2003 Academy Awards - Interview

Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Rob Marshall's innovative musical "Chicago" nearly tied the all-time record for Academy Award nominations this morning with 13 nods (the record is 14) including Best Picture, Best Director and four acting nods for stars Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah and John C. Reilly.

Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" and Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" were also nominated for Best Picture and widely honored with 10 and six nods respectively, although none came in acting categories.

But the real news in this year's Oscar race is the surprisingly strong showing for "Frida" the biopic about Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo, which received six nominations, including one for Salma Hayek as Best Actress, and the harrowing Holocaust drama "The Pianist," which received seven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Roman Polanski), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor (Adrien Brody).

Other records were set by Meryl Streep, nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "Adaptation" and bringing her career total nominations to 13 (the most ever for an actor or actress), and Jack Nicholson, whose Best Actor nod for "About Schmidt" brings his lifetime nominations to a record 12 for a male actor.

Here the complete list of this year's Oscar nominees:

Best PICTURE

  "Chicago"
  "Gangs of New York"
  "The Hours"
  "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
  "The Pianist"

Early odds: It's "Chicago" vs. "The Hours."

Best DIRECTOR

  Rob Marshall, "Chicago"
  Martin Scorsese, "Gangs of New York"
  Stephen Daldry, "The Hours"
  Roman Polanski, "The Pianist"
  Pedro Amoldóvar, "Talk to Her"

Early odds on: Marshall, Scorsese (having never won, he's way overdue) or Daldry.

Best ACTOR

  Adrien Brody, "The Pianist"
  Nicholas Cage, "Adaptation"
  Michael Caine, "The Quiet American"
  Daniel Day-Lewis, "Gangs of New York"
  Jack Nicholson, "About Schmidt"

Early odds: It's wide open, but Cage is the least likely winner.

Best ACTRESS

  Salma Hayek, "Frida"
  Nicole Kidman, "The Hours"
  Diane Lane, "Unfaithful"
  Julianne Moore, "Far From Heaven"
  Renee Zellweger, "Chicago"

Early odds on: Kidman or Moore.

Best SUPPORTING ACTOR

  Chris Cooper, "Adaptation"
  Ed Harris, "The Hours"
  Paul Newman, "Road to Perdition"
  John C. Reilly, "Chicago"
  Christopher Walken, "Catch Me If You Can"

Early odds on: Cooper, but it's a very tight race between all five.

Best SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  Kathy Bates, "About Schmidt"
  Julianne Moore, "The Hours"
  Queen Latifah, "Chicago"
  Meryl Streep, "Adaptation"
  Catherine Zeta-Jones, "Chicago"

Early odds on: Bates or Streep.

Best ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  "Far From Heaven," Todd Haynes
  "Gangs of New York," Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian & Kenneth Lonergan
  "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," Nia Vardalos
  "Talk to Her," Pedro Amoldóvar
  "Y Tu Mamá También," Alfonso & Carlos Cuarón

Early odds on: hard to say.

Best ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  "About A Boy," Peter Hedges, Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz
  "Adaptation," Charlie Kaufman & Donald Kaufman
  "Chicago," Bill Condon
  "The Hours," David Hare
  "The Pianist," Ronald Harwood

Early odds on: "The Hours" with "Chicago" threatening.

Best ANIMATED FEATURE

  "Spirited Away"
  "Lilo & Stitch"
  "Ice Age"
  "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron"
  "Treasure Planet"

Early odds: "Ice Age."

Best DOCUMENTARY

  "Bowling For Columbine"
  "Daugther From Danang"
  "Prisoner of Paradise"
  "Spellbound"
  "Winged Migration"

Early odds: Well, it's not going to be "Bowling," that's all I know.

Best FOREIGN FILM

  "El Crimen del Padre Amaro" (Mexico)
  "Hero" (China)
  "The Man Without a Past" (Finland)
  "Nowhere In Africa" (Germany)
  "Zus & Zo" (The Netherlands)

Early odds on: No idea.

Best CINEMATOGRAPHY

  "Chicago"
  "Far From Heaven"
  "Gangs of New York"
  "The Pianist"
  "Road to Perdition"

Early odds on: "Gangs," "Heaven" or "Perdition."

Best EDITING

  "Chicago"
  "Gangs of New York"
  "The Hours"
  "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
  "The Pianist"

Early odds: To close to call.

Best SOUND

  "Chicago"
  "Gangs of New York"
  "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
  "Road to Perdition"
  "Spider-Man"

Early odds: "Chicago" or "Gangs"

Best SOUND EDITING

  "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
  "Minority Report"
  "Road to Perdition"

Early odds: "The Two Towers"

Best VISUAL EFFECTS

  "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
  "Spider-Man"
  "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones"

Early odds: "The Two Towers" has it all locked up

Best ART DIRECTION

  "Chicago"
  "Frida"
  "Gangs of New York"
  "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
  "Road to Perdition"

Early odds on: "Gangs"

Best COSTUMES

  "Chicago"
  "Frida"
  "Gangs of New York"
  "The Hours"
  "The Pianist"

Early odds on: "Chicago," "Frida" or "Gangs"

Best MAKEUP

  "Frida"
  "The Time Machine"

Early odds: "Frida"

Best ORIGINAL SCORE

  "Catch Me If You Can," John Williams
  "Far From Heaven," Elmer Bernstein
  "Frida," Elliot Goldenthal
  "The Hours," Philip Glass
  "Road to Perdition," Thomas Newman

Early odds: "The Hours"

Best ORIGINAL SONG

  "Burn It Blue" from "Frida"
  "Father & Daughter" from "The Wild Thornberrys"
  "The Hands That Built America" from "Gangs of New York"
  "I Move On" from "Chicago"
  "Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile"

Early odds: U2's "Hands"