This is one of the reasons I really like Anthony Hopkins:
"I can't get caught up in the self-importance. People bow to your every wish and you forget where you come from and what you're doing," he told the magazine.
"I recently worked with two actors who wouldn't come out of their trailers for some reason.
"Can you figure that out? It's insanity. Or they complain because their trailers aren't big enough.
"Bulls***. It's a job, like any other, so don't make a big deal. Be polite, treat the crew with respect and don't think you're different."
Somebody needs to print that out and jam it down George Clooney's piehole:
"And finally, I would say that you know we are a little bit out of touch every now and then here in Hollywood - every once in a while - and I think that's probably a good thing. We're the ones to talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered. And we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. You know we bring up subjects. We're the ones, you know, this Academy gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters.
"I'm proud to be part of this Academy, proud to be part of this community and proud to be 'out of touch' . . .."
ABC News' Miguel Marquez takes Clooney to the woodshed as well.
Update: A NY Daily News editorial continues the beating:
Since Prof. Clooney brought up the subject, we note for the record the drought between McDaniel's supporting Oscar for playing Mammy in "Gone With the Wind" and Halle Berry's Best Actress award in 2001. Berry's win, along with Denzel Washington's Best Actor award the same year and a Best Actor given to Sidney Poitier in 1963, constitute all the top acting awards - three - that the Academy gave blacks over three-quarters of a century. And that was a period when Tinseltown mass-produced a mind-boggling wave of minstrels, mammies and other demeaning black characters, year after year.Posted by Chris at March 7, 2006 12:49 PM
i would wager there have been more blacks in Republican administrations at cabinet or higher positions in Clooney's lifetime than there have been blacks giving Oscar acceptance speeches since day one.
Posted by: jcrue at March 13, 2006 02:56 PM