Who was the most annoying person in The Hollywood Reporter’s Actress Roundtable? Hint: it’s not who you think. Quite honestly, I wasn’t flat-out annoyed with anyone. I rolled my eyes at Julia Roberts a few times, but it felt like she settled down by the second page of the interview and she wasn’t trying to conversation-jack the roundtable. I think J-Ro is like a toddler on a sugar-high when people are paying attention to her – she goes a little bit crazy and makes it all about JULIA for a little bit and then the sugar wears off. That being said, Julia really didn’t bring much to the conversation at all. I did think it was funny/rude when she barely acknowledged that she and Amy Adams had worked together before. CLASSY!
You can read the full piece here. I was going to cull some highlights, but I feel like that would have been taking some interesting quotes out of context. So, I’ll just tell you some moments I enjoyed. I love everything about Emma Thompson and everything she says and everything she thinks. I love that she said that she would never do a “muff shot”. YES. Emma was also the one to bring up the idea that “actresses” used to be/are still thought of as prostitutes. Oprah was the one to dominate most of the conversation, but as with most Oprah things, she was a benevolent leader and she allowed Lupita Nyong’o to worship at the Oprah altar. Lupita also tells a nice story about Ralph Fiennes and Emma and Julia complained about doing theater work.
Here’s the video from the roundtable – it’s a long video, but worth it.
Photos courtesy of THR.
HOLY MOTHER. Lupita’s photo just took my breath away – those cheekbones! those shadows! Tyra would go gaga.
Lupita is gorgeous but I got this feeling that Tyra Banks would still telling her to smize and do the booty tooch on her pose. Lol. 😉
“I know we can’t SEE your booty in this picture — but I just can’t believe you were tooching it. Girl, you have a booty – tooch it! “
@Rhea, Erinn: You guys give me the lolz. And it’s funny because it could totally be true.
Anyhow, Lupita is absolutely breath-taking.
Lupita seriously makes me wish it were possible to have babies with another woman. So damned flawless!
If you can get hold of some of her bone marrow, you could actually have her baby! Lol
I love Emma Thompson but I did think it was a bit rude when she cut Amy Adams off after she said she still wanted to be on Broadway and told her she didn’t want to do theater and then hijacked it with her own story about how awful it is.
Adams was a stage performer for years before she made it big. That was her job for years. And she was in Into the Woods last summer at NYC. She knows what the life of a theater performer is like. She doesnt need to be told that its a hard lifestyle. I love Emma but I don’t know….it felt condascending to me. And then poor Adams seemed to not even know what to say. I felt kind of bad for her.
I agree. And emma is not really a theatre performer. She went to cambridge and has an academic degree. I think she enjoys the more cerebral disciplines such as writing more. She isn’t used to go on stage in the manner of the actresses who came up through drama schools and conservatoirs. It takes a different kind of stamina as opposed to movie work.
Right. Adams was a dancer for years in theater. She ::knows::: how hard it is. But by the time Emma and Julia had hijacked the convo I don’t even think she felt comfortable saying anything else so she just sort of caved to their perspective.
I’m mildly annoyed by almost all of them. Hollywood is so self-congratulatory.
I watched this yesterday – Emma Thompson is just amazing! She is so witty.
Emma Thompson was hilarious. But, I seriously loved how she pointed out how ridiculous it is for them to sit there and try to gain any sympathy from the general public because they have “sacrificed” for their work. I literally snorted when she said maybe she could understand it being a sacrifice if an actor cut off their legs to do a role, but otherwise they are leading pretty charmed lives.
I was sure Julia was about to chime in before that on all she has given up for her job.
I hate Julia Roberts’ smug face and I hate that she might get nominated.
Go back to New Mexico far away from the spotlight.
OMG Julia complaining about something? Baffling.
Lupita for all the awards.
This looks like the most uncomfortable pic ever, Only Emma looks relaxed,
Thoughts:
Julia was definitely not feeling Amy — I felt a similar vibe when Nicole Kidman was seated next to her at another one of these. A younger red-head who gets every plum part under the sun? Yeah, the shade was evident.
Oprah was being Oprah — trying to interview people herself. I thought Octavia and Lupita were the most genuine. Amy seemed to be the most easy-going despite the shade and Emma always keeps it real.
Amy Adams couldve been replaced by a cardboard cutout. Why was she even there?
