Backstage with film winners at the SAG Awards

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – “Capote” star Philip
Seymour Hoffman, who now can add another best actor statue to
his mantel, thanks to his best actor win at the SAG Awards,
said he has experienced plenty of highs this awards season. But
nothing compares to the feeling he experienced when, as a
24-year-old novice, he landed a part in “Scent of a Woman.”

“I don’t think I’ve been more joyful since that moment,”
the six-time SAG nominee and first-time winner told reporters
backstage at the SAG Awards Sunday.

With “Capote,” Hoffman experienced the unfamiliar pressure
of trying to re-create the life of an iconic figure without
succumbing to crass imitation.

“The challenges of it is you have to let go actually,” he
said of his Truman Capote incarnation. “The challenges are
heady things. You have to let go of your pride and wanting to
please everyone and the memory of him. And you have to treat
the character as if it were another fictional character. The
difference is you have all this material at your disposal, and
it’s very helpful, but it’s a very tricky process.”

In fact, Hoffman said he nailed the part by paying
attention to the story rather than the technique. “I did all
the technical work you can imagine, but it was all for naught
if I didn’t understand what actually was driving him.”

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“I never thought I’d be an actor,” Reese Witherspoon said
after her lead actress win for “Walk the Line.” “I never knew
any actors. And it wasn’t a serious profession where I was
from.”

Even as recently as seven years ago, she said, her mom was
asking, “Are you going to make another one of your little
movies?” and wanting to know whether she was going to choose a
profession when she finished college.

“I never finished college, so I have no skills,”
Witherspoon said. “I am here by the skin of my teeth.”

Being in the Johnny Cash biopic allowed her to overcome a
fear that had been growing since childhood: singing. When she
was little, Witherspoon begged her parents to let her go to a
Broadway play camp. But when she got there, “They said that no
matter what, I should never sing,” she said. “It was a seed
that was planted in my mind.”

So when “Walk the Line” director James Mangold asked her to
play the part of June Carter, she said yes but told him she
could not, and would not, sing. Since the movie took so long to
get made, though, Mangold was able to sand down her
apprehensions over the years. And while Witherspoon still had
her fear when shooting began, she said, “(Making the film) was
a good way to conquer it.”

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Even as Rachel Weisz continues to rack up pre-Oscar
accolades, including SAG’s best supporting actress award, she
insists that there is something missing.

“It’s beyond my comprehension (why co-star Ralph Fiennes
has been overlooked on the awards-season circuit),” said the
“Constant Gardener” star, who earned her first SAG win with her
first nomination. “I feel that any award or any acclaim I get I
share with him 50-50.”

In fact, the pregnant actress could have used some help
carting around the evening’s haul. “I might have to set it
down. It’s 12 pounds,” she said of her new statuette, placing
it on the ground. “But that’s not how I feel about it.”

As for the film’s impact, Weisz said she was thrilled that
politically minded projects are enjoying their place in the
spotlight. “I think if movies reach people and they ask people
about the big themes, like ‘Syriana’ . . . I think it’s
wonderful. If it raises debate, then it’s a wonderful thing.”

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Paul Giamatti, who won for outstanding performance in a
supporting role for “Cinderella Man,” had his own ideas about
who should have taken the statuette in his category. “Clooney.
He’s good-looking . . . and a good actor.” Who else? “Don
Cheadle. He should have won. He’s good.”

When asked about how he planned his path, Giamatti scoffed
at the idea that his success had something to do with scheming.
“Was I on a path? I thought I was just lost in the woods. I’ve
had a very particular career. I never thought I’d end up here.”

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Lifetime achievement award recipient Shirley Temple Black
isn’t entirely comfortable with the attention she still draws.

“I never thought of myself as an icon,” the one-time child
star said. “I always thought that I should be put in a museum
or something. But I’m touched that people still enjoy my films
so much.”

And though she doesn’t make it down to Tinseltown often
anymore — she now resides in San Francisco — she enjoys
rubbing shoulders with the new generation of actors, like
presenter and child star Dakota Fanning.

“We like each other,” she said of Hollywood’s biggest
prepubescent star. “She’s fantastic.”

But there was one actor she wanted to corner before the
evening ended. “The handsomest guy in the room is (George)
Clooney,” she said. “I haven’t talked to him yet. I will
later.”

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter