With yesterday’s Oscar nominations announcement, Kaiser noted the strange omission of Tilda Swinton’s role as beleaguered mother Eva Khatchadourian in We Need to Talk About Kevin. Truly, she deserved at least a nomination for this role, but the Academy apparently has other ideas for this year. Obviously, a lot of lobbying occurs behind the scenes, and we all know that awards don’t really mean much in the grand scheme of the moviemaking business. Still, this is particularly terrible news because now we won’t get to see Tilda rock her unconventional sense of red carpet fashion like she did at the Golden Globes. For her part though, Tilda isn’t disappointed at all about being left off the Best Actress list:
Tilda Swinton wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award for her role in We Need to Talk About Kevin, but she wasn’t sad after hearing the news.
“I wasn’t disappointed. I didn’t know for hours, but someone was telling me apparently everyone else was disappointed. I had very low expectations, so perhaps my expectations were a bit lower than everybody else,” the 51-year-old actress said Tuesday at an event celebrating Here, a short film starring supermodel Agyness Deyn that Swinton conceived for Starwood Hotels&Resorts Worldwide Inc.’s Luxury Collection brand.
“I am a good gambler, so I knew we were not really going to be in there. I am amazed that our little film got as far as it did,” she said.
Swinton took home an Oscar in 2008 for best supporting actress for Michael Clayton.
This time, she not only starred in We Need to Talk about Kevin, but also served as an executive producer. Swinton was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the film, and she said being nominated for any major award was a win for the movie.
“This is a film that was put out by a tiny distributor who doesn’t have the money to put ads on the sides of buses or television ads or have a whole page in a newspaper, so for us, nominations and prizes are a big deal because by that way, people hear about our film.”
Swinton lost to Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes, but she holds no hard feelings.
Who is going to win best actress at the Oscars? Swinton replied: “Meryl Streep is going to win it for sure.” When later asked if she always keeps a sense of humor about awards, Swinton smiled back and said, “Well, what is the alternative?”
[From Access Hollywood]
Naturally, Tilda is all class here, and I completely believe her claims of not being disappointed about the lack of Oscar nomination (whereas if George Clooney had said the same thing, I’d think he was entirely full of crap). Lots of people thought Tilda would be a lock on every Best Actress award this season, and it is surprising that she’s been overlooked in favor of Mara Rooney’s lackluster turn in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I mean, please.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet
Take notes Rooney Mara and Katherine Heigl! That is what longevity in the business, and rightly-earned success is all about: Graciousness.
Learn it!
Dude looks nice in blue!
I kid.
LOL!
Oh no you di’int! Legend Swinton will obliterate you with her withering stare.
She is indeed gracious, what a class act. I am dying to see this movie, I just read the book and it was riveting.
Is she David Bowies kid from the 70’s
kinda creeps me
Yes!! I’m not the only one who sees a resemblance to Bowie!
Rooney Mara did not have a lackluster job in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo! She had a phenomenal performance!!!
Yep. Completely agree. Rooney may not be trained to lie and hide her natural reaction to things and surely her PR team will try to instruct her in the future. But to deflect from her actual performance in TGWTDT to her interview skills is petty. The girl is actually gracious and thankful, albeit new to the game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h4Tb0XFZeY
Come on people, you may not like her, but she can act. I don’t usually like to defend privileged kids in the arts, but had to here:)
Quite frankly, if I can acknowledge Tilda’s talent despite her stupid comments supporting Roman Polanski, I can do the same for Mara despite her comments about her past jobs.
Rooney Mara & Tilda Swinton are both big-mouths who did excellent work this year.
Whoa, Tilda supports Polanski? I might….have to reduce my affection for her now.
🙁
Agree completely. Aside from that, I don’t get everyone’s seeming obsession with Tilda. She is one of many actresses who are succeeding these days.
I don’t think anyone is knocking Rooney’s performance~she was fantastic! But it is a reapeat performance of a movie~not deserving of an Oscar. Noomi Rapace, with her original performance as Lizbeth, broke that ground already~ Mara simply repeated it (wonderfully, yes!).
I saw both movies and I felt that both actresses gave very different performaces. Yes, they were playing the same character, but their interpretations were different. I felt that even though I had seen the Swedish film first, Mara made it feel fresh and new.
Such a class act and gracious. I believe her too, when she says that she’s happy her movie did better than she thought it would. It was a truly thought provoking film, and really there is nothing she can’t do.
Tilda Swinton is fascinating (to me). I love her style, one only she can carry. I love her grace and her seemingly endless gratitude. She is lovely, enormously talented, and totally unconventional.
Co-sign 100%! 🙂
I rarely go to the movies but I did enjoy the book immensely and I love Tilda, so I think I’ll make the effort!
She is indeed gracious – a class act!
I read a ton of reviews for Dragon Tattoo, and however they felt about the film as a whole, critics mostly raved about Mara’s performance. The idea that Mara’s performance was lackluster is definitely a minority view, at least as far as critics are concerned.
