Chapter 298: The Oscars (Part 3)
Chapter 298: The Oscars (Part 3)
Although Eric no longer held any hope for this award, his expression still carried a trace of unease. At the same time, he comforted himself in an Ah Q-like way. In any case, he was still young. Winning an award too early was not necessarily a good thing.
Onstage, after Jane Fonda finished introducing the Best Original Screenplay nominees, she briefly swept her gaze across the audience. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Eric noticed that her gaze paused on him for a moment. But before Eric could confirm anything, Jane Fonda lowered her head, opened the envelope, took out the card with the winner’s name, and glanced at it. A flash of surprise crossed her face, then she smiled and looked toward Eric again.
Eric was certain this time that it was definitely not his imagination. If that earlier look might have been unintentional, then this one meant...
His heart beat rapidly a few times. Before he knew it, Eric’s fists clenched again, and he stared at Jane Fonda with bright, focused eyes.
Jane Fonda seemed to sense the urging mood of everyone below the stage. She did not keep them in suspense any longer and leaned toward the microphone, announcing clearly, “The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay goes to: The Others.”
The most impossible thing had happened.
Most of the people inside the Los Angeles Music Hall were figures who had long immersed themselves in Hollywood. When they heard that title, many of them also revealed surprised expressions.
Although Eric had already received a hint in advance, his eyes still widened in disbelief. It was only when someone near him stood up that Eric followed and rose to his feet.
Thunderous applause rang out at once.
At the same time, a scene that surprised everyone in the awards hall appeared.
As Eric stood up, more people rose with him. This included the crews of The Others, Sleepless in Seattle, In the Line of Fire, Pretty Woman, and every other Firefly-related film that had received a series of nominations. The people standing stretched across five rows around Eric.
Although quite a few of those who stood immediately realized this seemed somewhat inappropriate, sitting back down would have been even more improper, so they could only remain as they were.
After Eric briefly hugged the few people closest to him, he was pressed for time and could only hurry to shake hands with the others standing around him. Some were even too far away, and he could only touch their fingers.
Even so, it still took nearly a full minute before Eric smoothly reached the stage.
By then, most of the doubt, shock, helplessness, and other expressions in many people’s eyes below the stage had turned into envy.
A mere Best Original Screenplay award had created such a commotion. After tonight, no one would dare ignore Eric’s position in Hollywood again.
Eric had prepared this acceptance speech in advance, so compared with the Best Original Score speech from more than an hour earlier, this one was much easier to deliver.
In fact, while giving his acceptance speech, Eric even split part of his thoughts toward why he had won this award.
Without a doubt, this was the result of the Oscars dividing the spoils.
Eric felt that he had still thought too simply of the Oscars. With his current influence in Hollywood, if he received two nominations in this situation and still returned empty-handed, the Academy’s fairness would once again be questioned.
Moreover, this time, the doubts would not only come from the media. They might even come from the general public.
The reason was still the previous incident. Eric had already experienced a wave of malicious suppression. If the Oscars still let him leave empty-handed after he received two Best Screenplay nominations, then the public would inevitably form certain negative associations again and become disappointed in the Academy Awards.
As for why he had not won the more likely Best Adapted Screenplay award for Scent of a Woman, but instead won Best Original Screenplay for The Others, Eric understood that this was probably the result of a series of behind-the-scenes games.
Although he was very interested in the inside story, Eric knew that he had not yet reached the level where he could touch the internal bargaining behind the Oscars.
Thinking this, he followed Jane Fonda and the other presenter into the backstage area.
The staff came forward attentively and took the Oscar statuette without a nameplate from Eric’s hand, helping him nail the golden nameplate onto it.
The next award to be presented was Best Director.
Scent of a Woman had also received a Best Director nomination, so while waiting for the staff to attach the nameplate, Eric inevitably felt somewhat anxious. At that moment, Jane Fonda, who had presented him with the award, walked over.
“Mr. Williams, congratulations,” Jane Fonda said with a smile as she extended her hand to Eric.
“Ms. Fonda, thank you for the hint just now.” Although Eric was anxious, he still maintained proper courtesy and flattered her, “I’ve seen many of your films. Coming Home and Klute are both excellent, but my favorite is still On Golden Pond. The family affection shown in that film is very moving.”
