "I read a script for a short which really made me laugh, and then I heard Kate [Winslet] wanted to do it too, and I was sold."

Some of the projects he has turned down are as fascinating as those he has accepted. He rejected the Richard Gere role in Chicago because he felt he was too young; pulled out of the Ryan Gosling starrer Drive, which he had developed, because he was unsure about working with Nicolas Winding Refn, then a relatively untested director; and declined to be considered for James Bond around the time of the first X-Men. "I thought it would box me in too much," he says. "My natural instinct is to keep as many doors open as possible."

Doing so has brought him a Golden Globe as well as the Oscar nomination for Les Mis, not to mention acclaim for hosting the Academy Awards when he was asked to do so, intriguingly, by Steven Spielberg -- despite having dragged the director onstage during a Las Vegas production of The Boy From Oz.

"He was mortified," smiles Jackman, finishing the last bite of his enormous omelet, "and, of course, it's the worst thing to do to anybody, and I'm shocked that he still speaks to me."

STORY: Golden Globes 2013: 'Argo' Named Best Drama, and 'Les Miserables,' Best Musical

Now he is contemplating his future. He is preparing for the next X-Men, which involves a very different regimen from the one for Les Mis -- including consuming vats of food for eight hours straight, then going without any for 16 hours. "Your body learns to burn fat in that 16 hours," says Jackman, his physique at its finest beneath his casual blue T-shirt. "And I sleep better."

He has reunited and rebuilt a relationship with his mother, though he says they never had a particular rift despite the pain caused by their time apart and the limits imposed by ultra-expensive international phone calls.

[pagebreak]

"For a lot of years, I thought, 'Oh, I must be suppressing something,' " he observes. "When I was around my mid-20s, I was probably guessing that I had repressed anger, so I would bring it up. Mom was fine to talk about anything. But instinctively, as I grew up, and as I was in relationships where I had my heart broken, and I broke other people's hearts, you realize people have breaking points. Mom, at the time, was not well. And she made decisions that, on some level, she regrets."

Now she visits him in New York, and Jackman also remains close to his father, 76, who still lives in Australia. Beyond work and family, he has little time for anything else. He does not watch much television other than sports, because "I'm terrified of getting hooked" -- which happened when he started watching The West Wing after collaborating with Aaron Sorkin on Houdini for the stage. (Sorkin pulled out of the play early in February.)

He has shut down a production company he established with his former assistant, John Palermo. "I just realized I didn't want to be a producer when I grow up; it's not my skill set," he says.

STORY: 'Les Miserables': What the Critics Are Saying

He also is immersed in Yunus' endeavors, which began following an early encounter with him just after he came across the economist's work.

"I was reading two books at the same time," he remembers. "One was Paul Newman's In Pursuit of the Common Good and the idea of creating a social business. The other was [Yunus'] Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, and I thought, 'This is a true philosopher.' And when I met him, he kind of put the charge on me: He said, 'That's how you use your profile.' "

Raising his star profile is the thing that matters to him least, he insists. "I have no real natural instinct for the star world. I don't really put a lot of currency in stardom. I have this weird feeling that the more you direct your attention into solving that issue, the worse an actor you become."

And yet he admits, while his ambition to be a star has quieted, it hasn't entirely disappeared. "I saw a play in Sydney," he recalls, "and in the notes they had this quote from Bono that said: 'What kind of hole exists in the heart of a person when they need to have 70,000 people scream, "I love you," in order to feel fulfilled?' But there is a part of me that wants to please, to be all things to all people."

[jo]

There is a video - please check the link...

And a photo gallery --

[jo]

[njr]

Love those pics!!

Nancy

[jo]

Atlantic Wire roots for Hugh's Oscar bid ...and here's why --

www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/02/best-actor-oscar-2013/62102/

Casting Our Oscar Ballot for Best Actor


Richard Lawson 1,098 Views1:56 PM ET


With the Academy Awards quickly approaching, we're going through each of the major categories and pretending we're Academy voters. Forget who will actually win, we have a decision to make.

