Grabbing Oscar mumbles is “Foxcatcher,” a true saga of wealth, power, emotional bankruptcy and murder. Pointed out is the stardom of Channing Tatum playing an obscure wrestler. Talked about is the performance of Steve Carell playing socialite murderer John du Pont.
Carell: “I didn’t campaign for it. My agent submitted me, and the director sent the script. Never thought I’d make any list where he’d pick me for this heavy role. I was scared until I realized I had to have trust. Faith in him.”
“I required special diction. Halting delivery. A strange cadence as du Pont spoke. And a facial prosthesis. His nose, designed for me, was tried out over six months. Fitted often then tested in front of a camera. Also special teeth. His complexion was spotted, so they refined pale skin makeup at my house.”
“Du Pont had commissioned books on this case, which I read. Additionally, people on set remembered the ’80s case and offered tips. My scene meeting Channing’s character is such seduction that it will leave you bristling.”
Channing’s seduction in person can also leave you bristling. So has his shot to stardom changed him?
“Oh, please. Nothing changed. Hollywood lifestyle is nonsense. I’m exactly as I was Day 1. Same friends. My oldest friend is my daughter’s godfather.”
“This stuff about movie stardom life is illusion. A tangible dream. If you really believe it, you’re living a dream.
“I’ve seen this film twice. Now I’ll see the final version. You never feel you did an amazing job. Watching it myself, I can never say I really nailed it. But Mark Ruffalo playing my brother has a scene where he says he’s a mentor, and it’s so uncomfortable it’s painful to watch. The film is brilliant.”
‘Bird’ flies from stage to film
Producer Jean Doumanian starts filming “Blackbird” in June. “Haven’t decided exactly where yet, but it’ll be England. A 35-day shoot. The play, which I saw in London three years ago, won the Olivier Award. It’s about an illicit love affair and a woman — that’ll be Rooney Mara — looking for closure.
“Not everything great over there is great over here. I’ve seen transplants from across the ocean that didn’t work. It’s a roll of the dice. But Rooney loved the script, and Ben Mendelsohn, who’ll co-star, and director Benedict Andrews and all the people she’ll be working with. Also, the subject is powerful.”
Dicey poll position
Jokes on Chicago’s voting: “Dead people sign up at our polls.” A Dem pro told me: “In the recent election, Chicago delivered a nice round number. Probably 100,000 extra votes as a courtesy to Obama.”
Up next for Lee
Director Ang Lee’s next film: “Very long title. ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.’ We shoot next year in Atlanta, where everyone’s shooting.” About his Oscars: “In a cupboard. Hiding them a little but not so much that they can’t be seen.”
Oh, what a tree
Rock Center’s Xmas tree: 45,000 LED lights, five miles of wire around individual branches. Stored all year, the 9 ¹/₂-foot-wide, 550-pound — 300 crystal, 250 metal — Swarovski star raises up today. So the thing shouldn’t look shabby, it’s 25,000 octagon crystals with a million facets. Also, 720 bulbs on 3,000 feet of wire. Nineteen elves worked 2,500 hours to secure its crane lift to the top.
Ask yourself, who else would tell you all this?
Floridian visiting New York: “I want to see the film about Stephen Hawking, ‘The Theory of Everything.’ Hasn’t played our town yet.” New Yorker: “Why not? It’s out.” Floridian: “Because Florida hates seeing anybody slumped in a wheelchair. All we see down there are bodies slumped in wheelchairs.”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.