Let's Put On a Show

Vanity Fair has a great gallery of photographer Simon Annand's work of actors backstage. It's part of an exhibit of his work in the UK at the Idea Generation Gallery and coincides with the release of a book on the same subject entitled, The Half: Photographs of Actors Preparing for the Stage. Almost all of the photos are of actors who may have become famous because of their film work, but who have a history with the stage. Some, like Cate Blanchett and Kevin Spacey, still find time to return to the theatre, and others in the photos, like Tom Hardy and Carey Mulligan, were just getting their start. I've always loved behind-the-scenes photography of theatre and film productions. There's a romanticism to trying to capture that creative energy at work while the actor prepares.

I've actually had the pleasure of seeing a couple of these productions that the photographs chronicle, when they transfered to Broadway. It got me thinking about all the great actors I've gotten to see on stage. Since I always love a list, I've compiled the 10 Best Stage Performances by Film Actors (that I've seen). I'm focusing on famous actors known more for their film work since that is the main focus of the photos. So I'm gonna have to leave off the stage work of such theatrical greats as Zoe Caldwell and Patti LuPone or actors, like Fiona Shaw, Stockard Channing, and Cynthia Nixon, who have done film but aren't necessarily famous in that medium. Also, if a said one of the best performance I've ever seen was Mary Louise Wilson in 4000 Miles, that would mean nothing to you. You wanna hear about movie stars like Scarlett Johansson and John C. Reilly (neither will be on this list, but I have seen them) and I don't blame you. On to the stars!

10. Geoffrey Rush Exit the King (2009)
The Oscar winner has a tendency to go a little over the top in performances. But, you know where that works really well– on the stage where everything is exaggerated and a performance where you're going slightly crazy to avoid death! Rush won a Tony for his performance in this absurdist play by Ionesco. His comic performance definitely reached me in my cheap seats. His energy and humor are what really stuck with me.


9. Liam Neeson The Crucible (2002)
I must confess–I don't entirely remember everything about this performance. So, why have I included it here? Because it holds a special place in my heart. It is one of my favorite plays and this production (which also starred Laura Linney) was the first Broadway production I ever saw the first time I ever came to NYC. I was worried about taking the wrong subway and missing the show, so I walked all the way from NYU in Greenwich Village to 52nd Street in Times Square. Let me tell you, it's a long walk. But, I was thrilled to have seen it and I remember Liam Neeson's commanding presence on stage. His earthy, soulfulness is exactly right for the character of John Procter.


8. Jane Fonda 33 Variations (2009)
The two-time Best Actress Oscar winner has only appeared in two US theatrical releases since 1990 (Monster-in-Law and Georgia Rule. Lord, help me–I've seen them both) and the last time she was on Broadway was in 1964, so I was more than excited to see a living legend like Jane Fonda on stage. She played a Beethoven expert studying a minor piece of music of the composer while at the same time battling Lou Gehrig's disease. The play also concerns mother/daughter relationships and spans centuries as Beethoven, himself, is also a character in the play. Such a chaotic structure has the risk of getting out of control, but it was held together with Fonda's centered performance. And what a treat it was to hear that rich, honey voice in person. Her efforts were rewarded with a Tony Nomination.


7. Anne Hathaway Twelfth Night (2009)
This was definitely a hot ticket that summer as Annie was just coming off her Best Actress Oscar nomination for Rachel Getting Married. Her career had entered a new level and I think there were certain expectations that followed. This was a really smart move for her to make as taking on Viola, one of the greatest female stage roles, showcased her talents as a comedic actress–doing Shakespeare, no less–and allowed her to shine in an all-star ensemble. It really seemed like she was enjoying herself and that effortlessness came across on stage. The night I saw it, she started to cough after taking a drink of wine on stage and quickly ad-libbed, 'Tis strong. It was a charming moment that only increased my enjoyment of her performance and the production.


6. Frances McDormand Good People (2011)
When I first saw Frances on stage in The Country Girl in the role that brought Grace Kelly an Oscar (cause they're the same type...) a few years earlier, I was really disappointed. It was a ho-hum production and she never seemed to connect with the character or her co-stars. But, she was outstanding in her Tony award winning performance last year in this MTC production. This time around, she had no problems connecting with this character and she had a lived-in quality that made you believe that this was a real person. It helped that the play was so smartly written. She played a woman with a special-needs adult child in Southie, Boston. When she gets laid-off of her job at a dollar store, she reconnects with an old boyfriend who has since become a successful doctor. Her scenes in the second act with Tate Donavon as the ex and Renée Elise Goldsberry as his wife had a kinetic energy, edge-of-your-seat excitement that makes you appreciate live theatre.

The Stars do Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Tennessee Williams after the jump

A Year in Advance Oscar Predictions 2012

As we officially say good-bye to the films of 2011 with the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, it's time to take a breather from awards and just focus on the movies...Totally kidding! It's time to look ahead to the Oscars celebrating 2012! What's that you say? Too soon? It's never too soon to start thinking about Oscar. Let's see if I can do even better than I did with last year's year-in-advance predictions. We'll have to wait and see if these actors hear their name called early on nomination morning in January 2013 (you know, if the world doesn't end in 2012. Is there a day we're aiming for with that? I'd like to mark my calendar.) On to the nominees! Today is Actor and Actress and tomorrow is the supporting categories:

Murray channels FDR

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln

John Hawkes The Surrogate

Hugh Jackman Les Misérables

Bill Murray Hyde Park on Hudson

Philip Seymour Hoffman The Master

Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln The Role: Speilberg directs the two time Oscar winner in this biopic about our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln (hence the creative title). Why Him: DDL is one of those people, like Meryl Streep that you always assume will get nominated. He's just that good. And he works so infrequently (only 4 films last decade and he was nominated for half of them) that you have to assume the role is good if he's taking the time to make it. I even predicated he would be nominated for Nine (it sounded good on paper). But a lot of it also has has to do with the fact that he's playing a real, well-known, historical figure and working with Oscar winning director, Steven Speilberg, for the first time. Liam Neeson was attached to this role for years and I believe he would have been nominated as well if he had played it. 

John Hawkes The Surrogate The Role: Based on the true story of a man who lived his life in an iron lung and decides to lose his virginity. Why Him: Hawkes is one of those character actors that has been steadily working for years, but his profile rose to another level when he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Winter's Bone (2010). The Surrogate played at Sundance this year (it was his third Sundance hit in a row), where it was meet with huge success winning the Audience Award for Best Drama and a special acting award for the ensemble. And it's based on a true story. And he's playing a person with a disability. If it was set during the Holocaust it'd be a guaranteed Oscar. 

Hugh Jackman Les Misérables The Role: 'Who am I? 24601!' Jackman takes on the lead role in the film version of the hit Broadway musical based on Victor Hugo's novel. He plays Jean Valjean, a man who is recently released after spending 19 years in prison after stealing a loaf of bread. Why Him: Jackman is one of those people that I feel they've been wanting to nominate. The academy already likes him–he's hosted the ceremony before. He just needed to find the right role and film. Hopefully, director Tom Hopper can strike Oscar gold a second time like he did with The King's Speech. Jackman makes no secret about his love for musical theatre, so it should be a treat to see what he brings to this classic role.

Bill Murray Hyde Park on Hudson The Role: Another president! Murray plays our 32nd President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The film is not a biopic of his life but focuses on a weekend in 1939 when he had a brief affair. Why Him: Because he was robbed! Many people expected him to take home the Best Actor Oscar for 2003's Lost in Translation, but he lost to Sean Penn's over-the-top shouting fit in Mystic River. This would be one of those noms to make-up for past mistakes. And the fact that he's playing a real person (in a wheelchair!) sure doesn't hurt his chances. 

Philip Seymour Hoffman The Master The Oscar winner plays a mysterious and charismatic leader of a religious group in 1950's Los Angeles, which may or may not be based on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. Why Him: Paul Thomas Anderson has directed 4 actors already to nominations and the Academy already likes Hoffman (how else to explain his noms for Doubt and Charlie Wilson's War. Admit it, you forgot he was nominated for those). There may be some controversy regarding the subject matter, but my guess is that the role is gonna be too meaty not to include. 

'Trust me, John. I've been here before. They just can't wait to give us nominations.'

Best Actress

Helen Hunt The Surrogate

Nicole Kidman My Wild Life

Keira Knightley Anna Karenina

Rachel McAdams Untitled Terrence Malick

Carey Mulligan The Great Gatsby

Helen Hunt The Surrogate The Role: The professional sex surrogate hired by John Hawkes's character Why Her: Is 2012 gonna be the year of a Helen Hunt comeback? The Best Actress winner from the 90's seemed to have disappeared from acting over the past couple of years. Unless, of course, you caught her in such films as Soul Surfer and Then She Found Me. Yeah, didn't think so. I've never really been a fan of Hunt. My main problem with her is that she's always the same in everything.  But she shared that acting ensemble award at Sundance and people that saw the film were predicting that she could win her second Oscar for this performance. We'll have to wait and see.

Nicole Kidman My Wild Life The Role: Dame Daphne Sheldrick, the real-life conservationist who worked with elephants in Kenya. Why Her: It's all very Gorillas in the Mist meets Out of Africa. The film will reunite the Oscar winning actress with director, Phillip Noyce. His film, Dead Calm, introduced the world to the actress. After Kidman won the Oscar for The Hours (2002), it seemed, despite some of her best work in Birth and Dogville, that the academy was over her. She was also deemed box office poison (just like Katharine Hepburn! Ah, she really is Hollywood royalty) after a series of big-budget flops. But, after her nom for Rabbit Hole, it's looking like the Academy is ready to welcome her back. This project sounds like the perfect fit for Oscar.

Keira Knightley Anna Karenina The Role: The title character in Joe Wright's adaptation of Tolstoy's classic. Anna is a Russian aristocrat in the late 1800's who begins a disastrous affair with a Count. Why Her: Joe Wright's first feature film, the adaptation of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, brought Keira her first (and only) Oscar nomination. The two have collaborated many times since then, creating an artistic relationship. Her work in last year's A Dangerous Method, was seen as many to be her strongest work to date. It seems to be a good time to invite her back. The role has been played by everyone from Greta Garbo to Vivien Leigh and is a showcase for any actress.

Rachel McAdams Untitled Terrence Malick The Role: No one knows exactly. But, rumor has it that she plays the high school sweetheart of a man (Ben Affleck) who returns to his hometown after a divorce and rekindles the old flame. We're talking about Malick, so expect lots of voice overs and gorgeous cinematography. Why Her: McAdams is one of those young actresses that is well-liked in Hollywood, but has never been nominated. She's great in awful films like Morning Glory and can even make the thankless role of a shrewish fiance in Midnight in Paris interesting (my friend lovingly refers to her as a raging bitch in that film). Despite some stellar performances (including a career best from Brad Pitt in last year's The Tree of Life), no actor has ever been nominated for a Malick film. It's more about the visuals. But, McAdams excels in love stories and if she can make dreck like The Notebook and The Vow work, think what she can achieve with a legendary director like Malick.  

Carey Mulligan The Great Gatsby The Role: Daisy Buchanan, the wealthy socialite that is the center of attention of the titular character in Baz Luhrmann's 3-D adaptation. Why Her: The Oscar nominated actress won the role over such contenders as Amanda Seyfried, Keira Knightley, Blake Lively, Abbie Cornish, and Michelle Williams due to the strength of her screen test. That's why she's predicted here– because she's  one of the finest young actresses working today. Last year, she played her best performance to date as the troubled sister in Shame. It brought a new side to her. She is sure to bring something unique to this well-known literary character.

The history-in-the-making screentest

My Oscar Wish List

I spend so much time each year trying to think like an Academy member and predict what will be nominated that I never really take that much time to consider what I want to be nominated. It's all about being right and making predictions based on what everyone is saying. But, aren't the Oscars supposed to be a celebration for great achievements in cinema that year? Shouldn't it be about the performance? So, in honor of what the Oscars stand for (in theory), I present not what I think will be announced tomorrow in the acting categories (the sidebar to the right will show you that), but one name in each of the acting categories that I would love to hear. Their performances stuck with me and they are deserving of recognition.

Best Actor

In the other three categories, I had no trouble coming up with someone who did amazing work but just seems to keep getting passed over at awards ceremonies this year. But, for a while, no one name jumped out at me in this category. Maybe because the heavy-hitter names Clooney, Pitt, and DiCaprio loom so large it overshadows the work of other less famous actors. Then it hit me. A talented young actor that has been building a great body of work over the years. This year he gave a performance that was emotionally draining, yet unsentimentally uplifting. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50. A comedy about someone with cancer shouldn't work, but in the hands of Gordon-Levitt the humor shines as much as the drama. He has an ease and naturalness on camera that can be taken for granted because it's so effortless. Even dramatic breakdowns never seemed forced because they come from a place of truth. He builds relationships with the other characters (Seth Rogan as his best friend, Anjelica Houston- equally sensational- as his mother, Bryce Dallas Howard as his unsympathetic girlfriend, and the young therapist played by Anna Kendrick) that are at once believable and relatable. 

As much as I would like to see it happen, I don't think  the Academy will remember his work tomorrow. But, without question, they have taken notice of Gordon-Levitt and someday soon I have no doubt we will be hearing his name called on the morning of Oscar nominations. 

Best Actress

This was definitely a good year for great work from Actresses. It was looking like a very interesting race for a while, but it seems that the five names to the right seemed to solidify pretty quickly. It's hard to deny a spot for such powerhouses as Mery Streep and Glenn Close. But, if any name can slip in and get a surprise, but well-deserved, nomination it would be Charlize Theron in Young Adult. That the former Oscar winner gives another wonderful performance is no shock. We know the girl can act. What's interesting about the character of Mavis Gary, the young adult novelist that returns to her hometown to win back her married ex-lover, is how unconventional she is. Men are allowed to play unlikable protagonists. Society makes excuses and accepts the fact that the nature of men is to do everything in their power to achieve their goals. Females, on the other hand, need to be made sympathetic or they're labeled a bitch. Charlize takes the conventions of what is expected from a female protagonist and unflinchingly gives us the portrait of a flawed woman who behaves without compromise. She's essentially playing a masculine prototype but never in a way that makes us ever doubt her femininity. 

In Monster, she's able to disappear into the character because she physically transformed into someone that looks nothing like herself. This character looks like the Charlize we know, but through costume and demeanor is presented in a way that is just as transformative. But, perhaps the greatest transformation is that the character remains the same by the movie's end. No great discovery is made. No new outlook on life is revealed. Other's may perceive her in an unflattering light, but she is never less than exactly who she is.

Best Supporting Actor

This category is really all over the place. Who would have ever thought that we would ever use the words 'Oscar nominee' and Jonah Hill in the same sentence? Which is why it surprises me that the scene-stealing work of Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris isn't getting more recognition. The film is Woody Allen's most successful to date and as soon as you've finished with the film the one question on everyone's mind is, who was that amazing actor playing Hemingway? The film is full of famous actors playing famous icons of the 20th Century- Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein, Adrian Brody as Dali. Which is why it's so amazing that Stoll, a relative unknown theatre actor, was able to walk off with the film in about fifteen minutes of screen time. But, he does it in a way that is anything but theatrical. In fact, most of his lines are spoken in a quick-paced monotone. But, it's the lines themselves and the quite intensity and passion with which he brings to them that makes Stoll a stand-out. In interviews, Stoll has said that Woody didn't want him to study recordings of the real Hemingway because he wanted him to play the idea of Hemingway. To personify the written words of the author. But, never do we feel that Stoll's Hemingway is anything less than a real person. His portrayal of one of the most famous authors in history has a humanity and spirit that breathes life into a legend. 

Best Supporting Actress

The names being mentioned for this category all seem a little slight. Not one of them has the depth of emotion that Carey Mulligan brings to Shame. I've already talked at length about her performance in this film. Of all the performances I've seen this year, her's is the one that still stays with me. Mulligan's reward is the indelible work she has shared with us, but an Oscar nomination sure wouldn't hurt...

Best of luck to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Charlize Theron, Corey Stoll, and Cary Mulligan tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your talent with us.

Video Links: Hobbits, Actresses, and Drunk Santa

~Damn internets. We just got the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises yesterday and today brought the trailer for Peter Jackson's next chapter in The Lord of the Rings franchise- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Which is the first of two planned movies. Cause that seems necessary. I do enjoy the Trilogy. In fact, every year at Christmas time, my family watches the extended version of all three films in one day. 10 plus hours of Orcs, Enya/Annie Lennox easy listening, and Liv Tyler's British accent. I don't think anyone has made it through all three without a nap here or there. But watching the trailer, released 10 years almost to the day that Fellowship of the Ring was released in the theatre, I wasn't getting excited. Instead I had this feeling of déjà vu. It has the exact same look and feel as the other films. It seems a little pointless. Maybe something fresh could have been created if Guillermo Del Toro had directed it as intended. Oh, well. It'll make tons of money and I guess that's the real reason it was made...

~Oscar hopeful, Carey Mulligan, is on the cover of 'W' Magazine. Their website also has a great video thats part of Lynn Hirschberg's Screen Test series in which Carey talks about Shame and how she got the part. She's so cute. I love seeing her all dolled up. I saw her this summer when she was getting out of a show she was doing Off-Broadway and let's just say she dresses like a serious actor-complete with clogs and page boy hat.

~Speaking of serious actors, Meryl Streep was on 60 Minutes this past Sunday. It seems like she's everywhere lately. She likes to pretend that winning a third Oscar isn't that important to her, but you just know it is. But is The Iron Lady gonna hold up next to her wins for Sophie's Choice and Kramer vs. Kramer? Although Margaret Thatcher holds a little more heft that Julia Childs. So, maybe this could be the year...