Love Emma, Opie and Lupita.
She’s there bc she had two huge movies coming out and has had 4 Oscar nominations in a 7 year period despite not really getting a break until she was 30.
I felt bad for Amy here bc she could barely say a word with Julia or Emma or Oprah hijacking her comment and cutting her off. It’s clear these older women are all old friends and poor Amy could barely even speak without soneone cutting her off. I think she just gave up by the end. I don’t blame her.
Amy Adams has more right to be there than Oprah winfrey and even Lupita ( who i love, but she has only done one movie of note) based on her actual ACTING work. This wasn’t a situation where they were picked based on who is the most entertaining in a social setting. They were picked for their work this season. Amy has been in these hollywood reporter roundtable talks on previous occasions and she comes across as a little shy. She always gets dominated by the more talkative actresses. It was the same when Ryan Gosling was on, James Franco and the other guys were so loud and assertive that Ryan ended up saying almost nothing.
I actually think all the women there this year deserved to be there. I find Oprah a little annoying but she got acclaim for her role this year. I’m happy Lupita was included bc she just got this huge break.
But yeah….I don’t know that these roundtablea are great settings for people who are a little more reserved. I don’t think Adams is the kind of person who will talk over people so when people talk over her she basically just stays quiet. And that’s ok. Not everyone has to be a loud extrovert.
Oh i wasn’t saying they don’t deserve to be there. I was just saying this thing is about acting work and based on that Amy totally deserves a place at the table even if she isn’t the most entertaining. She has a far stronger resume than either of those two. But lets face it its also about who is available. Cate Blanchett should have been there if we are talking about the performances of the year. I believe the male roundtable had no fassbender or ejiofor either so its either about who has the best publicist or who is available at the time given.
Oprah (along with Lupita) is the frontrunner for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. It’s still up in the air whether or not Octavia, Amy, and even Emma Thompson will get nominated this year. In a conversation memorializing the year’s best acting performances, Oprah definitely deserved her spot at the table.
It’s about this year. Oprah and Lupita are frontrunners they deserve to be there. Amy Adams is probably not even going to be nominated this year, Jennifer Lawrence is snatching her wig in American Hustle. She shows up every year at this Roundtable with boring stories. Cate, Meryl, or the woman who plays the wife in Nebraska Squibb I think would have be better.
I think people are confused in this reply thread. Han is responding to the post above asking ‘why Amy was even there’. She is saying Amy is there b/c it’s about body of work. Not anything about the other actresses being there per se, but response to someone else saying Amy maybe should not have been there. anyway, we now have a nice derivative convo on the subject, so…cool.(:
well, I love amy adams on screen. she has old-school charisma and subtlety. I find her a bit mesmerizing as an actress, even as she is mild [‘bland’ to some]. There is something about her presence on screen and her obvious acting skill. I love her in everything I’ve seen her in, even the mediocre to lamer film scripts.
@ Han regarding Blanchett not being there. I believe it has to do with availability as well as if the actresses want to do it. When I read the transcript THR mentioned they have been working since the summer, to get make sure they could get a time for these 6 ladies to get together for the roundtable and how everything took a while esp with them either being busy with filming like Adams or live in another country like Emma. There were many great female performances this year so I believe they had many they could choose from.
I would have loved to see Cate there because I just love her insightful responses when being interviewed but she was filming recently so I am not sure she could’ve made it . Sandra, Judi Dench and Meryl are also not there. However, this was a nice roundtable interview with jokes, stories and nice moments.
BTW has Cate ever done a actresses roundtable interview? I know she did a roundtable with Pitt. Cruz, Mirren, Whittaker and DiCaprio in 2007
Well I haven’t seen Amy’s films (this year) but it seems like she’s at these things every year and desperately wants an Oscar. I don’t find her acting anything special personally – I mean, her role in Catch Me If You Can they showed in the clip? That was such a non-role, come on. I watched the entire interview and she seemed very uncomfortable, almost as if she knew she shouldn’t be there. I don’t think she even has much of a chance for an Oscar this year based on what I’ve read.
I am super impressed AND totally amazed at the diversity in this round table. And it’s not just skin colour, it’s age, experience, stage/ theatre/ TV, nationality, etc. (although no Asians).
Bravo!
Apart from Lupita, they’re all either American or British, as per usual. It’s not that diverse when it comes to nationality.
