Virtuosos Award – Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Reviewed by Karin Eriksson at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2015 in the Arlington Theater.

I went to go see the Virtuosos Award and was, like last year, not disappointed. This year the awards went to Chadwick Boseman, starring in the movie “Get On Up”, Ellar Coltrane, starring in the movie “Boyhood”, Logan Lerman, starring in the movie “Fury”, David Oyelowo, starring in the movie “Selma”, Rosamund Pike, starring in the movie “Gone Girl”, J.K Simmons, starring in the movie “Whiplash” and Jenny Slate, starring in the movie “Obvious Child”. The night started with each actor coming out to talk about their movies and lives.

Chadwick talked about impersonating James Brown and said that he didn’t know where to start, or if it would even work! He said that they started with the dance moves because if that wouldn’t work, nothing would. He said that his friends and family was surprised that he would take on this role, he quotes his sister “Boy, you can’t dance. What are you doing?”

The movie “Boyhood” was shot over a period of 12 years. Ellar Coltrane started filming when he was 6 years old. He said that he had done some theatre before, commercials etc. He said that they would joke on set between takes to take away the seriousness of the scenes. Ellar said that he never thought about quitting, he had always been a part of creating his character. he said that he kept it a secret from his friends when he was filming this movie.

Logan Lerman says that he faught really hard for his part in “Fury”. He wouldn’t take on anything else and he jokingly said that he told the director that he would starve himself if he didn’t get the part. He said they learned about history and met veterans before they filmed and that was helpful. He said that the rehearsals could get pretty violent, they would choke each other and wrestle and stuff, but they only became closer. There’s a scene when Brad Pitt slaps Logan in the face for about two minutes and Logan says that he used to say really mean things to him in between takes to make him slap him harder, he said that he learned Brad’s weak sides and used that.

The first question for David Oyelowo was what his dinner had been because the interviewer expected a very British answer and only got “A mahi mahi wrap”. David laughs and says that no one ever expect him to speak British. He says that no one ever gets his name right, except Brad Pitt, who sung his name at the Palm Springs Festival where David received an award. David played the role of Martin Luther King and says that he was happy that he didn’t have to tell the actual speeches. He also gives the audience tips on how to get a fuller face: Eat mac and cheese around 11:30 pm, go straight to bed and wake up! His movie, “Selma” is nominated for an Oscar.

Rosamund says that they were asked to keep the movie “Gone Girl” a secret before it was released. She read and studied the book from which the movie is based and made post-it notes all over, which she thinks is very common by actors to do. She said that in one scene, she had to slice Neil Patrick Harris’s throat and she had no idea how to do that so she went to a butcher in Los Angeles and asked if she could practice on a pig carcass, which she did.

J.K Simmons says that when he read the script for the movie “Whiplash”, it blew him away. It was one of the most compelling things he had read. He says that if he ever had had a teacher as tough as the character he’s playing, he would have quit! There is a scene in which he slaps his student repeatedly, and when asked if he felt bad or apologized to him after the takes he says with a glimpse in his eye “No. Have you met him? He needs a little slapping around. It’s a right of passage! Haha”

Jenny says that her movie, “Obvious Child” was a low budget film that was shot in 18 days. She says that in one scene, she was taking a bath and there was no hot water in the apartment so the crew would run around and boil water on the stove. She tells a funny story about  a senior citizen who came up to her after a screening of the movie and says “I thought that the jokes were disgusting, but it was a touching movie, what do you think? I like the actress.” Of course she had no idea she was talking to the lead actress.

As always, this event was very entertaining and it’s very fun to get to hear an actor’s point of view of a film!