HEATH LEDGER - LEDGER SAYS CLOONEY, NOT GYLLENHAAL, DESERVES OSCAR

Heath Ledger surprised a packed Berlin Film Festival news conference Wednesday night when he remarked that he believes George Clooney deserves the best supporting actor Oscar this year for his performance in Syriana. Jake Gyllenhaal, who appeared in Brokeback Mountain with Ledger (who himself was nominated for a best actor Oscar) is also one of the best supporting actor nominees. Ledger's remark came after a reporter noted that Clooney had told an earlier news conference at the festival that he did not expect to win in any of the three categories for which he had been nominated (he's also nominated in the director and screenplay categories for Good Night, and Good Luck.), adding, "There's been a lot of Brokeback Mountain stuff." Ledger, appearing at the festival to promote his latest film, the Australian-produced Candy, expressed delight that he had been able to make five films back-to-back over the past year and credited director Terry Gilliam for showcasing his talents in The Brothers Grimm, thereby opening up more "interesting choices" for him. He said that he found working in Australia on Candy "incredibly liberating in the sense that it was the first film I've done using my own accent in about eight years." When one reporter asked what the difference was for him to be making love to a woman in one film and to a man in another, he replied, "The stubble."



16/02/2006