Profiles - Hollywood Authentic

May 20, 2024

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willem dafoe, cannes dispatch, cover, kinds of kindness

CANNES DISPATCH 11 …
Words by JANE CROWTHER
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS

As Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness bowed at Cannes Film Festival, the film – a triptych of contemporary tales starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Jesse Plemons – got a standing ovation and a flurry of engaged reviews lauding a challenging film with no easy answers. ‘Listen, I’m a total cheerleader for festivals,’ smiles Dafoe when Hollywood Authentic sits down with him in a Carlton Hotel suite on the Croisette. ‘This is not a popcorn movie. So when it comes to a festival, it starts a discussion, and that’s a good way to make contact with a critical world.’

Though he’s made so-called popcorn movies during his long and illustrious career, Dafoe is well known for collaborating on invigorating films that prompt discussions on meaning that often start at festivals before moving the lobbies of cinemas globally, and Kinds Of Kindness marks another piece of provocative work as the actor plays three roles. In the first story, he’s a businessman with an idiosyncratic wardrobe who minutely controls every aspect of the life of his subordinate (Plemons). In the second he essays the father of Emma Stone’s lost-at-sea wife who returns to her cop husband (Plemons) and arouses suspicion that she may not be who she seems. And in the third, Dafoe is a cult leader who is sexually permissive and cries tears into a vast vat of sacred water, sending his acolytes (Stone and Plemons) out into the world to find the group’s new messiah.

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Having previously worked with Stone and Lanthimos on last year’s acclaimed Poor Things, Dafoe was intrigued by the script as soon as the director offered it to him during post production on their period awards winner. He didn’t hesitate in jumping in again. ‘Poor Things was such a good experience. Yorgos is a filmmaker that I’ve always followed, and have always enjoyed. And he’s so good with actors. He gives you really fun stuff to do. He’s very playful. He’s very intellectually curious. It’s a very conscionable and very creative set. So, to work with him again was fantastic. Also, this structure was interesting, the fact that we’re playing three different characters. It became very clear that [Lanthimos] didn’t want this to be a showy thing of actors transforming. Because they’re three distinct films, but they’re all obviously thematically related. And they’re all different, given each different world, and our function in that world. For example, in the first one, I have a pretty substantial role; in the second one, quite a smallish role; and in the third one, a medium role. How I fall into those worlds is different each time. But it’s the same group of people, dealing with the same kind of mentality and themes.’ It also meant re-teaming with Bella Baxter herself, in Emma Stone. ‘Emma, I adore!’ he enthuses. ‘She’s really fun to work with.’

Those themes then; all the stories explore control and cruelty, the weird and illogical kindnesses that humans do for each other in marriage, business, friendship, faith. And each story, while not related, informs the next as a viewer. But like all of Lanthimos’ work, the meaning is defined by each audience member – a Rorschach test in cinematic form. ‘It’s a little bit of a Russian doll,’ Dafoe nods of the project. ‘But you work so hard to just try to be engaged with what’s in front of you. You know, that’s one of the tricks of an actor: that’s your world, so you want the other parts to fade away, because you don’t want to point to those things, or be too tied to that. You want a fresh start each time.’

While playing Stone’s Dad required Dafoe to tap into his affection for his co-star (‘I just cued off my love for Emma’), playing a cult leader did have him looking into real-life examples. ‘I’m fascinated by the nature of cults. I looked at a documentary that I think Jesse recommended to me called Holy Hell, also I liked Wild Wild Country. Not so much because I need that to figure out how to play a cult leader. That’s not it. The themes are there. You know, the kind of devotion, the need to give your freedom up to someone else, or dedicate yourself to something outside of yourself. All those themes, the power dynamics, the things about sexuality – they’re all in that. You’re swimming in that pool. You’re not necessarily taking something, and seeing something, and saying, ‘I’m going to do that’. It’s just to get you in that head.’

Lanthimos is also known for his rehearsal process before filming, another aspect that Dafoe was drawn to. ‘Yorgos is very good at making a company. Rehearsal is not so much to deal with the text, or even talk about character, except to play games and get comfortable with each other. And that’s very helpful. So once you finish that rehearsal period, you feel very comfortable with each other, and everyone is kind of on the same footing. And it’s a good way for you to understand Yorgos, what his impulses are, what he likes, and what he tends to go towards. You get in his head a little bit. And it’s always good any time you can get that in a movie, because then people stop worrying about that old thing of, ‘leave your ego at the door’.’

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Dafoe will be digging into ego, legacy, fame and the impact of praise on the soul with his next project, a film he’s also in Cannes to launch. Late Fame, adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s 19th century Vienna-set novella, switches the time period to 70s New York with Dafoe playing a poet long forgotten by society. Until, that is, his poems are rediscovered and feted. Sandra Hüller will play a Broadway actress and fan of his work who challenges his ideas of genius. Directed by Kent Jones, the film starts shooting in New York this Autumn. The project was sparked by creative serendipity for Dafoe.

‘The Schnitzler novel that it’s adapted from, a friend brought to me, independent of this production, and said, ‘I think there’s a movie here’. I was carrying it around when I happened to meet the director, and we started talking. To make a long story short, we came together on it but from separate places. We were both reading this, and were interested in this, at the same time. And then it’s Samy Burch who wrote this beautiful adaptation that sets it in New York at a time that I was in New York, and it was a very special time, the late ‘70s. It’s very rich material. It expresses a very particular time, and it has lots of interesting ruminations about fame and personal history and memory and ambition, and about what it is to aspire to be an artist.’

Kinds Of Kindness premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival and will be released later this year. Late Fame starts shooting in autumn this year, release TCB

Breakfast Club

JACK O’CONNELL

May 16, 2024

Photographs and interview by GREG WILLIAMS
As told to Jane Crowther

Jack O’Connell doesn’t like to hurry his eggs. ‘Low and slow,’ he insists, talking me through his breakfast wrap one drizzly March Friday morning in north east London when I meet him at his home. He takes half an hour to scramble his eggs as he crisps his accompanying black pudding, sausage and streaky bacon for our brunch. ‘I’ve always wanted to do a cookery show,’ he chuckles as he diligently stirs. ‘Don’t rush them…’

The actor’s domestic vibe is similarly exacting – ‘a tidy house, a tidy mind,’ he says of his spick ‘n’ span home – and is also reflected in the way he approaches his work. Though he has form playing troublemakers, rule-breakers and trailblazers in projects such as This Is England, Skins, Starred Up, Unbroken, The North Water, SAS Rogue Heroes and Ferrari, Jack doesn’t adhere to the idea of playing a hellraiser on and off screen. ‘It’s a funny one, isn’t it?’ he says, scarfing down his breakfast wrap. ‘If I’ve got a good head on my shoulders, and I’ve slept, and I’m rested, and I’m on set, it’s the best place to be. You know what I mean?’

As Bob the dog (more of whom later) weaves round our legs, Jack shows me round his house, pointing out the art he’s bought on his travels, including a Shane McGowan (‘I picked this up in Bantry, in Cork – it’s painted with peat from the bogs’), and the plants he’s currently cultivating. ‘This fella needs to cheer up,’ he says of one of the plants he’s just repotted, its leaves scattered around the floor next to it, ‘and this fella is thriving…’ His art is mainly of musicians, which is apt considering he’s next playing the husband of Amy Winehouse, Blake Fielder-Civil, in Sam Taylor-Johnson’s new biopic, Back to Black. ‘The last five or six years, I’ve started to really, really appreciate cinema. Not just actors, but the whole craft. I’ve always loved music but I never had the attention span for films as a kid. I’d get fucking bored – unless it was Braveheart with loads of scrapping, and all that action kicking off.’

While he might not have fully appreciated film and acting as a teen growing up in Derby, it intrigued him enough to attend a drama workshop twice a week in Nottingham with Ian Smith, the acting teacher who discovered Samantha Morton. It was while he was there that Shane Meadows came to cast for This Is England in 2004. He gave Jack his first role on a project that became an awards-winner and hugely influential to British cinema. ‘I was about 14 and suddenly I’ve got a BAFTA-winning film to my name,’ he marvels. Quite the trip for a kid from an industrial town in the north of England where working at the Rolls Royce or Bombardier plant was the usual ambition.

Jack O’Connell, Back To Black, Hollywood Authentic, Greg Williams

‘I just grew up there, playing football and doing all the normal stuff. My mum and dad worked every hour of the day. My mum had two jobs and still had bailiffs coming around. I remember the bailiffs coming and nabbing our TV. I was halfway through watching Pingu, and they fucking nabbed the TV. I remember my mum having to be really crafty with how she’d get food on the table and whatnot. And that was despite my dad working his arse off. He worked himself into the ground.’ The death of his dad at the age of 18 is something that still informs the 33-year-old today. ‘In terms of my relationship with him, I never got to speak to him as an adult, which is the biggest bereavement I still feel. With that kind of loss, you never get over it. You just cope. I had 18 years with a fine, fine man. I know lads that never even had a day with theirs. So it is what it is. But he got to see the start of where I was getting to with work.’

Shane Meadows has continued to be influential in Jack’s career as he recently turned his hand to directing a music video for Paul Weller. ‘I loved the shooting experience, then I got into the edit and was petrified, because suddenly I’ve got all this material, and I don’t know where it’s going, and I don’t know if it’s going to work. So I reached out to Shane; I hadn’t spoken to him in years. I told him what the score was, and he was like, “Oh, Jack, whenever I finish my gig, I feel like I’ve just won the award. And then I get into the edit, and I want to do myself in.” When you’re an actor, if it’s shit, you just blame the director. This time round, I had no one to blame, so it was on me.’

Jack’s latest acting work cast him opposite Marisa Abela as the two of them inhabit Amy Winehouse and Blake Fielder-Civil in Back to Black. Filming on location in the couple’s real-life stomping ground of Camden, Jack was reunited with Bob – a dog he’d befriended previously while acting in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in the West End in 2018. As we head out to walk the dog, he tells me of their sliding doors moment. ‘I was shooting at the Dublin Castle pub in all my Blake garb. And who should walk past? It’d been about a year-and-a-half or two years. Bless him, he remembered.’ Now Jack borrows Bob for walks and hangouts from his owner, Lisa, when he has downtime between film shoots. Back to Black was a special project, he says, as we stroll the rain-slicked local streets to his favourite coffee shop. ‘I loved it, mate. Marisa was spellbinding. She threw everything at it. She was in every scene, it was heavy for her. I just really respected the work rate and the process.’ In preparation for the role, Jack met up with Blake, an experience he describes as something of a revelation. ‘His persona’s very public. He’s got plenty written about him in the tabloids. You think you’ve got the measure of someone based on what’s out there. I think he’s been vilified. And compared to the fella I met – I just got on with him. I was quite surprised.

Your best tools are your ears, and what you hear, and what you play off. You do a scene three or four times, and there’s gonna be a different nuance

It just felt like I had a lot in common with him. Any time he talked about Amy, it just rang true – and you can forgive being beguiled at that age. The kind of limelight that both of them ended up in… That meeting informed me a lot.’

As we arrive at Jack’s local coffee house I ask how he chooses his roles. ‘There’s jobs that you get, and there’s jobs that you chase, you know? It’s a bit of the law of attraction. There’s such a thing as just eating a bit of humble pie, and putting your hat in the ring. Even if you get fucking ignored, blanked and rejected, you know, not everything is just going to come your way. So I’m reaching out a lot more. I’m interested in being versatile.’ Before we can discuss further we’re welcomed warmly by Rodrigo, a barista from Naples, and we get chatting about football, Maradona and Paolo Sorrentino as Jack gets his coffee on the house. The two of them sing Napoli football songs together in Italian.

