Nominee Reactions

“It’s a nice sound to wake up to the phone ringing on Oscar day.”
– Amy Adams, nominated for The Fighter

“It is with great honor and humility that I receive my Oscar nomination. I have been included with a group of top-notch actors who I respect and admire. I am humbled to be in their presence. I also would like to acknowledge the power of ensemble acting. The kind of acting that happened in this movie does not exist in a bubble. Any honor that I receive must be shared with Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Josh Hutcherson, Mia Wasikowska, the rest of the cast, and of course the inimitable Lisa Cholodenko. Thank you to the Academy. This nomination is a win for Marriage Equality and that is the most I could hope for.”
– Mark Ruffalo, nominated for The Kids Are All Right

“This is a big surprise. I don’t agree with the concept of awards ceremonies, but I’m prepared to make an exception for the ones I’m nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me.”
– Banksy, nominated for Exit Through the Gift Shop

“One thing I know is I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and it’s taken me 20 to get here. In another 20, I may be dead. I’ve been really trying to enjoy it and soak it up and really be grateful for it.”
– Mark Ruffalo, nominated for The Kids Are All Right

“I could not have shot The Fighter (two years ago) without Amy in that freaking hotel. We had a ball and a blast, I can’t wait to see what she’s wearing, and yes, Amy, I AM going to to wear high heels!”
– Melissa Leo, nominated for The Fighter

“4 nominations and 4 kids.  I am damn proud!”
– Annette Bening, nominated for The Kids Are All Right

“As my 3-year-old daughter said, ‘Yay!’ I couldn’t put it any better myself.”
– Helena Bonham Carter, nominated for The King’s Speech

“[The nomination] is just wonderful. It was a labor of love for all of us. It was a wonderful film to be involved with. It broke all the rules … We’re very happy with being the underdogs. We’ll have a much better evening, actually. We’ll have a lot of fun. With Slumdog, there was a lot of pressure on us to win. And this time, we’re not the frontrunner, and we’re incredibly happy participants in the race, and we’ll watch everyone else get very tense.”
— Simon Beaufoy, Benomianted for 127 Hours

“What honor it is to be nominated for an Academy Award!  I’m actually on my way to the Van Nuys immigration and naturalization office for a  biometrics (fingerprinting) appointment.   I’m looking at the Oscar nom as a good sign!  Maybe they’ll let me stick around and become a citizen now!”
– Dean DeBlois, writer/director of How to Train Your Dragon

“For Toy Story 3 to be recognized by the Academy as not only one of the best animated films of the year, but also as one of the ten best pictures of the year, is both humbling and overwhelming. I’m speechless; I feel like I’ve been blasted to infinity and beyond.”
— Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3

“Try as I could to act cool and not care, as soon as I heard our names called, I started crying like a little kid. Pardon the cliché, but this truly is a dream come true. I want to thank the Academy for this most phenomenal honor.”
– Stuart Blumberg, nominated for The Kids Are All Right

“It’s so fantastic. I was up most of the night but nodded off and missed my actual announcement. But I got a call right away and lots of text messages from my ex-husband and my family and friends. I knew we were doing good work all along, but I had no idea it would get this kind of affection.”
— Jackie Weaver, Best Supporting Actress nominee, Animal Kingdom

“It seems like I was fired out of a cannon this time last year, and now it’s like I’m orbiting Pluto.”
– Colin Firth, nominated for The King’s Speech

“It’s a testament to the skill and the dedication devoted to this film by a very talented team of artists. And of course I sincerely hope that Jacques Tati would be proud of what we have achieved with his marvellous story.”
— Sylvain Chomet, nominated for The Illusionist

“As an Australian, I’m as excited to be recognized and honored by the Academy as my character must have been when his London speech therapy business flourished when the future King Of England happened to pop by one day. This story has struck such a rich resonant chord with audiences of all ages, which is very exciting — to have your work honored by your industry peers is even better.”
– Geoffrey Rush, nominated for The King’s Speech