The Nominees: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln, Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables, Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook, Denzel Washington for Flight, Joaquin Phoenix for The Master

As is also true of the Best Actress category this year, lots of people think this one's all but sewn-up. Well, in the case fo that race it's between two people, where as with the guys, it's really down to just one. Having won a million awards already this season, including the Golden Globe and the SAG, Daniel Day-Lewis seems like a pretty sure thing for his rousing, wonderful, and inspiringly understated performance in Lincoln. Look, none of us actually knew Abe Lincoln, or ever heard him speak; at least I hope none of us did, it would be creepy to have some sort of undying immortal being reading this site. (Why would such a creature be reading about the Oscars, anyway?) The point is, nobody really knows how "authentic" Day-Lewis's performance was, so all we have to go on is whether he sold it to us, if he somehow lived up to or emboldened the legacy of man we only know in our minds. And I think it's a fair assessment to say that he did. His performance is nuanced, introspective, forceful without being hammy. It's a deep character study, but the character is largely Day-Lewis's invention, making it much more than mere mimicry. He's goddamned marvelous in the movie, is the point; it's the kind of performance that some movie hacks might call "iconic." So, yes, by all those measures, maybe another Oscar, a third, should be inevitably headed his way. But for some reason, I'm not that enthusiastic about checking his name on my imaginary ballot. Let's take a look at the other guys on the list to figure out why.

Well, OK, first things first. As if often the case with real Academy voters, even the most conscientious among them, I have not seen everything on this list. I must shamefully admit that Flight eluded me last year. Partly because I was out of town when the screening was held. Partly because I didn't really want to fork over $13 to watch a movie about an alcoholic when Thanksgiving and Christmas stuff, cheery and happy things, were happening all around me. And partly because I'm a bad flyer and don't really need to see some upside-down plane nightmare unfold on the big screen. So, yeah, I have no idea if Denzel Washington is good in the movie. I'm sure he is! All the reviews I've furtively read have suggested as much. But I can't vote for him. That wouldn't be right. It would be a lie, and I am a member of the Academy, damnit. Hollywood people don't lie. Sorry Denzel. Guess two Oscars will have to do.

Joaquin Phoenix is immediately out for me as well. This is all about my personal decision, and I personally have never liked Joaquin Phoenix as an actor, not since he first sneered at me in To Die For. (OK, he was fine in Parenthood.) He's too mannered, too purposefully intense. He never seems to be enjoying himself, let alone having fun, and I find that really off-putting. Never more so than in The Master, in which he curls and twists all his gristle and sinew into a gnarled, hideous tree of overacting. (Much like that gnarled, hideous sentence of overwriting!) It was just so much, and it made the whole film feel like an exercise, like a scene study class at a really fancy school in a really high-tech black box theater. I don't like when you can see that much work. This is just a personal pet peeve, of course. Many folks whose movie opinions I deeply respect quite liked Phoenix in this movie. But not me! No, sir. And this is my ballot, so he does not get checked off. Sorry, Joaquin. Hopefully he'll have some sort of breakthrough in the Spike Jonze movie he just made.

Bradley Cooper is another actor I've never quite warmed to. He did a nice job in Silver Linings Playbook, but I'm just not sure the degree of difficulty was there. Sure he had to play bipolar, whipping himself up into fits of sorrowful rage and anxiety, and he did well in those scenes. But the rest of the movie is a fairly easy switching back and forth between anarchistic family comedy and dark indie romantic comedy. It's fun to watch, but the complexity of Cooper's character, and all the characters, begins to diminish and is nearly gone by the time the extremely neat and tidy denouement is over. Let's give credit to Cooper for trying and partially succeeding in his quest to assert himself as a serious actor to be contended with, but this isn't quite enough, in my book. He didn't quite shake the air of smugness that has permeated a lot of his other movies. There's still a sense of the straight, handsome star of the college theatre about him. Again this is just my own weird assessment of the man, but that's what this vote is, my own personal weird assessment. (Of weird things.) And I assess Bradley Cooper to be lacking. A noble, valiant effort — and he might get there someday — but it doesn't win this year.