Often, Americans don’t even include anyone else so even though it was predominantly American, it wasn’t ALL American. That’s something to cheer about.
Yeah, but Great Britain isn’t the only country in Europe.
Lupita makes me really happy. She is foreign, but not the usual foreign ( France, Italy, Germany, Spain and maybe Mexico). There are other counties out there whose culture is just as rich.
I don’t disagree as I used to live in another very wonderful culture. My point is there is SOME diversity and hopefully this trend continues.
I agree. While it could have been more international, sure, normally, they have an array of young, white American women in films. Think Vanity Fair and several other magazines that rarely feature women with even a hint of melanin or a wrinkle. While this isn’t perfect, it sure is progress!
Haven’t watched it yet, but I find it quite impressive that for once, there are THREE (not one, not two but three) black women on the roundtable. That’s the first thing I noticed before I started to fangirl all over Emma Thompson being there. God it’s going to be hilarious.
*off to watch the roundtable video*
That’s what stuck out for me too — there isn’t just one ‘token’ person of colour. It’s half the group!
Yes and Amen to both your comments, it really gives me hope for the world that my kids will grow up in some day. There’s so much negative in the world right now and stuff like this kinda restores my faith in humanity 🙂
I really enjoyed seeing that as well. It gave me a lot of hope that next year we may even see a hispanic actress on one of these too. Even though I am not African-American, seeing diversity being recognized not for the sake of diversity but based on the merit of their work made me excited. It get’s annoying to mostly see people like me recognized in mass media for their “curves” more than their work.
*crosses fingers*
That was just kind of mildly awkward the whole way through. These things only work when either everyone is on about the same level or when the big ego’s are faced with newcomers they can impart wisdom on. It always gets a little weird when you put some huge names in with some actors who’ve had successful careers but aren’t quite top tier movie stars.
I find Julia incredibly annoying in interviews. Just answer a question properly instead of making your little jokes.
Octavia, Amy and Lupita came off well enough, Oprah’s Oprah, and I know it’s blasphemous to say this on here, but never been a fan of Emma Thompson. I feel like she regularly gets a pass because Americans hear the accent and see the slight veil of kookiness and think ‘isn’t she a character’ when really she’s just annoying and almost as self-obsessed and attention seeking as Julia.
Well and here’s the blunt truth:
Someone like Julia Roberts doesn’t view Octavia Spencer or Lupita as competition. Octavia is well aware that she is consistently stereotyped in roles bc of her size and color. Lupita is brand new so she can sit there and they don’t view her as a threat either.
Adams is a different story to someone like Julia Roberts. Amy doesn’t have to sit there and fawn over these older women. She’s in her late 30’s, has 4 Oscar nominations of her own and is getting huge roles in franchises to go with it. And she’s a beautiful redhead with a cute figure. She’s totally threatening to some of these women in a way that Octavia is not. I freaking love Octavia but this is the blunt reality of the way this business works.
@Andrea
They were all starring at Lupita. I don’t think any of them saw Amy Adams as a threat. She is a good actress but really bland and boring. They paid attention to what Octavia was saying cause as a recent Oscar winner and woman of color who doesn’t get as much media attention they wanted to hear her speak. I think you have Amy Adams Rosey colored glasses on.
@T.C, And I think you are being nasty and assuming that we are all interested in the same things. It’s incredibly rude to assume that just bc ::you:: aren’t interested in soneone that others don’t find them interesting.
Like it or not, Adams has a huge career and, as someone pointed out below, she was alone on this panel as a woman in her 30’s who is still steadily working and getting huge roles. I adore Octavia and Lupita btw. I like all these women.
Thank God someone else feels like that about Emma. I find her a bit pretentious. She is nice and all, but I do think she thinks very high of herself ( and she should) and that self-deprecating thing is just an act.
IMO Emma was being very British. They always self depreciate.
I know. I mostly watch British TV. It just doesn’t seem sincere with her.
Totally agree
Really? I guess I don’t see that. She seems to me to never take herself that seriously. Oh well 🙂
Where was my beloved Cate Blanchett ? I want her to win for these awards season.
I know a lot of people don’t like Oprah but I hadn’t really expected to like The Butler but she was really good.
