Oscar Nominees Discuss Their Preparation – Part III

We’ve heard from nominees like directors Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Bennett Miller and actors Felicity Jones and J.K. Simmons, all discussing their preparation for tackling their subjects. Movies OnDemand put together these fantastic (and very brief) video interviews not just with the nominees, but with many of the serious contenders this year, including director Jon Stewart (Rosewater), composer Atticus Ross (Gone Girl) and actress Katherine Waterson (Inherent Vice). It’s important to remember that for every nominee, there’s many more filmmakers whose names could have been chosen.

Today we’re looking at three more nominees, each of whom faced their own specific challenges in their work. For documentarian Laura Poitras, that meant taking on considerable personal risk to make her film Citizenfour. After being contacted by Edward Snowden (he appreciated her earlier work), Poitras knew that if he was for real and she took this story on, she’d be courting serious government scrutiny. As George Packer found when he profiled her for The New Yorker, Poitras's work on Citizenfour changed her life completely.

Actress Keira Knightley speaks about how impossible it is for anyone involved in a film to really know how it’s going to turn out during production, regardless of the caliber of talent in the crew or the cast. Playing Joan Clarke, the only female member of the codebreaking crew who worked with Alan Turing during World War II, Knightley felt she was working on a great film but knew from experience you can never really know. She knows now; The Imitation Game garnered eight nominations, including Best Actress in a Supporting Role for herself, Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Picture and Best Director (Morten Tyldum).

Actor Mark Ruffalo had the daunting task of playing the late, beloved wrestler Dave Schultz in Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher. As a former wrestler, Ruffalo thought he could bring his own experience to his performance, and once he got Miller and Dan Futterman’s script, he launched himself into this tragic role. Ruffalo went on a physically and emotionally daunting journey to bring the late Olympian to life, shouldering the burden of playing a man who was well known and much loved by people who would be watching the film.

Check out the entire host of interviews, including all the folks who surely could have nabbed a nomination, on Movies OnDemand here.

Laura Poitras, Citizen Four

“Risky”

Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game

“Something Special”

Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

“Getting Involved”