Oscar luncheon: The nominees’ most memorable quotes
Everyone’s a winner — or at least no one is yet a loser — at the annual Academy Awards nominee luncheon, where a glitzy crowd of actors, directors and behind-the-scenes creative types rub elbows and offer a few choice sound bites before the final stretch of the Oscar race.
At Monday’s event, a procession of big-name nominees spoke to assembled reporters about making their movies, picking their outfits, surviving awards season and more. Here are some highlights.
“Dallas Buyers Club” actor Matthew McConaughey, on how he’ll celebrate if he wins: “I’m going to celebrate no matter what. … This is my first time nominated, and if I ever get nominated again, who knows, but there will never be another first time.”
PHOTOS: 2014 Academy Awards nominees luncheon
“American Hustle” actor Amy Adams, on what she’ll wear to the Oscars this year: “Sometimes I feel like I am dressing in costume on the red carpet, and this year I want to feel like myself. So I guarantee when I’m on the red carpet this year, you can know that’s a dress that I would wear. It’s not a character’s dress.”
“Wolf of Wall Street” actor Leonard DiCaprio, on the film’s controversial attitude: “There’s a lot of disgusting behavior in this movie. You can see that up on screen. But it was very much a reflection of this culture. We wanted this to be a cautionary tale, and we wanted to accurately portray this darker nature of our culture. It was a reaction to what happened in 2008. We as filmmakers wanted to display this part of humanity on the screen.”
“12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen, on bringing attention to the story of Solomon Northup: “To unearth someone like Solomon Northup, to unearth an American hero, which was lost for 150 years, it gives me great pride. … I think everyone here will now know his name throughout the world, which is fantastic.”
PANORAMA: Oscar nominees class photo
“Gravity” actor Sandra Bullock, on the difference between making and watching the film: “George [Clooney] and I saw nothing. We saw a black box with wires and camera movement. Thematically, we knew how amazing the story was on the page. We just didn’t know what it was going to look like. We didn’t have that experience until we saw the whole thing together in Venice — with the music, with all the wires removed, with all the ambiance and all the subtleties and all the layering.”
“Blue Jasmine” actor Cate Blanchett, on her silver Prada gown: “Thank you, I made it myself.”
“American Hustle” actor Bradley Cooper, on who he’s looking forward to hanging out with at this year’s ceremony: “There’s a lot of great people nominated this year. I wish Tom Hanks was in there. That’s kind of crazy that he’s not.”
“Wolf of Wall Street” actor Jonah Hill, on taking the SAG minimum to work with Martin Scorsese: “Martin Scorsese is my favorite filmmaker of all time. ‘Goodfellas’ is the reason I wanted to spend my life making movies and dedicate my life to that. Money is never a concern to work with people like Martin Scorsese. I would do anything. I would paint his house if he asked me to.”
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