~Did you see any movies this past year? If you did, chances are Jessica Chastain was in it. The Juilliard grad appeared in five films this year (The Tree of Life, The Help, The Debt, Take Shelter, and Coriolanus.) She just received SAG and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress for The Help and an Oscar nom for that film seems inevitable. But, Fox Searchlights, the studio behind The Tree of Life, thinks she should be nominated for her work in their film. And no For Your Consideration print ad in the trade papers will do-how Miramax 90's. They have put together a video campaign that is much classier than it sounds.

~And finally, in honor of the holidays, Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, and Jim Carrey as Santa in Funny or Die's Drunk History: Twas the Night Before Christmas. 

But Imagine It In 3-D

Two official photos have been released of Baz Lurhmann's Australian filmed, 3-D extravagance of a required book from your high school English class. And, my, are they pretty:

"Tobey, doesn't Long Island look suspiciously like the set of Moulin Rouge..."

"Leo-can we talk about how bad J. Edgar was? But, don't speak-just hold me..."

I've always been a big fan of Baz Luhrmann's films. (Have I mentioned that I saw Moulin Rouge! six times in the theatre? I even like Australia more than most people. Although, do people talk about or even remember that movie? I bet if you asked Nicole Kidman about it she'd really have to rack her brain to recall anything.) What I love about his films are they're all distinctly his vision. He has a visual style that is unmistakable. I love how he's not afraid to make something lushly beautiful and wonderfully theatrical. So, it will be interesting to see what he does with The Great Gatsby. It's really the first time that he hasn't created his own world. He's working within the constraints of the novel. (Even though he didn't write Romeo + Juliet, it's definitely his own version. He took that story and put his twist on it.) From what I can tell, Gatsby, appears to be a more straight forward rendition. Oh, except for that whole filming in 3-D thing. You gotta hand it to a man that is using a technique usually reserved for animation and action films and apply it to an adult drama based on a classic American masterpiece. Baz certainly makes the film he wants to make. I'm just glad I get to experience them...

For Your Consideration

Best Supporting Actress:

Carey Mulligan Shame

I wanna wake up in a city that doesn't sleep...

While much is being said about the NC-17 rating, the graphic sex scenes, and the stars' full frontal nudity, not enough is being said about the career changing performance given by, Carey Mulligan. 
Miss Mulligan came to the attention of many in her Oscar nominated performance as the innocent school girl, Jenny, coming of age in An Education. She immediately established herself as an English Rose. You know the type. Beautiful, fresh, intelligent, and proper. She followed her break-out role with the prerequisite big-budget girlfriend role in Wall Street 2. And returned to form in another good performance in Never Let Me Go. But, nothing she has done on film previously would prepare you for her blistering turn in Shame.
She arrives about a half hour into the film and immediately gives the film a jolt of energy. Up until then we have been following her brother, Brandon (Michael Fassbender), on his cool, rather distant journey through a sexual addiction. Mulligan bursts on the scene exposing herself, literally, with a vulnerability and humanness that the film has been lacking. Her Sissy is the emotional heart of the film. She is the catalyst for the audience to feel the journey these characters are going through.
Sissy is of the Sally Bowles mode. A fun loving singer that lives for the moment and is very much the little girl lost. It's a character that in the wrong hands can very quickly turn one-dimensional. But, Mulligan makes it her own giving this reckless woman layers of complexity. Sissy and Brandon have an odd relationship. They don't bat an eye at being nude together or emotionally ripping each other apart. There are many questions about how each of them arrived at this place in their lives. It's to the actors' credit that a back story is never revealed. It lives in the moments as anyone's history unknowingly shapes their lives.

We're family. We're meant to look after each other

The film isn't afraid to take it's time. There are many single shot scenes in which the camera lingers, daring you to look away. In a scene in which the siblings have a discussion, they are shot from behind with no cuts. Even though the entire conversation is done in profile we don't miss a thing. He, all icy reserve and she, bleeding heart on her sleeve, cut to the heart of what it means to be family. Wanting to stand on your own, but knowing that family is always there.

And in perhaps the film's best scene, the camera, in extreme close-up, focuses on Sissy giving the saddest performance of the song, 'New York, New York', that you've ever heard. With her voice and a furlong look, Mulligan gives the song a raw intensity. She acts through the song, giving the moment a glimpse into her character's fragility. The camera briefly cuts away to show that the song has brought a tear to Brandon's eye, momentarily melting his hard soul. As an audience member, it's difficult to invest in a character who is so closed off. If the film succeeds at all on an emotional level it is due to the performance of Carey Mulligan.