2012 SBIFF Virtuosos Award

Reviewed by Alex Canzano. Viewed at The Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Roger Durling greets the crowd at The 27^th SBIFF’s Virtuosos Award, held in the Arlington Theater, and makes a short speech before introducing Entertainment Weekly’s Senior Writer, Dave Karger, who will serve as moderator for the evening. Honoring six actors and their performances, the Virtuosos Award goes to Demian Birchir, Rooney Mara, Patton Oswalt, Andy Serkis, Shailene Woodley, and Melissa McCarthy. Karger regrets to announce that unfortunately Melissa McCarthy is unable to make an appearance due to an unexpectedly severe case of laryngitis.

From there he calls upon the stage to interview Demian Birchir, for his Oscar nominated role as Carlos Galindo in Chris Weitz’s latest film A Better Life. Following an emotional clip from the film, Karger asks Birchir to discuss how he prepared for the role. Birchir confesses that he put on twenty pounds and how he had to learn a little bit about trimming palm trees. He goes on to say he was comfortable with climbing the tree until he saw one of the actual workers praying just before he made the climb.

Karger brings up the thought that the film, because it delves deep into the personal life of Carlos Galinda, it could have a considerable affect on how we view our gardeners that we see everyday but hardly relate to. Birchir says he’s always been close to and held respect for his “paisans!” he calls them. He says film is dedicated to the eleven million human beings in this country that help make life better for all of us.

Next up is Rooney Mara whose role as Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has won her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.Mara seems tense and does not respond very enthusiastically to Kager’s inquiries. The young actress is most like tired of discussing the role at this point. He mentions the last time that they had spoken, she had still not seen the film. She admits that she saw it for the very first time at its premiere. After viewing a clip from the film, Mara goes on to explain that she cannot enjoy the film in the same way that the audience can because, to her, it was a mentally exhausting experience that took three days to shoot but only lasts for two and a half minutes on screen.

Patton Oswalt approaches the hot seat now to talk a little bit about his role as Matt Freehauf in Young Adult by David Reitman. After viewing a short clip, Patton causes a roar of laughter when he says “Talk about method acting… I gained fourty pounds for the part before Diablo Cody wrote it!” Urging Oswalt to talk about his relationship with Charlize Theron, Karger recalls seeing them together on panels and unsure if they were best friends or if they truly despised each other. Oswalt explains that they have such a close relationship that they can banter and insult each other all day without fear of hindering their friendship. Karger asks for an example to which Oswalt replies “All I have to say is Aeon Flux.” And then when asked how she might respond he says, “She doesn’t have to say anything.. all she has to say is ‘You shirtless’ and she wins.”

Andy Serkis run out on stage shirtless and the crowd cheers as he strikes a primate-like pose with his fist raised in the air. Celebrating his latest motion-capture performance as Caesar from Rise of the Planet Apes. Serkis goes on to explain that whole process of motion-capture does not require any less acting than any other role. He refers to the motion-capture sensors as “digital-makeup”. He admits that ten years ago he did not imagine that he would be most known for his portrayals of animated apes and crawling creatures but is grateful to be the go-to-guy for motion-capture.

Finally, Shailene Woodley is honored tonight for her role as Alexandra King in The Descendants.  Her and Karger discuss her experience in Hawaii. After showing a pivotal clip from the film, an exchange between her and George Clooney, she explains how much she admires his method as an actor and the understated way in which he lets her know she’s doing a good job. She confesses that before production she was not aware that Alexander Payne was such a highly esteemed director. She says his most common form of direction from him was telling her to be “louder” and “slower”.