We move on to the local butchers, cups warming our hands, in search of a treat for Bob. As a proud northern working-class man, Jack recognises a certain pre-judgement operates in getting roles. ‘Do you think if I had a posh accent I would have a bigger career?’ he asks. ‘What I’m trying to understand – it’s bigger than myself, and my career – is that, do you get to have really good, aspirational jobs if you didn’t go to private school?’ Does he have a point? Though he’s played a wide range of roles, eras and accents with a diverse roster of helmers (including Michael Mann on Ferrari, Angelina Jolie on Unbroken, Jodie Foster on Money Monster), it’s interesting that there have been more American directors who have seen beyond his background. There are still ‘invisible lines and glass ceilings in play’ says the actor.

Jack has worked across TV, film and theatre – so which is his favourite space to get hooked on? ‘To use a cliché, film’s a director’s medium and TV is a producer’s. On TV you’re allowed more time to tell a story in a series, but you’re shooting fucking seven to eight pages in a day. Whereas, with film, obviously there’s always restraints as it relates to budget and what have you, but you can be a bit more focused. Your best tools are your ears, and what you hear, and what you play off. You do a scene three or four times, and there’s gonna be a different nuance to react to.’

His love of cinema is both as a practitioner and a punter, and as we stroll past his local picturehouse I ask him what role in any film he would have liked to have got stuck into. ‘The first one that’s coming to my head is American Psycho and Patrick Bateman. But I just think that what Christian Bale did with that is untouchable. And Jud in Kes. Sid in Sid and Nancy. That’d be the top three there.’ We nip into the retro cinema Jack describes as a ‘little viewing glass into yesteryear’ where he tells me over a Coke that he never watches his own work on a big screen alongside an audience. ‘I just watch at home, in the comfort of your own living room. So if you need to self-flagellate, you can just do it, in privacy! But there’s got to be a childlike curiosity to what you do. You know, when a toddler is playing, they’re not scared of how they’re looking, or if they’re getting it wrong. There’s a freedom to it. We lose it – the innocence, the fucking vigour, the fearlessness. To a toddler, fear doesn’t exist – the fear of getting it wrong; the fear of looking silly. But I think that’s got to be part of the process, isn’t it? You’ve got to be given room to fail. What’s borne out of that is what’s worth mining for. It’s the oxymoron of trying to be but not act. That’s always the goal. The best example I’ve got, which is lived in, is working with Shane Meadows. The cameras didn’t come out until the afternoon. He just spent the morning figuring it out. He didn’t know the story until he got into the edit. So we didn’t know. We were just there.’

Photographs, interview and video by GREG WILLIAMS
As told to JANE CROWTHER
Jack O’Connell can be seen in Back to Black, out now

A Little Nonsense

STEPHEN MERCHANT

May 11, 2024

Photograph by GREG WILLIAMS

How important is a little bit of nonsense now and then to you?
It’s the most important thing. I once had a school report card that criticised me for ‘always finding the joke in everything’. I’ve tried my damnedest to do that ever since.

What, if anything, makes you believe in magic?
Derren Brown, the mentalist and illusionist. I know everything he does is misdirection and stagecraft but his mind reading is mind-blowing – and he’s performed tricks on me that defy explanation. I’m angry that I’ll go to my grave not knowing how they’re done.

What was your last act of true cowardice?
I told a restaurant chef his food was ‘absolutely friggin’ incredible’ when it was really bland.

What single thing do you miss most when you’re away from home?
The basement room I turned into a movie theatre.

Do you have any odd habits or rituals?
In my movie theatre, no one is allowed to talk. Or eat. And they have to drink from sippy cups. Not a joke.

What is your party trick?
I eat anything. Nowadays everyone has a lactose intolerance or wheat allergy, but you can serve me whatever and I’ll clear my plate.