Which leaves us with Hugh Jackman. The singing, dancing jewel in Oz's crown. He doesn't do much dancing in Les Misérables, but, boy, is there a lot of singing. And howling and yowling and bellowing and making of other big, bombastic noises. This is the movie role that Hugh Jackman was created in a lab by Boublil and Schönberg to play — few actors of his generation who work outside of the theater can play turgid earnestness so effectively. Les Miz is not a perfect film, and Jackman's is not a perfect performance, but man is the guy committed, really committed, for two and a half hours. And darned if he doesn't sell it. The movie purely and simply could not have happened without Hugh Jackman. There is no other actor, or rather movie star, with his magnetic and crowded mix of charm, charisma, dedication, star power, talent, and passion. In anyone else's hands this role would have been crazy embarrassing. But in Jackman's, it works. He drags this heavy movie as far as he can and dies beautifully at the end, made an angel for his efforts. Sure, Anne Hathaway belts emotively and Eddie Redmayne mourns beautifully, but Jackman is the mortar and sawdust holding the whole thing together. It's a remarkable feat, and exhausting to think about doing. I'd vote for him, I gotta say. I'm pretend voting for Hugh Jackman in Les Miz. Daniel Day-Lewis just won a few years ago. And he's already got two hiding under tall hats at home. This is probably Jackman's only chance at an Oscar. So let's give it to him. He's earned it.

Les Miz is not a perfect film, and Jackman's is not a perfect performance, but man is the guy committed, really committed, for two and a half hours. And darned if he doesn't sell it. The movie purely and simply could not have happened without Hugh Jackman. There is no other actor, or rather movie star, with his magnetic and crowded mix of charm, charisma, dedication, star power, talent, and passion. In anyone else's hands this role would have been crazy embarrassing. But in Jackman's, it works.

That bears repeating


Jo

[jo]

An interview with James Lipton on Hugh's return trip to Inside the Actors Studio ...and Hugh's performance in Les Miserablesm --

www.sjnewsonline.com/article/20130213/NEWS/302139975/1019/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE

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Hugh Jackman Makes a Return Visit to Inside the Actors Studio


James Lipton has interviewed a who's who of Hollywood elite since his show's debut in 1994, but Hugh Jackman holds his own among an impressive repertoire of Inside the Actors Studio guests. Returning for his second time, the Best Actor ...
Feb. 13, 2013 12:12 pm

Hugh Jackman | Photo Credits: Jaimie Trueblood/Bravo

James Lipton has interviewed a who's who of Hollywood elite since his show's debut in 1994, but Hugh Jackman holds his own among an impressive repertoire of Inside the Actors Studio guests. Returning for his second time, the Best Actor nominee graces Bravo's stage on Wednesday, Feb. 13 (8/7c). Host and executive producer Lipton gives TV Guide Magazine exclusive insight into Jackman's episode and weighs in on the upcoming Academy Awards.

TV Guide Magazine: Inside the Actors Studio is widely popular among home viewers, but the show is intended to be a master class. What can audiences learn from Hugh Jackman?

Lipton: When you see the Hugh Jackman episode, you will understand perfectly what I mean by master class. It's a master class in acting, in singing, in every moment of it. He is highly articulate, needless to say. About four minutes into our show, he's singing. Then he tap dances. He did an Elvis impersonation and sang "Heartbreak Hotel" so damn well. That's four minutes into the show.

TV Guide Magazine: Hugh Jackman was a guest on the show nine years ago. Why did you decide to bring him back for a second round?

Lipton: Hugh Jackman on stage with me for five hours, twice? We've spent ten hours together in front of the world and I just love him. Here he was doing this extraordinary musical and doing it fantastically well. So it was certainly the fact that he was doing a musical and doing it in this revolutionary way - they sang live. Music is a part of my life that is very, very important to me. I've written two Broadway musicals and I've written many songs as a lyricist.

TV Guide Magazine: What sort of insight does the episode reveal about Hugh Jackman's role in Les Misérables?

Lipton: There is nothing that our audience won't know about Les Misérables or about the mysterious craft of translating musicals to film. I wanted all that on our show, and we really dig. Les Misérables is his dream come true. It's a very emotional occasion for him. I don't set out to make anybody cry, but I knew his personal history with his father and his mother and there is an element of Les Misérables that plays right into that. I knew that this affected something in his life and I asked him if there was anything of his father and he said, 'Yes.' He didn't realize it until half way through the movie, but there is so much of his father in [his character] Jean Valjean.

TV Guide Magazine: Even though he is this mega superstar in commercial films, he seems so down to earth. Where does that genuine quality come from?

