The 2013 Oscar Nominees Luncheon took place Feb. 4 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. Nominees gathered to have lunch, pose for photos, receive their official Academy Award nomination certificate, and do interviews. (The 85th annual Oscar ceremony takes place Feb. 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. ABC has the live U.S. telecast of the show at 8:30 p.m. EST/5:30 p.m. PST.) Here is what this Oscar nominee said when doing a brief press conference interview in the Oscar Nominees Luncheon’s press room.
BEN AFFLECK
Nominated for:
Best Picture
(“Argo”)
A lot of Oscar nominees say they actually learn more about their films doing interviews during awards season. Has that happened to you?
The period of time that I’ve been able to spend talking about the movie and exploring the movie with journalists and with people in audiences has been really satisfying. The script that Chris [Terrio] wrote has some really interesting themes in storytelling and it has to do with our relationship with Iran. It’s a very broad spectrum of stuff. I’ve worked on movies where I ran out of things to say in the junket after 15 seconds. So it’s incredibly satisfying that I have something that I can really continue to talk about.
You and your fellow Oscar nominees see each other a lot during awards season. Is there anyone of these nominees you would like to work with in the future?
There are nine amazing movies nominated for Best Picture. I would love to work with David O. Russell. I would love to work with Steven Spielberg. I would love to work with Kathryn Bigelow. I don’t know what it says about me that I haven’t worked with any of these people as an actor.
Part of me, when I get around these people, I feel like I should be doing an audition or something. Benh Zeitlin is a really exciting new filmmaker. And there’s a lot people who were part of this process who didn’t get nominated for Best Picture who I still want to work with who are amazing. Paul Thomas Anderson is one example.
There’s an incredibly rich, robust group of filmmakers. I’m just happy to be rubbing elbows with them. It’s really exciting.
Would you like to see the Best Director category at the Oscars to expand to up to 10 nominees, just like Best Picture category?
I leave those sorts of calculations to the folks in the press and the pundits and the people who are the Oscar-ologists or whatever that is. To me, I just feel so incredibly honored to be nominated as a producer for this movie, to be here at the big party.
It’s tremendous. We got seven nominations, including Best Picture. I’m elated by that — truly, genuinely thrilled. And like I said, there are nine amazing movies, any of which could win, any of which would deserve to win if they did. So I don’t get into worrying too much about who got what and didn’t get what. I’ve had many, many, many, many years watching from home.
“Argo” sound mixer José Antonio García is nominated for an Oscar. What was it like working with him?
“Aprendi palabras nuevas como cuaron,” which he told me means “valued friend, trusted friend.” So when he was calling me “cuaron” for the whole movie, I thought he meant, “We are really close.”
He’s an incredible guy. He’s part of a group of people that I met. The people, the filmmakers out of Mexico [are] this incredible, exciting group, from [Alejandro González] Iñárritu to Rodrigo [Prieto], who shot our movie to [José Antonio García] who shot the [Terrence] Malick movie that I did [“To the Wonder”].
The director of “Miss Bala” — I can’t remember his name — he’s amazing. That movie is incredible. There’s this really exciting. Obviously, “Children of Men,” he’s just got “Gravity” coming out: Alfonso Cuarón.
I think it’s an incredible period for the Mexican folks who are coming into this country and making films. And it’s one of the most exciting international filmmaking places right now. I was kind of lucky to get to know these guys. I got to know Rodrigo on “State of Play” and sort of purloined him for this movie.
And the same thing for José. I got to know him on the Malick movie and pulled him into this movie. I knew he was great because he could follow a wandering Steadicam for miles.
Would you like to work with José Antonio García again?
I would love to.
For more info: Academy Awards website
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