Quotes from the 2008 Oscar Nominees Luncheon
by Reg Seeton

QUOTES FROM THE 2008 OSCAR NOMINEES LUNCHEON:

TONY GILORY (Directing and Original Screenplay):

Tony Gilroy in bringing Michael Clayton to the screen:

"You know, I’ve been on this for eight years, almost eight years to the week I went in and first pitched this. So the whole thing has been a huge struggle along the way and there’s also been so many triumphant things that had to happen, miraculous things that have to happen when a movie works out. I was happy last May when we finally had the picture done. I was like, ‘Wow, I really like my movie.' That was the first thing and we went to Venice, and we’ve been on the road with it, and I wouldn't have quit anywhere along the way with what’s happened, I’ve been so happy with the reception. So everything that’s happened from the completion of the movie has sort of been a big bump for me all [the] way down the line, very happy surprises all the way."

Gilroy on the writers' strike and the Oscar ceremony:

"I will say this: I really hope that there is a settlement, I hope that it’s a really good deal that the leadership of the Writer’s Guild can sign off on. I’ve been a member of the Writer’s Guild for twenty years and I feel very in tune with what’s gone on and I think it’s a very important deal. It’s my absolute hope that we get to go and get dressed up and do the whole thing and whatever. But in the framework of all of the people who’ve been out of work and the economics that have wrecked havoc with so many people’s lives, I think whether I want to get dressed up and go to a party is a little bit less important. I really hope that it works out and it looks like it might. That’s all I’ll say."

Tony Gilroy on George Clooney:

"He is just - and it’s such a stupid clichéd thing - he’s better at the job of being a movie star than I think anybody who’s ever done it. When you think of what being a movie star used to mean, you just had to go and act, do your job, and you were protected. Add to that, working these rope lines, maintaining your dignity, having a political world-view that doesn’t get too preachy. The things that he does and the way that he does them and the effortlessness that seems to go into it - I mean, he really is the Michael Jordon of movie stars. And it’s not just something that you glimpse for a moment, I’ve been around him now for three years and I am constantly blown away by his ability to do that job. I mean we’re ignoring his performance, his acting, we’re ignoring all of the soulful things that are part of the work that he does and taking that off of the table - the mechanical parts of his life, it’s extraordinary."

CASEY AFFLECK (Actor in a Supporting Role):

Casey Affleck on the best part of the Oscars:

"I’m trying to put my finger on what the best part is. I grew up watching movies as a kid and watching the Oscars, and it was always very exciting. You’d see people that are idols of yours, so it sort of feels surreal to be included in that tradition along with all of those other people. I still don’t think it necessarily means that I’m on par with them or that I’ve achieved anything like what those people have. But it’s still nice, and showing up to these things you get to meet Monica and Julie and Viggo and these guys that otherwise I don’t think I would’ve had a chance to meet, I haven’t in the past, and that’s kind of great. It kind of creates a sense of community because you see all of these people in movies or magazines and they’re doing the same thing that you’re doing, but you never get to know them and find out what they’re like. They always turn out to be interesting, smart, talented people so that’s a part of what’s nice about it for me."

Affleck on becoming a father:

"Well, it’s far and away the best thing that’s ever happened to me, it’s great. I love it. I love doing it every day and being an actor means that - if you’re successful anyway - you can kind of work for three or four months a year and then you get to be home a lot of the time. I love being around the house and with the kids every day and not being someone who has to get up and go to work every day and miss them. It’s been transformative, it sort of changed everything. It’s sort of like - a friend of mine was about to have a kid and was asking me what it was like. And I remember asking other people and really getting a lot of advice from people that I really trusted and then feeling like, after I had the kid, thinking, ‘Why the f**k didn’t anyone tell me this is what it was like?’ It’s kind of like trying to explain to someone what life is like on another planet in a different galaxy. You go, ‘Well, you don’t have a body, you’re sort of drifting and you can be many different forms.’ And people are going, ‘Okay, okay...’ But until you are there in that other galaxy, you never really know what it’s like."

On the early days of his acting career and various jobs and roles:

"I mean, there have been hundreds of them and I’m not sure you know, every single job I quit acting at the end of it. I’m thinking, ‘We have five more days to wrap and this will be my last movie, and thank God,' so there’s that. And I definitely remember when I was first starting out, I moved out here and didn’t know anyone who had any real success. I was like 17-years-old. I found an agent and auditioned for about a year for like daytime TV, anything I could get, and I didn’t get any of those jobs. So I packed my bags and decided I’ll just go and do anything else, because I hate doing this, I’m not having any success. I had already given up my lease, I was moving back East, and I got an audition for Gus Van Sant’s To Die For and it was days before I was going to leave. So I auditioned for that and went back another few times and I ended up getting that job. I think had it not been for Gus, and had it not been for that experience, I probably wouldn’t have done anything. I probably wouldn’t have looked back, but Gus is the kind of person that inspires everyone around him and he inspired me, and I think that has carried me through, even today."

Casey Affleck on his brother Ben's reaction to his Oscar nomination:

"I think he said it should’ve been for Gone Baby Gone, but don’t quote me on that. [laughs] He was very happy."