“I was building Lego with my son and lost track of the time. Then the phone started ringing and I realized it must be good news. I’m incredibly touched and humbled. I grew up watching the awards and never thought this would be my reality. I’m thrilled for Natalie who trained tirelessly for a year and then trusted me with her soul and spirit.  And I’m so thankful the academy recognized my long time collaborators Matty, Andy and Scott. They are such focused and committed artists and their work inspired me every day.”
– Darren Aronofsky, nominated for Black Swan

“I think that what resonated is that it’s not a timely story, I think what resonated is that it is a timeless story, one with themes as old as storytelling itself: of friendship and loyalty, of betrayal, power, class, jealousy. These are things that Aeschylus would have written about or Shakespeare would have written about. And it’s just lucky for me that neither of those guys were available so I got to write about it.”
– Aaron Sorkin, nominated for The Social Network

“Currently celebrating with my colleagues three feet above the ground.  Not used to this much joy, or this much champagne at this hour.”
– Colin Firth, nominated for The King’s Speech

“I’m very honored and humbled to be recognized by the Academy with two nominations. Working with Danny Boyle is such a remarkable experience, and I’m so fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with him again. I’m immensely grateful to Fox Searchlight for their efforts on this incredible film based on the courageous story of Aaron Rolston.”
– A.R. Rahman, nominated for 127 Hours

“We are overjoyed that the Academy gave our film four nominations — what a journey, from years getting the movie together to Sundance last year to the Kodak Theatre next month! We made the film because we had something to say about the power of love, and I want to thank the Academy members from the bottom of my heart for showing us their love!”
– Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, nominated for The Kids Are All Right

“I’m celebrating with the people who helped get me there — you and your colleagues in the various forms of press and media that have long witnessed my work and long written and spoken beautiful things about it and really, truly helped me get to this day. Everyone asks about celebrations and glasses of champagne. That I get the opportunity to talk to all of you and say: ‘We did it! This is awesome! Look at us now!'”
– Melissa Leo, nominated for The Fighter

“To be nominated in the animated feature film category is is an unbelievable thrill and honor.  I honestly couldn’t sleep last night in anticipation of the announcement.  When I was a kid I watched the Oscars with my grandmother – we never missed a broadcast.  I could never have imagined that as kid growing up in Colorado I would have a  chance to be a part of this amazing thing.    DreamWorks gave us a  place where we were free to create and pushed us to never ever stop short of the best we could do.”
– Chris Sanders, writer/director of How to Train Your Dragon

“If you get six nominations, including best picture and best actor — I’d go see that movie. So I think it’s enormously important for the film.”
– Christian Colson, producer of 127 Hours

“I had no idea they were announcing today. I swear! I was totally taken by surprise. I just dropped the kids off at carpool. I was about five minutes from the school with a car full of kids. With so many kids, I didn’t even realize it was today. I’m glad I forgot about it. It’s made it all the more — I don’t know, just sweet and poignant and unexpected, you know?”
— Mark Ruffalo, nominated for The Kids Are All Right

“My cup runneth over. This is my tenth film musical, and Disney’s 50th animated film. An Oscar nomination puts the whole experience beyond words for me.” 
– Alan Menken, nominated for Tangled

“I am so honored and grateful to the Academy for this recognition,” Us Weekly magazine quoted Portman as saying in a statement. ‘It is a wonderful culmination of the ten-year journey with Darren to make this film. Making ‘Black Swan’ is already the most meaningful experience of my career, and the passion shown for the film has completed the process of communication between artists and audience. I am so thankful for the support we have received and I share this honor with the entire cast and crew of the film, especially Darren Aronofsky.”
– Natalie Portman, nominated for Black Swan

“I am truly overwhelmed with gratitude by this recognition by the Academy this morning.  I’m smiling from ear to ear knowing that lightning can strike twice and it feels electrifying.  I’m thrilled to be amongst these tremendously talented artists. A big congratulations to all the nominees!”
– Jeremy Renner, nominated for The Town

“It took us seven years, 13 financiers, and a 23-day shoot to make our film a reality. By recognizing Kids, the Academy has not only honored us but has given us hope and inspiration to the independent film community.” 
– Celine Rattray, producer, The Kids Are All Right

‘Playing Charlene was truly an inspiring experience and I’m so proud and grateful to have been a part of this movie. It’s an honor to be nominated in the same category as Melissa, and alongside such incredible actresses.’
– Amy Adams, nominated for The Fighter

“What an extraordinary journey this film has taken me on! ‘Rabbit Hole’ has been a labor of love and I’m so thankful to John Cameron Mitchell, David Lindsay-Abaire and the brilliant cast. This nomination reflects all of the heart and soul that these people have put into it and I can’t thank them enough.”
– Nicole Kidman, nominated for Rabbit Hole

“It has been such an incredible journey with ‘The Fighter’ and one that I am grateful to share with David O. Russell, Christian, Melissa, Amy, my fellow producers and the Ward and Eklund families, who are the heart and soul of the film.  Thank you to the Academy for this tremendous honor.”
— Mark Wahlberg, producer, The Fighter

“Ten seems like an awful lot. We don’t want to take anyone else’s.”
– Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, True Grit

“On behalf of everyone associated with ‘The Fighter,’ we are deeply honored by The Academy’s recognition of our film.  This has been a labor of love for us and an incredible, rewarding  journey that continues with this nomination.”
— David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, producers of The Fighter

“To have ‘Toy Story 3’ represented in the Best Picture category is a great honor, and a fitting tribute to director Lee Unkrich, producer Darla Anderson, screenwriter Michael Arndt, and all of the talented people at Pixar, who worked so hard to live up to and exceed the standards and expectations of Toy Story fans and moviegoers all over the world.”
– John Lasseter, on behalf of Toy Story 3

 “It’s incredible to think that this morning’s Oscar nominations go back 7 years to the fateful day Stuart Blumberg and I crossed paths in a Los Angeles coffee shop and agreed to write KIDS together. If luck is preparation meeting opportunity, then that was the opportunity, hands down! I’m thrilled that I’ll be at the Kodak Theatre next month with Stuart, Mark Ruffalo, Annette Bening, Jeff Levy-Hinte, and my other producers who worked so hard to get this film made. I only regret that Julianne Moore didn’t get the acting nomination she so richly deserved. But the Picture nomination is as much hers as ours. We couldn’t have made this film without her heart, smarts and loyalty, not to mention her outstanding performance.”
– Lisa Cholodenko, nomianted for The Kids Are All Right

“The nomination is wonderful because working on ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was one of the best creative experiences of my entire career. Tim Burton trusted us with his vision and the work on the screen is the result of an amazing collaboration with hundreds of brilliant artists, including my fellow nominees and a great team on set. You hope to have an experience like this at least once in career and I am so happy that our peers recognized the extraordinary complexity, detail and accomplishment that the visual effects in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ represent.”
– Ken Ralston, nominated for Alice in Wonderland

“I had a really hard time sleeping last night — for several reasons, but knowing this thing was happening in the morning is really nervewracking. You never can tell. I certainly knew it was a flashy role. It was electric on the page. But there’s so many things that can go wrong when making a film, who knows what it will turn out to be. And it certainly pulled together a fantastic film and I’m happy to be a part of it.”
– Jeremy Renner, nominated for The Town

“I’ve got a pretty full day coming up. I’ll stop by Mark’s house, I’ll stop by David’s house, give ’em both a big hug. [I’ll] try and stop by Christian’s house although he’s probably holed up and won’t even turn on the TV until 10 a.m.”
– Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of Relativity Media, on The Fighter nominations

“We felt this film was an important movie for our time because it describes our time. And in so many ways this is kind of timeless. And what an incredible pairing of a director and a journalist and a writer, in Aaron Sorkin. And what an incredible thing for Sony Pictures to have stepped up and produced this film and believed in it and gotten it out there.”
— Kevin Spacey, executive producer, The Social Network

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
•