Trying to win an Oscar requires commitment and effort similar to winning a general election. For something in Hollywood they already buried the euphemisms and use only the term “campaign.” A plan carefully designed, financed by private interests and that forces its protagonist to travel the world to attend fifty events, sometimes for a whole year, with a plot engraved on fire and an equally perennial smile. They would also do well to clear their agenda of any other professional project, go on a diet – Julianne Moore spent “six months without eating” – and equip themselves with pallets of artificial tears, since even Brie Larson confessed her fear of suffering from chronic conjunctivitis after the thousands of selfies he had to concede while fighting for his Oscar for The room. In his case, he paid off and took it home.
From Cannes to Venice, from Telluride to Toronto, from the round table of The Hollywood Reporter to eating spicy chicken wings on YouTube, from singing with Jimmy Fallon to dogging with Ellen, from Elton John’s party to the polygraph of La Conchita on duty at Vanity Fair… Every personal confession counts, every viral video counts. With the added condition that, unlike the aspiring councilor, they cannot verbalize their irrepressible desire to win, but must hide behind illusory artistic motivations as an impulse to grab the statuette. A mission, to finally achieve the desire most shared by those who live in the hills of Los Angeles, which can even end up costing the health of its participants.
At 63, Emma Thompson is still one of the great British actresses of the seventh art. Foto: Getty
It has been the actress Emma Thompson the last to speak publicly about the dark side of participating in the grueling race towards these awards and the deleterious effects it had on her physical and mental well-being. “The two times I had to participate in the Oscars I got sick, seriously ill, both before and during the campaign. The pressure and the dazzle of it all was too much for me. It’s amazing,” the 63-year-old actress confessed on the podcast Radio Times. The British woman has won the statuette twice: for best actress for Regreso a Howards End in 1993 and, three years later, for the best screenplay adapted by Sense and Sensibilitybecoming the only artist to win the award for both her acting work and her role as a screenwriter.
“At those times you just want to lie down in a dark room. You think, ‘Please don’t ask me any more questions or force me to talk about myself.’ It is awful. It didn’t take me long to develop a kind of allergy to all of that, even if it’s just another part of my job,” she added. Thompson also described the exposure that Hollywood stars are subjected to as “highly toxic”: “If that’s what you want, to be recognized, I imagine you can deal with it and it’s not so intrusive. But that’s not what I wanted.” The actress, who has just released the film version of the musical Matilda, he congratulates himself for having kept fame at bay and not having had to play a character of global impact like James Bond, who “nullifies your anonymity” immediately. Despite having been nominated for several Baftas and Golden Globes in recent years, Thompson has not been nominated for an Oscar since 1996 and has not stepped on the red carpet as a guest or presenter.
Emma Thompson poses with her second statuette along with Jim Carrey and Elton John at the second’s party. Foto: Getty
The Londoner is not the only stellar interpreter who has openly criticized the most coveted annual event for those who are dedicated to the seventh art. Precisely the most awarded actress in history, Katharine Hepburn, with up to four Oscars to her credit, never went to collect any claiming that “the awards mean nothing to me, my prize is work.” Nor are figures like Woody Allen or actor George C. Scott (Patton), who called it a “two-hour meat parade” – I wish it only lasted two hours. A philosophy shared by another prestigious actor like Joaquin Phoenix, who described the ceremony as “the stupidest thing in the world.” “They are a carrot, but the worst-tasting carrot I’ve ever tasted in my entire life,” he said in an interview in 2012 to, years later, end up eating the criticized carrot with the Oscar received for his role in the film. Joker.
Emma Thompson’s words come at a time of particular controversy in the industry regarding confidence in the rules governing the bidding process. The surprising nomination of the actress Andrea Riseborough, protagonist of the small independent film To Leslie, has triggered all the alarms at the Hollywood Academy, which debated whether to withdraw her name from the shortlist that will play the best actress award on March 12. The controversy arose after a huge group of Hollywood stars, from Jennifer Aniston to Edward Norton or Mia Farrow, wrote praising tweets about the work of her partner coinciding in time, space and form with the week before the vote. Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow and Amy Adams were also part of the promotional actions for To Leslie and Kate Winslet called it one of the best performances she had ever seen “in her entire life.” Coincidence or not, based on Thompson’s recent confession, perhaps the next applicants should reflect on the appropriateness of hearing her name on the stage of the iconic Dolby Theater.
After almost three decades, the British has not been nominated for any statuette again. Foto: Getty