“Thank you for liking it.” Jane Fonda maintained her smile and continued, “Mr. Williams, you must be holding a celebration party afterward, right?”
Eric’s expression shifted slightly.
He quickly realized that this woman had not simply come over to greet him. Although he did not know her purpose, building some friendship with a famous Hollywood acting family would certainly do him no harm.
Therefore, Eric did not hesitate and said, “Yes, Ms. Fonda. If you have time, you’re welcome to come to our celebration party after the ceremony. It will be on the third floor of the Beverly Hills Hotel.”
“I’ll be there.” Jane Fonda nodded. She knew Eric was also eager to return to the hall, so she did not say too much and soon left.
Even so, when Eric returned to the awards hall, he was still disappointed to find that Born on the Fourth of July director Oliver Stone was already giving his acceptance speech onstage. Nearby, Al Pacino from the Scent of a Woman crew saw Eric return and gave him a helpless look. As for Martin Brest, Eric did not see his expression, but aside from disappointment, Eric could not imagine anything else.
Speaking of Born on the Fourth of July, he had to mention the unlucky Tom Cruise.
It was only after seeing this film that Eric remembered that Tom Cruise originally would have received his first Oscar Best Actor nomination for it.
Unfortunately, because he had starred in In the Line of Fire, Cruise missed this film.
Firefly and Cruise himself originally tried to fight for a Best Actor nomination, but unfortunately, they failed. Although Tom Cruise received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Drama with In the Line of Fire, he did not manage to reach the Oscars. Because of this, when Eric saw Cruise a few days ago, the other party never gave him a good expression.
Cruise had already received more than enough compensation from In the Line of Fire, so although Eric felt somewhat helpless that Cruise had failed to receive an Oscar Best Actor nomination, he did not feel he owed him anything. After all, Cruise’s pay was far higher than Hanks’s.
As he thought this, last year’s Best Actress winner Jodie Foster had already begun introducing the Best Actor nominees onstage.
Listening to the woman’s introduction, Eric suddenly thought that if The Silence of the Lambs had been produced and released last year, Jodie Foster might have consecutively won the Oscar for Best Actress.
That had to be considered a pity.
“The nominees for Best Actor are: Morgan Freeman, Driving Miss Daisy; Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman; Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot; Kenneth Branagh, Henry V; and Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society.”
Every time Jodie Foster introduced a nominee, a wonderful clip from the film appeared on the big screen behind her.
Eric looked at Al Pacino not far away, whose waist was slightly tense, and could somewhat understand his feelings.
Starting seventeen years ago, Al Pacino had already received five Oscar nominations one after another, but all of them had come to nothing. With Al Pacino’s acting skill, saying “the Oscars owe him a statuette” was not excessive at all.
As for the original Oscar Best Actor winner, Daniel Day-Lewis, although his acting skills were also outstanding, his disadvantages were very obvious.
First, he was British. This point would definitely make him suffer Oscar prejudice, without any doubt.
Second, Daniel Day-Lewis was only in his early thirties now, barely reaching the average age for an Oscar Best Actor winner. Compared to the already fifty-year-old Al Pacino, he seemed even younger.
Finally, whether in qualifications or connections, Daniel Day-Lewis could not possibly compete with Al Pacino, who had spent nearly twenty years struggling in Hollywood.
The reason Daniel Day-Lewis had won in Eric’s previous life had a lot to do with the fact that he happened to run into a weak Oscar year. Although the butterfly effect had influenced this timeline, Eric could still infer some clues from the current list. Most of this year’s nominated films should be the same as in his previous life. However, among those nominated films, aside from Born on the Fourth of July, which originally had some fame because of Tom Cruise’s performance, the other films did not have much influence.
This time, things did not go beyond Eric’s expectations. After Jodie Foster opened the envelope, she quickly read out Al Pacino’s name.
Amid the enthusiastic applause, after Al Pacino greeted the members of the Scent of a Woman crew, he did not immediately go onstage. Instead, he walked toward Eric in the back row.
Eric realized what he intended to do and stood up with a smile. Jonathan Demme, who sat on Eric’s other side, tactfully moved aside.