She also appeared on most of the Oscar nom prediction lists that I saw, so I don’t think her nomination is a surprise at all.
Also, is there a reason why people keep suggesting that Mara somehow took Tilda’s spot? I mean, if Mara wasn’t nominated, were there no other good performances by women that might have been nominated? That’s a pretty sad statement, considering how many men I can think of who gave Oscar-worthy performances.
Kirsten Dunts, Elizabeth Olsen, Tilda Swinton, they all deserved the nomination MUCH MORE than Rooney Mara. Rooney’s perfomance was the most overhyped NOT the best one
No one (else) ever wears that fishtail style well. WOWWW.
THIS Is why the Germans bombed the British!
It’s nonsense that to talk Tilda up, you need to knock R Mara. To be perfectly honest WNTTAK was not exactly Tilda’s finest role.
Well, when people say “so-and-so should have been nominated,” the natural follow up is, in who’s place?
To me, Swinton could have replaced just about ANY of the other nominees. Although I didn’t see Albert Nobbs, so I can’t comment on Glenn Close (who has proven over the years to be a great actress). That’s not “knocking” anyone else. But you can’t say someone should have been nominated when all the slots are filled, without replacing one of the nominees.
She’s about the one actress I know of who can wear the most outrageous things and not look like she’s trying too hard, or screaming for attention.
I’ve liked her in everything I’ve seen her in, even if I didn’t like the movie itself. I’m sure she’ll get some more Oscars in the future.
She is just awesome. “Julia” is a must-see for anyone that is a fan of Swinton. She is PHENOMENAL in it.
She comes across as a classy woman with talent and substance. Must be tough in the Hollywood machine.
They should give her an Oscar just for playing a human for so many years. Go ahead and try to tell me she isn’t an alien goddess from beyond the stars.
I agree, that and her amazing fashion.
Wait a minte…she supports Roman Pervlaski. Totally changed my whole view on her. I can’t stand anyone who would actually defends this man.
If he came home and did his time like he was supposed to and then faded from obscurity then I could deal with people saying he’s “reformed”. But that is not the case and I don’t care how great she is in everything else, that let’s me know she’s not great about the things that matter. Like sexual perversions on minors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXDDsJsoOcg
“This is a film that was put out by a tiny distributor who doesn’t have the money to put ads on the sides of buses or television ads or have a whole page in a newspaper, so for us, nominations and prizes are a big deal because by that way, people hear about our film.”
Point deftly made, Ms. Swinton. I hope that the Academy was listening.
I just saw We Need to Talk About Kevin yesterday, and it was hard to watch, no lie. The subject matter; the flash-backs; the jittery camera-work. But it was WORTH IT.
And Tilda was excellent!
I love Tilda but Rooney Mara was great in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. If anything doesn’t deserve a nomination it’s a biopic about Margaret Thatcher. I’ve heard the movie is not even good and I am so tired of them handing out academy awards for playing famous people, it’s such an annoying fact about the academy awards. Want an Oscar? Play a famous person!
Since Sandra Bullock´s win 2 years ago I do not really give the Oscars too much meaning. I recently saw the Blind Side again and she had to master exactly 2 emotions in it: positive supportive mom is sad and positive supportive mom is happy. Well done. So who cares? Tilda doesn´t either.
Honestly, I don’t think Rooney Mara stole the nomination from Dame Tilda. (I don’t like Mara at all, but still admired her performance in Dragon Tattoo). If anything Glenn Close is the one who is getting Tilda’s deserved spot. Albert Nobbs is a mess of a movie, and Janet McTeer is actually the best part in it.
Tilda will be in a new Wes Anderson movie, starring frances mcdormand and bruce willis! coming out in May overseas and hopefully by summer here in the U.S. Apparently, Ed Norton is also in it. ‘Moonrise Kingdom’.
No SWINTON at the Oscars… BOOOOOOOO!
I just LOVE how she doesn’t wear any makeup. At all. I admire her daring and edgy style, even if I don’t always like what she’s wearing, at least she’s not afraid to experiment. Her Golden Globes ensemble was exquisite!
I have loved Tilda since The Beach with DiCaprio, and Young Adam with Ewan McGregor. She should have gotten a nomination.
What exactly is your beef with Rooney? Did you see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Her performance was phenomenal and she completely deserves the Oscar nom.
The Academy went for safe Oscar bait performances and Mara’s father is a billionaire who can buy votes. The best female performances of the year were given by Charlize Theron, Tilda Swinton and Elizabeth Olsen! Meryl Streep annoys me with her impersonations and award chasing.
YES!
The best lisbeth Salander is Noomi Rapace.
Rooney’s performance pleased me more than Noomi’s, she sparks the humanity and soul that were missing from Noomi. I saw an interview with Rooney the other day and I had a hard time believing that this girl so shy and reserved were the same one that blew me away at the movies! I hope she will have her Oscar!
I loved the casting in ‘We need to talk about Kevin’. It was some of the best acting I’ve seen in a long, long time. I really can’t believe it got shunned.