If you haven’t been watching the weekly offerings of The Hollywood Reporter’s Award Roundtables, then you’ve been missing out on some very interesting insights in the creative process for directors, actors, and cinematographers (the screenwriters and producers tables will be out next month). Yesterday, the actresses roundtable dropped, featuring a fascinating interview with Annette Bening (“20th Century Women“), Natalie Portman (“Jackie“), Amy Adams (“Arrival“), Emma Stone (“La La Land“), Isabelle Huppert (“Elle“), Naomie Harris (“Moonlight“), and Taraji P. Henson (“Hidden Figures“).
READ MORE: The Snubs & Surprises Of The 2017 Oscar Nominations
A few highlights from the interview include the actresses discussing their favorite movie performance, with Natalie Portman mentioning her love for Emily Watson in “Breaking The Waves” because of “that relationship with God and with herself and with her sexuality.” Emma Stone chose the lighter route, shouting out John Candy in “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles” because “comedy means everything to me. He just breaks your heart and makes you laugh, and he does it all so beautifully.”
When asked what the industry is doing for black actors, Taraji P. Henson noted, “Have we seen enough representation of African-American stories? No. But has Hollywood been horrible to me? No. I’ve worked. Did I get paid what I deserve? That is the question we should be talking about.“ Naomie Harris, additionally, discussed her initial hesitation to play a crack addict in “Moonlight” before “Barry Jenkins asked me to play his mum, basically, and I thought, here’s someone who is emotionally invested in ensuring that this character is given her full complexity and full humanity.”
Really, the entire conversation is fascinating and illuminating as the actresses talk about everything from stage fright to Natalie Portman’s friendship with the late Mike Nichols. The best part might be Henson and Adams comparing stories about singing at the Academy Awards, making me lament their lack of nominations this year even more. Check out the conversation and stay tuned for more.