Willem Dafoe, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “The Florida Project” on Tuesday, has been down this road before.
He was nominated in the same category for “Platoon” in 1986, and then in the Best Actor category for “Shadow of the Vampire” in 2000.
But awards season in those days was dramatically different, Dafoe told TheWrap on Tuesday. “It’s changed so much,” he said. “There are more expectations, more events – it’s more refined, more developed.”
He laughed. “When I first got nominated for ‘Platoon,’ I didn’t even know when the Oscar nominations were being announced. My son’s babysitter called me up to tell me I was nominated.
“That’s way different from now. Last night I was so aware of the nominations that I couldn’t sleep.”
Dafoe said he knew that “The Florida Project” could be something special as soon as he started prepping for his role as the manager in a rundown motel that caters to down-on-their-luck, short-term tenants near Disney World in Florida. “It was a very good script and a very strong director who’s also a real filmmaker,” he said of director Sean Baker. “I felt like we were making contact with a very human story – it was joyous on one hand, and on the other hand it was grim because it wasn’t romanticized.”
His was the only Oscar recognition for “The Florida Project,” which at one point seemed to be in the running for Best Picture and Best Director nominations. Does that make the experience bittersweet for him?
“It does,” he said. “I’m happy to be nominated, but what can I say? I’m very proud of the film, and I think it really resonated with people. I just wish it would have gotten a little more love [from the Academy].”
And since he seems to be on an Oscar-nomination-every-15-years-or-so schedule, is Dafoe ready to gear up for awards season 2033?
“That’s OK with me,” said the 62-year-old actor. “I just hope I live long enough.”
Oscars 2018: 8 Biggest Snubs and Surprises, From Tom Hanks to Denzel Washington (Photos)
Every year at the Academy Awards, there are inevitably certain nominees that raise eyebrows in surprise and glaring omissions that furrow those eyebrows in anger. 2018 was no different. Here are some of this year's snubs and surprises.
SURPRISE: Denzel Washington for "Roman J. Israel, Esq.": Washington's portrayal of a lawyer caught in a moral quagmire left critics lukewarm and didn't make much of an impact at the box office, yet it has earned the beloved actor his ninth Oscar nomination and sixth in the Best Actor category.
SNUB: Tom Hanks for "The Post": Many awards prognosticators expected that the Best Actor slot taken by Denzel would have gone to Tom Hanks for his portrayal of Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. Instead, Jason Robards' performance in "All The President's Men" remains the only Ben Bradlee to get an Oscar nod.
SURPRISE: Lesley Manville for "Phantom Thread": Daniel Day Lewis got much of the press for "Phantom Thread," but Manville has earned some attention for her performance as Reynolds Woodcock's devoted sister and business partner, who spends the whole film putting up with Reynolds obsessive nonsense.
SNUB: Holly Hunter for "The Big Sick": Kumail Nanjiani's true-story dramedy earned a screenplay nomination, but Hunter, who was considered an early contender for Best Supporting Actress last summer for her performance as Kumail's tough but loving future mother-in-law, ended up sliding out of the final list.
SURPRISE: Paul Thomas Anderson for "Phantom Thread": It feels weird to call it a surprise that an acclaimed filmmaker like Anderson got a nomination for Best Director, but in such a competitive field, not many awards analysts expected him to sneak in and take a nod for his work immersing audiences in Reynolds Woodcock's meticulous world. That's especially considering he managed to beat out...
SNUB: Steven Spielberg for "The Post": With its paean to journalism and not-so-subtle tweak at Donald Trump, it was expected that Academy voters would go ga-ga over "The Post." Instead, it's getting the "Selma" treatment, earning a Best Picture nomination but only getting one other nom for Meryl Streep while Spielberg misses out on an eighth Oscar nomination.
SURPRISE: "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail" for Best Documentary Feature: PBS will get a surprise nomination for their powerful recounting about how a small, family-owned bank in New York's Chinatown became the only bank prosecuted by the feds in the wake of the 2008 recession.
SNUB: "City of Ghosts" for Best Documentary Feature: Docs about the ongoing Syria crisis have been fertile ground for award winning docs like "Last Men In Aleppo" and last year's Best Short Doc winner, "The White Helmets." But the Academy didn't go for this horrifying but moving tale about Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, a team of citizen journalists reporting the abuses of ISIS at the risk of their own lives.
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Who got robbed at the Oscars this year?
Every year at the Academy Awards, there are inevitably certain nominees that raise eyebrows in surprise and glaring omissions that furrow those eyebrows in anger. 2018 was no different. Here are some of this year's snubs and surprises.
