Fresh off a critically acclaimed performance in “Rushmore,” Bill Murray once publicly fretted about even being a potential first-time Oscar nominee.
“I was worried that I was going to get caught up in it because you see people the night of the Oscars, they look so desperate,” Murray told the Boston Herald in 1999. “They want it so damned bad. I just didn’t want to be that.”
Back then, he dodged the glare. But this year, he’s a first-time best actor nominee for “Lost in Translation.”
From “Whale Rider” actress Keisha Castle-Hughes to Ken Watanabe of “The Last Samurai,” the faces of first-time nominees are splashed across the Oscar lists typically reserved for the notable notables.
I’m hoping the new nominees–who don’t know if they will ever be nominated again–avoid the desperation and embrace the celebration, if not the silliness of it all.
What I’m saying is, I’d like to see Murray show up with the 13-year-old Castle-Hughes on his shoulders.
Fernando Meirelles is up for best director for “City of God” after dodging the dangers of shooting a movie in Brazil, and I want to see him hopping down Oscar’s red carpet like it’s Carnival.
“Lost in Translation” director Sofia Coppola is nominated and she should–for once–smile for the cameras, and not only mean it but enjoy it.
Alec Baldwin (“The Cooler”), Djimon Hounsou (“In America”) and Tim Robbins (“Mystic River”) join Watanabe as first-time best supporting acting nominees. If it’s not too late, the four should rent a limo and hit Sunset Boulevard singing “I Love L.A.” while launching water balloons from the sun roof.
And while Castle-Hughes is the youngest best actress nominee ever, it’s also the first time for Charlize Theron (“Monster”) and Naomi Watts (“21 Grams”).
Having won a Golden Globe, Theron is the favorite, which is why she should spend the day shopping with her mom and the evening dancing with her too.
Is it silly of me to suggest Watts should show up wearing one of those large foam ten-gallon cowboy hats? Of course it is. That’s why I suggested it.
The best supporting actress category has two first-timers: Shohreh Aghdashloo (“House of Sand of Fog”) and Patricia Clarkson (“Pieces of April”). Aghdashloo should quiz any red-carpet interviewers about her movie, asking them for details to prove that they’ve seen it. She should also cartwheel to her seat.
Clarkson also played the wife of Herb Brooks in the more commercial “Miracle,” so maybe she enters the Kodak Theatre leading a crowd chanting, “U-S-A!”
Look, it’s not wrong to root for the fresh faces. It can lead to touching moments, such as when Mira Sorvino won and her father, Paul, was in tears. It’s even delightful to imagine that some of the veteran nominees actually root for the newcomers.
Maybe four-time nominee and one-time winner Diane Keaton has her fingers crossed for the kid. Not likely, but we’ll never know.
Besides Theron, I’m not sure if Murray or any of the others will win. Murray is hardly a favorite among Hollywood types, and if he splits the comedy votes with first-time best actor nominee Johnny Depp, Sean Penn could slip off with the prize.
And unless they can unseat Peter Jackson and “The Lord of the Rings,” our fresh directors get shut out too. A newcomer could take best supporting actor, but three-time nominee Renee Zellweger likely trumps the first-time best supporting actresses.
To quote Murray again, “It just doesn’t matter.”
I’ll root for all the first-timers as long as they enjoy the night the same way Murray quietly enjoyed the Golden Globes last month. He was happy for the success of the film, cracked on Hollywood a bit, thanked the rest of the movie’s team and wasn’t so self-absorbed as to forget to thank his wife.
It’s a great big party. Why try to act like it’s anything else?
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ccmalcolm@tribune.com