Lipton: I think that it comes from his heart and soul. He's a nice guy. On the show, there is a one-minute segment on his charity, a coffee and tea company he created. [The company] was inspired by Paul Newman, who was the president of the Actors Studio when we created the show and the school. [Hugh] is such a decent human being and a marvelous actor.

TV Guide Magazine: When you filmed this episode, he had not been nominated for the Oscar yet. Have you since reached to congratulate him?

Lipton: I have not because he has been frantically busy. He has been traveling the world publicizing his movie and then before the Golden Globes, he was very sick with the flu so I thought I'd just leave the poor soul alone. But he knows how I feel. And the show indicates how I feel.

TV Guide Magazine: Speaking of the Oscars, he's up for Best Actor against Bradley Cooper, your former student. Are you rooting for either one of them?

Lipton: When it comes to that, I've got too much skin in the game. I'm not going to choose between the two of them. I like it best at the Golden Globes where they have drama and on the other side, they have comedy and musicals so they don't have to compete with each other because it is comparing apples and oranges.

TV Guide Magazine: Do you think both Hugh and Bradley are strong contenders for the Academy Award?

Lipton: I think Bradley [Cooper] was brilliant, and what he did was a shock to the public. This is not the person they knew in the films that made him famous. Suddenly, he's a serious actor. His masters' degree thesis for us at the Actors Studio Drama School was The Elephant Man, a very serious play, so I knew what he could do and now the public knows what he can do. As for Hugh, he does something that no one has ever done in a musical before. Nobody. And what Hugh has done is absolutely the best I've ever seen in an American musical film. We all remember Gene Kelly and Singing In The Rain, but what Hugh and the whole cast and director has undertaken, which is to have them sing live, is a shockingly risky way of doing the show. And Hugh sings, dances, acts - this is a guy who literally can do anything. So does he deserve it more than Bradley? Does Bradley deserve it more than he does? Does, for that matter, Daniel Day-Lewis deserve it more than they do? That's something I can't say because I admit to a bias towards both these guys.

TV Guide Magazine: You mentioned Daniel Day-Lewis. He has never been on your show and either has fellow Best Actor nominee, Denzel Washington. Why is that?

Lipton: It's very complicated getting [scheduling] done, and I've never been able to do it either for Daniel Day-Lewis or for Denzel Washington. If you're asking whether I would like them to be on the show, you're damn right I would. I'd love it. Do I hope that they will someday? Of course. When it comes to The Oscars, it is generally conceded by many in the industry that our show is the most reliable forum. Look at the people who have come to our show - Colin Firth, Natalie Portman. Virtually, everybody who was nominated has been on my show. We're besieged at this time of year.

TV Guide Magazine: Another nominated actor who has not been on your show is Jennifer Lawrence. She reportedly denied your invitation, which has made some recent headlines. What happened?

Lipton: Jennifer Lawrence said that loves the show and is not ready for it. I talked to Bravo and said, 'What do you think? She's 22. Should we take a shot at it?' And we all agreed that she was so brilliant in Silver Linings Playbook. Bradley was urging me to do it, saying he would come sit in the front row if we did it with her. I got back to her people and then they said she wasn't available. I perfectly respect her. I mean, she's 22 years old. She's got time.

TV Guide Magazine: You've had Seth MacFarlane as a guest on your show. How do you think he will do as the host of the big night?

Lipton: Stand back, America. I think the man's a genius. Once again, Seth MacFarlane sings, acts, writes, draws. I mean this guy...

TV Guide Magazine: My last question may be too difficult for you to answer, but do you personally have a film favored to win Best Picture this year?

Lipton: I can tell you the ones I think are probably going to win, but do I have a preference? It's impossible, I cannot choose among these people. I mean that stage is crowded with people who have been on Inside The Actor's Studio, so choosing between - I'm incapable of it. It isn't that I'm being cute with you, and I'm not coquetting with you. It's just that I search my soul and say, 'Well, Bradley did this and it was extraordinary, and Hugh did this and it was extraordinary. And Daniel Day-Lewis, who will probably win, has given us a portrait for the ages, and he's very hard to compete against.' But could Daniel Day-Lewis sing Jean Valjean? Not in a million years. Could Bradley? No. Actors have been notorious for this - [Marlon] Brando wouldn't accept his Oscar because he hated being put into competition with people who he respected. And that's the highest respect you can pay to somebody.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once again, it is actually a very long interview ( but only a fifth is shown, unless the occasional two-hour format is used on TV). I remember one of our former friends who was in the first interview and transcribed the whole session - 4 to 5 hours of it. We tried asking Bravo if they would sell the whole filmed session, but they declined. I wonder what other things were discussed


Jo

[foxie]

:)it was fantastic. Amazing how he changed watching both shows in a row as I said to jen we picked the right guy to love!

[jo]

A Jackman fansite has provided download links of the Inside The Actor's Studio interview --

hughjackmanweb.com/


Jo

[jo]

Vulture thinks Hugh Jackman is the dark horse in the Best Actor Race --

www.vulture.com/2013/02/best-actor-will-daniel-day-lewis-make-history.html

Here's how thoroughly Daniel Day-Lewis is revered in Hollywood: This year's Best Actor bumper crop is filled with actors like Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Bradley Cooper giving the performances of their lives (in addition to several other career-best actors who didn't make the nomination cut, like The Sessions' John Hawkes and Abitrage's Richard Gere), and yet, they barely figure into the competition. It's widely assumed that Day-Lewis will steamroll his rivals on the way to a record-breaking third Best Actor win, and Vulture readers agree with the conventional wisdom, since 86 percent of voters in our online Oscar ballot are predicting Day-Lewis for Best Actor.


So Day-Lewis's competitors have no chance, right? Well, it ain't looking good for them, we'll put it that way. Take The Master's Joaquin Phoenix, who looked like the Best Actor front-runner once upon a time … before he started bashing the Oscar race and before The Master fizzled a few weeks into its release. Actors still respect Phoenix's 100 percent commitment to his role, but up against the famously Method approach of Day-Lewis, who lives (and texts!) in character for months, that accomplishment is decisively trumped.


In any other year, we'd probably be asking whether Denzel Washington was the one on his way to a third Academy Award, since his Flight role as a struggling alcoholic is the very definition of Oscar bait. Or perhaps Bradley Cooper would be given better odds for a meaty role as a mentally unstable obsessive in Silver Linings Playbook, especially since the Academy loves to reward mainstream movie stars who reveal dramatic new layers (just ask Cooper's All About Steve co-star Sandra Bullock, who won a "We Knew You Could Do It!" Oscar for The Blind Side). But it isn't any other year. It's the one where they're opposite Daniel Day-Lewis.


And then there's Hugh Jackman. Listen, I am not gonna tell you to put all your chips on Hugh Jackman … that would be crazy. But. But! If there were anyone who had a remote chance in hell of beating Day-Lewis, we'd give this Aussie the edge. His arduous Les Misérables performance is a big Academy crowd-pleaser, and so is the actor himself: I've seen both Day-Lewis and Jackman at plenty of awards-season events, and while the former is worshipped by intimidated admirers at a distance, Jackman is positively mobbed by well-wishers. People love Hugh Jackman, and he's so open-hearted and friendly that you can't help but root for him. Will that prompt enough Academy voters to throw their votes in his direction? Some, but not enough: When it comes to securing votes, who's going to be better at it than the president who passed the Thirteenth Amendment?

Likely to win: Daniel Day-Lewis
Dark horse: Hugh Jackman

Jo

[jo]

Re the ITAS interview --

*Why interview for such a long time and then edit rather badly? Why not just carefully select what you want to discuss and focus on that stuff? They've had Hugh before and they know that he can be such an interesting conversationalist/interviewee ( even if discussing only purely acting topics) and can respond to each topic very well. Lipton can control the length of the discussions by moving to the next question or issue.

*Hugh is so natural talking to anyone! He is articulate and intelligent and a master of his craft, but immensely charming and can be self-deprecating with a sense of humor. I would probably be bored if someone like DDL talked simply of method acting!

*He must love dancing - he is really good with his tap dance routine.

*I think he should follow up with a movie musical soon - he has the artistic push going now and I think a Hugh/Anne musical will be a big box office draw at this point. Even if it is a lighthearted musical like Guys and Dolls.

*But I do wonder what is happening about Houdini!