I love Amy and am tired of Oprah..
loved Octavia, Emma and Lupita
The truest words ever uttered by Oprah: “You are the woman to have at dinner parties” (talking to Emma Thompson).
You what annoyed me most after watching the video was how the two interviewers focused so much on Julia. I didn’t see a lot of toe stepping from the women but I did see the interviewers repeatedly focus in on a few people while clearly forgetting about the two women next to them. To balance the group’s dynamics, extroverts should have been placed by the interviewers with the introverts across from the interviewers. Other than that I really enjoyed the watching the round table discussion.
I love these Roundtables because the dynamics are FASCINATING. It’s all about who they have around the table, and when they get a few big egos (Julia and Oprah, holla!) it becomes really interesting.
Amy Adams has done 3 of these- this year, last year, and the year Natalie Portman won. Natalie’s year was my favorite, because it was a great mix of younger and more experienced actresses. Last year everyone was pretty mellow and pretty even, career-wise, with Sally Field occupying the “Wise Elder” spot.
This year is lopsided, for sure. Amy Adams is sort of alone there, without other late 30/early 40 actresses who are still working steadily.
The dynamics are fascinating but as group leader, you have to account for it and try to okay to everyone’s strengths.
Can you see the other round table discussions? Hmmm wonder if they are on YouTube. Thanks for the idea! 🙂
Should read play instead of okay (sorry)
I think HR takes the old episodes down? Lainey usually posts them, which is where I become aware.
I mainly liked the Natalie Portman year because Annette Bening was stirring things up- Hilary Swank talked about a role that she really wanted, where she had her manager get her the script and a meeting with the director, and she wasn’t offered the part. So Annette asked, “well, who did?” and there’s the awkward moment until finally Amy Adams, sitting next to her, speaks up that she was offered the part but turned it down (the movie turned out to be ‘People Like Us’ and the role went to Elizabeth Banks). And then it turns into a whole discussion about the propriety of discussing the roles that you want/the roles you don’t get/the roles you turn down, which isn’t the stuff that they usually talk about. That year, it felt like they talked about the “real stuff”- I think that might have been the first year they did the roundtables, so that’s probably why.
Julia was intensely annoying (but I always find her annoying) with her smarmy little comments, and Oprah also got a little bit irritating. I appreciated Emma’s talk about parts she will and won’t play, and Octavia’s comments about television were interesting as well. Lupita came off very well, and Amy oddly didn’t seem to have much to say.
This roundtable wasn’t as meaty as other ones, and Emma did really hijack a lot of the conversation, but she was really funny so all is forgiven. Julia was not as bad as I was expecting, either. I do wish Amy would have talked more. She is funny and sweet, but man, get her talking about paparazzi like last year and she get so fiery.
Lupita was amazing. Toward the end there, I was just smiling with tears in my eyes at her joy to be doing what she loved.
These roundtables are also getting better about not having too many questions for actresses involving How To Have it All, body expectations, ageism, representation, etc. They were called out on those types of questions last year, because the Actor section gets less questions about the things that come along with fame, like the paps and raising kids, and more questions about craft and artistry.
I loved when they were called out on the “how do you feel about aging” questions last year- was that Rachel Weisz who did it? That was so great, because the interviewer tried to play it off like, “Of course we ask the actors how they feel about aging and how they balance work and children.” Which was such transparent BS!
@T.C Thank you !!! I thought i was the only one that find Amy Adams bland and boring (i wish Lois Lane could be recast in the Bat / Supes movie)
I really loved lupita, Octavia and Emma on the roundtable.
You are not alone. Last year the other actresses were bored by her too. She kept hijacking the discussion to talk about paps and her daughter. Rachel Wesiz and the other actresses gave her much side eye. They sat there blank faced as she went on and on. She is nice enough just really boring and Disneyfied personality.
I just worship Amy.She is probably the sweetest person evr roamed the earth.I didn’t know Lupita until 12 years a slave…but she blew me away.I love Emma and Octavia. I hate Prah and Julia.
I love Amy adams, she always manages to bring a spark to her roles. I totally want to see her in American Hustle.
Also, J Law wouldnt be stealing Adams Oscar nom as Adams would be in the lead actress category.
Oprah is such a raging egomaniac, I guess she is the only one who insisted being filmed with the biggest softener lens. If she really goes on campaigning for an Oscar, maybe afterwards people are finally so sick of her that she will finally go away for good.