Backstage at the Oscars: 2019

Okay, so where am I? 

It’s been a light red carpet season. I’ve only done two—the Grammys and now today at the Academy Awards. Nothing is better that than when your feet hit that Oscars burgundy carpet. Your imagination soars and you can’t help by daydream of carrying a thirteen-and-a-half-inch tall, eight-and-a-half pound golden statuette.

In good news for the Academy, the telecast drew a 7.7 rating for the ever-valuable demographic adults 18-49 and 29.6 million overall viewers. That’s up from a 6.8 rating and 26.5 million last year, or an increase of 12%. In bad news, this year was the second smallest audience ever for an Oscars telecast.

I am very unhappy to report that my agent has been M.I.A. once again as hope and pray one of my four scripts or two (yet unpublished) books find a way to be developed into a real movie. Alas, no movie this year, but I did pick up a sweet gig writing NHL and Los Angeles Kings columns this past year (no help from my agent, thank you!).

So for the eighth straight year, here’s my first-hand view of the happenings backstage at the 91st Academy Awards:

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Rami Malek: Wait a second. Let’s hold on. Am I one of the last ones here? Well, I just want to say thank you guys for being here. And I will say this: I don’t think critically the decision on this film was unanimous, but I do appreciate everything you guys had to write. As a kid, I read criticism of film, and I learned so much from it. So no matter what, I still do very much appreciate you. Thank you.

Q: I don’t know how I can follow that. Congratulations, first of all, and I know you’ve heard that a lot tonight. But I have to ask, please explain to us and describe for us when you first got this role and what happened exactly at that moment and when did this role become a reality for you? When did it really hit you that you’re playing Freddie Mercury?

Mike Baker / ©A.M.P.A.S.

RM: I really got blessed. Last night Mr. Spielberg, he had his daughter come up to me and say, hey, make sure you say hi to Rami Malek. It would mean a lot to me and it would mean a lot to him. So I had a seminal moment in my life where I knew some auteurs could influence my life. Since then, I’m about to begin Season 4 of Mr. Robot with Sam Esmail. And in the middle of the second, no, the third season, while we were working on that, I got a call from Graham King and Dennis O’Sullivan to meet them in Los Angeles, and they were fans of Mr. Robot. And I don’t know how they thought a young man who felt so alienated, profoundly alienated, with such social anxiety could ever play Freddie Mercury. But the one thing that was beautiful about it was I started to discover that in this audacious, present, communicative, powerful human being there was a sense of loneliness and a sense of anxiety, and I could relate the two together. So I thank them for discovering that in me, but I do have to thank so many great auteurs who have brought me to the point where I felt confident in my work. And Spike Lee is one of them. Alfonso Cuarón is one of them. Paul Thomas Anderson is one of them. Sam Esmail is definitely one of them. The list goes on. But it was the confidence that they all imbued in me to be able to think that I could take on this challenge. Then , well, that’s a long story. And Tom Hanks. Let’s not forget Tom Hanks.

Q: Allow me on behalf of all the Arab world to say congratulations. We’re so happy that you won with the participation of three nominees this year from the Arab world. You have the trophy.I read that you grew up loving Umm Kulthum and Omar Sharif and there’s plenty of Arab young talents growing up now loving Rami Malek. If it’s not too much to ask, can we get your answer? What would you say to these guys or ladies, in Arabic, if possible?

RM: Well, I will begin by saying [speaks Arabic.] I would say that as a young man, my sister was born in Egypt. I think when I grew up as a kid, I wanted part of me felt like I need to shed some of that. I wanted to I didn’t feel like I fit in. I definitely felt like the outsider. And as I got older, I realized just how beautiful my heritage and my tradition is, and the wealth of culture and magic and music and film and just pure art that comes out of the Middle East. And now I’m so privileged to represent it. And to anyone from there, and for that matter the entire world, we all got a shot at this. We really do.

Q: You gave a beautiful speech in which it seems like it talks a lot about what happened tonight. There was a lot of inclusion it seems, a lot of films that have been talking about that aspect, and I wonder how much in that respect that this Oscar of yours now fits into that and reflects that.

RM: It’s a political question, and I appreciate it, but…

Q: No, no. I mean, I’m talking about the inclusion of the films.

RM: Yeah. I will say, look, I mean, I grew up in a world where I never thought I was going to play the lead on Mr. Robot because I never saw anyone in a lead role that looked like me. I never thought that I could possibly play Freddie Mercury until I realized his name was Farrokh Bulsara, and that is the most powerful message that was sent to me from the beginning. That was the motivation that allowed me to say, oh, I can do this. And that man steps on stage and he moves people in a way that no one else does, and he has ability to look everyone in the eye and see them for who they are. And that’s because he was struggling to identify himself. And all of that passion and virtue and everything burning inside of him allowed him to look to everybody else and say, hey, I see you. Not right here in the front; I see you there in the back. I see all of you, I will play to all of you, and together we will transcend. Because it’s not about being from one place or looking like one thing, one race. Any of that. We are all human beings. And forgive me for this, but collectively we are all the champions.

Q: Rami, I just was wondering after you finished shooting the film, how did you feel about your own performance? Did you know that it was special and that it might end up in an Academy Award?

RM: I’ve got to say, being on that stage, I think I may have I don’t know how I looked on that stage, but I never thought this would happen in my life. The one thing I can say about this as an actor, and there are so many of us who only dream of one thing. And perhaps it’s not this; it’s just getting a job. So the fact that I have this in my hand right now is beyond excuse me any expectation that myself or perhaps my family could have ever had. And I’ll just say that. I mean, this has been a tough battle, and I think you all know about it, and the fact that I’m here celebrating with you is proof that a lot of things can be overcome, and that anything is possible. And tonight I’m celebrating with all of you. And anyone who has a dream, it can happen. Thank you.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Q: Your speech touched me and was hilarious. Frankly, how much of that was prepared?


Olivia Colman: None of it. And I’ve just been told I completely forgot Melissa and Yalitza as well, so but, you know, it’s not an everyday occurrence. So I don’t know how anyone is composed and remembers everything because it’s a very weird situation. But to those two beautiful women I forgot to say thank you to.

Mike Baker / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q: Congratulations. Massive congratulations on the win. Where are you going to put your Oscar statue at? Where is it going to go?


OC: In bed with me, between me and my husband. He doesn’t know yet.

Q: I knew you were one of the great actors as soon as I saw you in TYRANNOSAUR years ago. How do you go about finding the tragic and the absurd and vice versa, because that is what you do so beautifully in this role? It’s hilarious and shattering.


OC: Well, that is lovely of you. No, that is a lovely thing for you to say. Thank you very much. I don’t know.

Q: So, first of all, Broad Church is not coming back; right?


OC: No, we’ve done three. That’s it. Sorry.

Q: That’s it. Okay. Were you expecting this at all, because the reaction


OC: No.

Q: both here at the ceremony was you were completely blind sided.


OC: Yeah.

Q: Blind sided by it. So how does it feel, like, to do this?


OC: I have no idea. I could not tell you what I’m feeling. Next year, I might I’ll be able to put it into words, but I don’t know what to do with myself at the moment.

Q: What prepared you for this role?


OC: The script was amazing, and then you just do what’s written down, I think. Without the writers, without words, we are just bumbling around, miming. So if the script is good, it’s all there. I think.

Q: How old are your kids, and are they watching or not?


OC: They are watching, because they are here.

Q: So they are in a hotel room watching it, or…


OC: No, we borrowed my agent’s house.

Q: And how old are they?


OC: 13, 11, and 3. There was a gap. I had to persuade my husband for a few years.

Q: What would Queen Anne say to you right now?


OC: Have some cake. Blue cake. Eat too much blue cake. If you had seen the film, it makes sense. It wasn’t just a weird things to say.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Q: How sweet was it to have your mom there in the front row with you? Obviously, you gave much praise to her during your acceptance speech. What did it mean to you to have her there tonight?

Regina King: It’s hard to, like, put it in words really quickly. I feel like kind of like one of those full circle moments because so much of the character Sharon Rivers was mapped or inspired by my mother and my grandmother. So to have her there, my family was there, my sister, Reina, my son, Ian, were there. They are both here tonight. And it goes by so fast, and you want to thank so many people, and your mind just goes blank. And, you know, my mom was like the lighthouse right there. And…mmm, just everything.

Mike Baker / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q: how was it to get to say those words and play somebody who believed, you know, to the depth of their soul

RK: Yes.

Q: About love?

RK: Love. Persevering. I mean, If Beale Street Could Talk is a beautiful film, a beautiful novel before it was thank you before it was a film you might be clapping for somebody else, but I’m going to take that. Thank you. And where we are to your point, where we are right now, I think that’s it’s a film that is breaks through a lot of the sections that are exist right now. You know, love is that thing that pushes us through trauma. You know, this is an urban tragedy, but tragedy is a is something that is experienced no matter what sex you are, no matter what race you are; and love and support is usually what pushes us through, which gets us to the other side. So I think this film is so needed right now because we need a lot of help getting through the other side and seeing how how much we are alike. We are different in a lot of ways. Absolutely. Our circumstances are so different; but it’s to the core, to the core, we are really a lot alike.

Q: Four hundred years ago this year in 1619, the first slaves were brought to Jamestown. Talk to me a little bit about what it means to stand here today winning your first Academy Award, the same place where, you know, Hattie McDaniel, and so many others who may have been discounted?

RK: Well, I mean, it’s I mean, I think it kind of piggybacks on what we were just saying in the last question: That it means so much for me personally, because you guys aren’t able to witness this, but the love and support and the lifting up that I have received on my journey as an actor in just this last five months, how many people have been rooting for me, and it has not just been black people; although, you know, the black family has always lifted me. But it’s just a reminder of when Hattie McDaniel won. She didn’t win just because black people voted for her. She won because she gave an amazing performance. And especially then, the Academy was was not as reflective as it is now. We are still trying to get more reflective, still trying to get there. But I feel like I’ve had so many women that have paved the way, are paving the way, and I feel like I walk in their light, and I also am creating my own light. And there are young women that will walk in the light that I’m continuing to shine and expand from those women before me. You know, I’m blessed and highly favored.

Q: So I’m thinking about that very climactic scene when you confronted you and Emily Rios

RK: Yes.


Q: …and it’s such a visceral and emotionally raw scene. So I wanted to ask you, What particular source did you draw from to portray such emotion?

RK: You know, all of us, we just pulled on being women, and we have all been in if we have not experienced a violation on that level firsthand, we have lifted a sister up through that. And that, you know, even all the way from when the abuelitas came in and escorted her off, that was something that was universal. Every woman that had something to do with this production, the understanding and the need to make sure that it was very clear in the story that we all knew that she was raped. It wasn’t Fonny, but she was raped. And we hold each other up through a secret that shouldn’t be a secret. So often, that’s the beautiful thing about the Me Too Movement, and the Me Too Movement has I think have gone has gone even beyond that with creating opportunities for women to find their voice even beyond just being violated sexually, but being marginalized, being violated. When you have put in the work to be at the table and being denied a seat at the table, this movement has allowed us and has inspired us to say no, I am supposed to have a seat at that table. So that energy was going on throughout the production of that film of this film. Barry supported that and lifted it up as well. And that’s the thing. When you have men and women working together, pretty amazing things happen.

Q: If Beale Street Could Talk was a very important part of American literature before this movie. What do you think James Baldwin would say right now and feel about this win and about the movie?

RK: I think one word, something that he would say often, amen.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH:
Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Q: And your other movie won, too, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.


Mahershala Ali: Yes. Spider-Verse.

Q: This film is about people changing each other, or they’re changing because of what they go through. How did this film change you? Could you put that into words? I meant the making of it, obviously.

MA: Well, I never it was the first time that I had that kind of responsibility. I’ve always been very fortunate to contribute to stories in a more limited way, and this was the first time in which there was a good degree of the time I was at work in there all day every day, you know, or all day during the week, you know. And so to to shoulder that, to shoulder more responsibility than I’ve been accustomed to shouldering, to have to play a character that had attributes that were very different from my own; so, therefore, I had to let certain things go that were in my personality in order to to take on and embrace other attributes that that man had. It was it was constantly sort of having sort of negotiating and finding my way to locking into a truth and finding his essence, you know. And so I was really just grateful for failing and succeeding at times and just fishing through it all, digging and excavating, and collaborating with Viggo. So I’m sure I didn’t answer your question. But, you know, it was it was difficult and beautiful and very grateful to have gone on the journey.

Mike Baker / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q: What is going on? It’s your second Oscar for a supporting role. How do you feel about it?

MA: I feel very fortunate. I feel fortunate to have been nominated. Any of those gentlemen could have been up here and would be, obviously, deserving of being up here. They did wonderful work, beautiful work, work that inspired me. So to be the one that was chosen to get to hold this trophy again, it’s not something that I take lightly. It’s not something I take for granted. If anything, it makes me aware, more aware of all the people that have really contributed to my life, from childhood to my team that works on my behalf and is always looking to take advantage of the best opportunities, the opportunities that are fit for me. And so I’m I’m very grateful. The first one helped me get Green Book, you know. I don’t think if I had won I wasn’t just getting offers like that, you know; and so to to get an Oscar for Moonlight, it changes your profile. It changes it gets you in other rooms, and it shines a light on your work; and then suddenly you could have been around for 15, 20 years and suddenly people notice you; and so I’m really grateful for that, because I’ve been wanting to work and expand and stretch. I have been wanting to stretch my legs for a really long time, and this was the first time I got to stretch my legs.

Q: You kind of touched on what I was going to ask you a little bit about the failing and succeeding. And then I just wanted to know what was your thinking when you after Moonlight the time that it takes to come to now. Did you ever feel that failing and succeeding from, like, Moonlight to now, or did some things that you thought would happen since Moonlight didn’t happen? Can you speak to those things?

MA: My life is has changed tremendously since in two years. My daughter just had her second birthday two days ago, you know; and I was busy in that time, you know, working. But I think when I say success and failing, I think of them as the same thing, in that as long as you walk away having been improved, having learned from the experience, that it’s all an education, you know. And and so there’s things that I try in my work where I personally watch, and I feel like it worked; or sometime I feel like it doesn’t, it didn’t work. And and I try not to be too hard on myself, but I got to just go for it, and take chances and commit and see how things turn out all with the goal of improving, and growing, and being stretched, and also just making a contribution. I just want to feel like I’m being productive with my time on this earth, you know; and because I just don’t take that for granted. And so I will continue to fail, and I’ll hopefully continue to succeed; and, but I and continue to make my best efforts, and to do the best work that I could possibly do, and be the best person I can be.


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