My favorite moment from the interview -- his reaction when he heard that he got the Valjean part >


Jo

[jo]

Video clip of Hugh interview by ABC -- while he was on the set of PRISONERS ( Facial hair and black jacket look -- eat your heart out, Jake Gyllenhaal ;D) --


abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/academy-awards-2013-hugh-jackman-nerves-surrounding-oscar-18500932


Jo

[foxie]

Pray pray pray

[jo]

Pray for at least a tie


Jo

[foxie]

A tie at least!

[jo]

Someone posted bonus clips from the ITAS interview -- these were not included in the previous upload by the Jackman fansite -- and I do not know if they were shown on the TV show:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsRptNfNzYY


Jo

[jo]

Variety speculates about Oscars "contrarian choices" -- and Hugh is a dark horse candidate for Best Actor!

www.variety.com/article/VR1118066264/?cmpid=RSS%7cNews%7cFilmNews

Film News
Posted: Fri., Feb. 15, 2013, 5:00pm PT

OSCARS: Contrarian Choices

Dark-horse candidates pose a deserving alternative

By Variety Staff


While the outcome in many races seems uncertain, there a few results that appear to be foregone conclusions this year. But in an alternate universe, it would be interesting to imagine some of the dark-horse candidates winding up in the winner's circle...

Best actor: Hugh Jackman or Denzel Washington
Yes, it's heresy. But other actors could have played Lincoln. (Liam Neeson, for example, would have been terrific.) However, nobody else could have played Hugh Jackman's or Denzel Washington's roles as well as they did. Besides, DDL in "Lincoln" sounds too much like Lionel Barrymore.


Best Picture: "Zero Dark Thirty"
Hollywood execs feel daring when they make a film about WWII. So "ZDT" deserves kudos just for tackling the Osama bin Laden story: A film hasn't been this current-events since "All the President's Men." And when was the last time the Senate investigated a fictional film's veracity? "Zero" is making people crazy because it's so good. (You'll notice D.C. isn't investigating the fracking claims in "Promised Land.")


Actress: Quvenzhane Wallis
The whole film rested on those tiny shoulders. Twenty years from now, some drag queen can dress up on Halloween as Hushpuppy and say, "I'm the man!" flex her biceps, and everyone will immediately know the reference. You don't get iconic performances like this very often. Quvenzhane: She's the man!


Costume design: Eiko Ishioka
When you hear the term "awards-caliber movie," you don't exactly think of "Mirror Mirror." But Ishioka's costumes defined that world and those characters in an instant. The costumer created a magic "Mirror."


Director: Ang Lee (above)
Steven Spielberg seems a shoo-in. But, as Stephen Colbert deadpanned, "Lincoln" is basically a film about parliamentary procedure. Lee performed a magic trick with the man-tiger-lifeboat scenes alone. And then he pulled off an ending that basically tells you everything you've been watching may have been a lie. And you feel touched, not cheated.


Original screenplay: Michael Haneke, "Amour"
One apartment, two characters, illness and dying: Oy, talk about a writer assigning himself a huge degree of difficulty. But Michael Haneke's script conveys everything you need to know about this couple and their entire life together. It's smart and touching, and a perfect example of minimalist filmmaking that makes dying a riveting experience for the audience.


Makeup & hairstyling: "The Hobbit"
You think it's easy to create 13 eccentric, unkempt beards and make them all distinctive? Yet each of the dwarves, from the chubby one to the hottie (and you know exactly who we're talking about), has his own look and personality.

Sound mixing: "Les Miserables"
This category is usually won by the film with the loudest explosions. But it's not easy to take actors who are singing live, mix them with sound effects and full orchestras and the sounds of sloshing through the mud, and make it all work.

Supporting Actress: Helen Hunt (right)
OK, she doesn't sing her role in "The Sessions." But not many actresses can play a warm and smart sex surrogate who looks comfortable in her job and out of her clothes.

Contact Variety Staff at [e-mail]

Jo

[birchie]

Feb 16, 2013 7:38:23 GMT -5 jo said:

Variety speculates about Oscars "contrarian choices" -- and Hugh is a dark horse candidate for Best Actor!

www.variety.com/article/VR1118066264/?cmpid=RSS%7cNews%7cFilmNews

<snip>

Jo

First things first...I have a new computer!!! > :-/ >
I'm still playing catch-up and reconfiguring things but it's great to be back and to be able to click on links, read articles, watch videos etc! I'm a happy camper! ;D
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Best actor: Hugh Jackman or Denzel Washington
Yes, it's heresy. But other actors could have played Lincoln. (Liam Neeson, for example, would have been terrific.) However, nobody else could have played Hugh Jackman's or Denzel Washington's roles as well as they did. Besides, DDL in "Lincoln" sounds too much like Lionel Barrymore.

