It’s been almost 20 years since Paul Giamatti’s last Oscar nomination, for Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man in 2006. This year, with Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, Giamatti scores his long-overdue first lead nod after coming extremely close with another Payne collaboration, Sideways, in 2004.
The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly teacher (Giamatti) at a New England boarding school, forced to watch over a small group of students over the holidays. He’s joined on campus by a grieving cook (played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who was also nominated today) and a rebellious senior looking for trouble (newcomer Dominic Sessa). The film scored five total Oscar nominations Tuesday, including for picture and original screenplay.
Tuesday morning, the veteran character actor chatted with The Hollywood Reporter in the wake of his second Oscar nomination to talk about receiving that news, his collaboration with Payne and what he might like to try out in future projects.
Where were you when you got the news?
I have to admit, I was asleep. My manager woke me up. I’m a night owl. I stay up late. I think I was like, “I’m just going to ignore these things. Somebody will tell me what happened.” My manager of many decades woke me up.
How did you feel when you got the news? Did you have people you immediately had to call?
I was flabbergasted. I’m still flabbergasted by it. I’m trying to take it in. I’m so happy the movie got acknowledged in so many ways. I’m so happy the editor, Kevin Tent, got acknowledged. He’s the best. I’m still just trying to take it in. It’s amazing. I didn’t need to call anybody. Everybody started calling me. I was like, “Holy cow.” Everybody started contacting me. So, it was lovely.
I was just on the phone with your co-star, Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
Where is she? Is she in Paris?
She just got back from Paris this morning. She pulled an all-nighter.
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