It was a star-studded weekend in Santa Barbara as 12 A-listers, including numerous Oscar nominees, headed to the American Riviera for the 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Friday night, the 2,000-seat Arlington Theater celebrated the festival with a sold-out crowd. Robert Downey Jr. through the Maltin Modern Master Award, named after the film critic/historian. leonard maltese. Maltin led the following lively career retrospective conversation: Oppenheimer Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor, who captivated audiences with his self-deprecating humor and imitation of everyone. Richard Attenborough To my deceased father Robert Downey Sr.Before Downey's co-stars Cillian Murphy We present him with the award itself.
In the interview, the 58-year-old winner looked back on growing up as the son of an independent filmmaker who cast him in films in the 1970s. pound, when he was five years old. “I think this is what I should do,” the younger Downey deadpans about his performance. “I was told I didn’t have the panache to be a waiter so I had to resort to theater.”
Downey was a rising star in American film in the 80s and early 90s. He discussed it with Maltin in 1985. weird science1987 less than 0 (“The Ghost of Christmas from the Future”), 1989 The opportunity is and true believerand 1992 Chaplin (He was nominated for his first Oscar for directing). Attenborough “changed my life”). actor Rob Rowea high school classmate from the 1980s and still a friend, made a surprise appearance in the middle of the interview and praised his friend's work from that era.
Notoriously, Downey began his major battle with addiction in the mid-1990s. However, he re-emerged in the mid-2000s looking cleaner and more talented than ever in films like 2005. kiss kiss bang bang (He met his future wife. Susan Downey), 2007 zodiac sign And in 2008 tropical thunder (This earned him his second Oscar nomination.) He then exploded into superstardom with his portrayal of Marvel's Iron Man in numerous films released from 2008 to 2019.
Then, in 2022, Downey and his wife produced teacherThis is a documentary about his complicated relationship with his father, who passed away in 2021. “That was the beginning of a new kind of phase I was in,” he now recalls, which is widely expected to be his first Oscar win. .
Murphy, who received loud applause, told the crowd: “I have never worked with or met anyone like Robert Downey Jr. Besides his incredible talent and unreal range, he has left us in awe with his character and lead performances, his searing dramatic performances and his heart-pounding comedic performances. He has taken on and won every type of role imaginable. It's truly amazing what this man has done. In my opinion, he is the most versatile actor of his generation, and perhaps the most likely actor of multiple generations. Robert, like all great actors, works incredibly hard to make it look so easy. But he's not just a great actor, he's a unicorn of sorts. Because he's a great actor who has risen to a level of superstardom that few of us can understand. I think that's because he's one of the kindest, funniest, most generous actors I've ever worked with, and it all comes across on screen. You see it in every performance.”
TCM hosts on Saturday nights Dave Karger, another sold-out performance at the Arlington Theater for the 14th consecutive year, hosted the festival's Virtuosos Awards evening, celebrating performers who have made breakthroughs over the past year. But not before Karger took the stage. scott george And fellow Osage singers and drummers belted out George's Oscar-nominated original song, “Wahzhazhe (Song for My People).” Flower Moon Killers.
Karger then introduced six of the eight pre-announced winners for brief individual interviews. Bobby Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress America Ferrera, we are all strangers Main actor Andrew Scott, May December supporting actor charles melton, holdover Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress Davine Joy Randolph, past life main actor Greta Lee and Flower Moon Killers Best Actress Oscar Nominee lily gladstone — rustin Best Actor Oscar Nominee coleman domingo and color purple Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress Daniel Brooks We had to withdraw from the event due to filming obligations. I pointed out that they all happened to be performers of color and/or members of the LGBTQ community. “That means you won’t see a single white straight person on stage all night,” he said.
Ferrera spoke about the famous monologue he was asked to deliver. Bobby (“I’m so glad I didn’t fail”) and what her Academy Award win meant to her (“Being nominated for an Oscar has been on my dream list since I was 5 years old. Let’s not pretend like that”) She’s rehearsed that speech a thousand times. “I didn’t do it.”)
Scott discussed how meaningful what he was showing was. we are all strangersis a work depicting same-sex relationships in his native Ireland, where it was illegal for men to hold hands. Melton responded to his questions about his own anxiety levels. May December (“I was really nervous going in. I mean. Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore“) and gained 40 pounds to do his part (“It was fun. I could eat whatever I wanted”).
Randolph said she fired the gun. holdover It was shelved after being purchased by Focus Features over two years ago (after a private screening at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival). Meanwhile, Lee said she worked as a supporting actor for 20 years before her debut. past lifeShe described it as “everything I've been looking for my whole life” and, referring to the film itself, “in-yun”.
And while Gladstone looked back on becoming the first Native American Best Actress Oscar nominee, she felt personally satisfied but frustrated that Native Americans had gone so long without such recognition. 96th “It’s the Academy Awards,” he said. “The Super Bowl is tomorrow.” If you look at one of the teams that are playing, we haven't come that far. [the Chiefs].”
On Sunday, a final memorial service was held before the Super Bowl. In Arlington jazz tangkai intervened Diversity Artisans Award tribute to multiple Oscar nominee: Bobby composer billie eilish and confession (The sibling of “What Was I Made For?” was definitely the main draw) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. three VFX Supervisor Stefan Seretti, Oppenheimer composer Ludwig Göransson, Bobby production designer Sarah Greenwood And the set decorator katie spencer, virtuoso Hair Styling/Makeup Artist Kazuhiro, Oppenheimer film editor Jennifer Lame, Flower Moon Killers cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sound re-recording mixer Michael Semanik and poor things costume designer Holly Waddington.
as it were poor thingsBest Supporting Actor Award Nominee mark ruffalo He will be in Arlington Sunday night for a career reflection conversation ahead of the presentation of the fest's American Riviera Award.