I just said that exact thing to my son the other day! Except for the Barrymore bit...LOL! Aside from Hugh I really thought Denzel was the other best performance of the contenders. I also added...take away the makeup from DDL and it isn't an exceptional performance at all...! I have mentioned before that while Lincoln was a good movie and DDL was good in it it wasn't any better than many other Lincoln movies and portrayals over the years. I'm a history buff and I've seen many, maybe all, of the previous films that featured Abraham Lincoln as a main character. There have been many portrayals that were as good as DDL. I've also seen about a dozen adaptations of Les Miserables and Hugh is by far the best Jean Valjean of all of them. The saddest thing for me is that I've come to the conclusion that many voters don't actually watch the nominated films/performances so I'm expecting a 'going with the herd' vote for DDL or...(long shot)...a love fest vote for Hugh. I think the former is more likely, unfortunately!
Sue

[jo]

They're still campaigning



And talking about campaigning -- here is an inside story from The LA Times on the cost of Oscar campaigning --

www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-oscar-spending-argo-lincoln-20130216,0,668548.story


Jo

[jo]

More Aussie media buzz on how the Oscars will shape up, but the article contains some interesting insights from Deb on how Hugh coped with the filming of Les Miserables and his portrayal of Jean Valjean --

au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/movies/16189662/fisticuffs-for-hughs-oscar/

...Les Miserables' director Tom Hooper wanted Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and the other cast members to sing live on set, rather than using takes sung in the controlled environments of recording studios.

This led to long and painful days of filming, where Jackman and the cast tortured their vocal chords singing take after take.

"It took a lot out of him," Jackman's wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, told AAP.

It would seem Jackman, a Tony Award-winning stage performer battle-hardened for long, six day a week, runs of his Broadway shows would find the Les Miserables set a breeze, but not so.

"The Broadway shows are physically tiring," Furness explained.

"Les Miserables was emotionally and mentally tiring.

"As a singer, it required a lot of stamina. It requires a skill and takes a lot of work."

Les Miserables was shot in London and Jackman and Furness decided it would be best if the family did not relocate from their New York base for the duration of filming.

Their children, Oscar, 12, and seven-year-old Ava remained in school in Manhattan, which made life difficult for Jackman, but allowed him to genuinely portray the pain and hardship Valjean was suffering.

"This is the first film where the family didn't go over and I think it was a good thing, because it even made him more miserable so it worked for the role," Furness added.

"This is one of the hardest roles he has had to prepare for."

But it was a role Jackman desperately wanted.

"I was so stalkerish about getting the role," Jackman said.

"I hunted Tom down. I said 'Listen mate, I'll audition for it'.

"I auditioned and when I got the call about getting the part, that's when it hit me.

"It's one of those 'Careful what you wish for' moments."...

"The Broadway shows are physically tiring," Furness explained.

"Les Miserables was emotionally and mentally tiring.

"As a singer, it required a lot of stamina. It requires a skill and takes a lot of work."


Very insightful comparison of stage work vs film work! I hope Stephanie J. Block and Michael Cerveris get to read this - they made fun of comments by the movie actors of the difficulty of singing live, not realizing that movie filming takes the entire day or even night and the actors had to continue singing all throughout. And that doesn't include that the actors have to act out their feelings or thoughts or emotions at closeup range!

Also, movie audiences who dissed the actors for their singing do not realize the immense difficulty of making this movie - they think that interpreting a song simply means hitting the right notes -- that was just one part of it! I dare the next set of movie actors who do live singing in the next sung-through movie musical to even come close to what the Les Misrables actors were able to accomplish with Tom Hooper!

Jo

[klenotka]

I was disappointed by Stephanie J. Block. She may have thought it as for movie musicals in general or just thought singing on stage is more difficult (nobody says otherwise, it is just very different) but she was dissing also Hugh´s performance by saying so.