What is your mantra?
‘Everyone’s guessing.’ No one has life figured out, despite what they may tell you. Everybody is just stumbling along, trying to make their way. Once I realised that, a great burden was lifted from
my shoulders.

What is your favourite smell?
Napalm in the morning.

What do you always carry with you?
The ability to laugh at myself. I don’t trust people who refuse to be the butt of the joke.

What is your guilty pleasure?
I kind of enjoyed the lockdown.

Who is the silliest person you know?
My partner, Mircea. She can make me laugh so hard with a silly dance.

What would be your least favourite way to die?
Without featuring in the Oscars’ ‘In Memoriam’ section.

Stephen Merchant transitioned from stand-up to the screen when he collaborated with Ricky Gervais on writing The Office. It became zeitgeist TV, spawning two series, a Christmas special and the US version. Merchant co-starred in his and Gervais’ follow-up show, Extras. While juggling award-winning stand-up, radio shows, podcasts, producing, directing and screenwriting, Merchant has also acted in numerous films including Hall Pass, Logan and JoJo Rabbit. He is the co-creator, executive producer and writer of The Outlaws, which he also stars in. The third season will be released this summer on BBC and Amazon Prime.

Photograph by GREG WILLIAMS

*Arguably one of the most memorable (and quotable) scenes in 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is when Mr Salt mumbles, ‘It’s a lot of nonsense,’ to which Wonka replies, in a sing-song voice, ‘A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.’

Trailer Talk

JULIA ROBERTS

May 11, 2024

Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS
Words by JULIA ROBERTS

We join Chopard’s global ambassador Julia Roberts on the set of the luxury jewellers’ TV commercial directed by James Gray. While filming in Julia’s adopted hometown of San Francisco, Greg asked her what inspired her when she first set out on her creative path.

‘I never thought of acting as a kid. I was surrounded by creative people but I was always the audience to it.

‘The first film that really made me take note of acting and how powerful it can be was Becket, starring Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole. I was in high school and I do not know why exactly, but it just stayed with me. I think it was the beginning of wanting to be connected to that form of expression.

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‘I am inspired by so many people in this industry and not in this industry, too. I have a deep appreciation for all types of creative efforts.

‘I am as excited today going into a project as I was 30 years ago. Partly because it is all new every time. A new universe to puzzle out and explore.’

Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS
Words by JULIA ROBERTS

Dispatches

AWARDS JOURNEY – PHOTOGRAPHING EMMA STONE

March 15, 2024

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Photographs and words by GREG WILLIAMS

Over awards season I’ve been lucky enough to be commissioned by Louis Vuitton to shoot Emma Stone before every major awards event – and then I’ve gone on to photograph her at The Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, BAFTAs and SAGs while covering the events. That journey culminated in her winning the Oscar for Best Actress at the Academy Awards and I wanted to take a moment to revisit the pictures I’ve taken during that time…

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When you’re commissioned to shoot for a fashion brand the first job is to take pictures where the clothes look their best. But I suppose what I’m additionally looking for is seeing the person behind the personality. So we have this lovely collection of pictures now, fashion photos and then seeing the human too. The Oscars were particularly special. I tend to photograph a number of actors before award shows and the last shoot of the day was Emma, right next to where the actual ceremony takes place. So after our shoot I got to walk to the red carpet as well as being side-of-stage when she came off with her Oscar, which was presented by an incredibly esteemed group of previous Best Actress Oscar winners. Then afterwards, before she went out to the parties, I went and took more photos in the hotel corridor and in the car. It’s nice to now look back on that body of work as a portfolio of pictures.

michelle yeoh, charlize theron, emma stone, jennifer lawrence, sally field, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Jessica Lange, Michelle Yeoh, Charlize Theron, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence and Sally Field

The first pictures were taken before the Golden Globes at the beginning of January. They’re quite a nice example of the difference between commissioned pictures and the pictures that I take slightly more for myself. The first picture was used by Louis Vuitton – I can make the product look good, but I’m also getting that glint behind the eye, that authenticity is still coming through the pictures. But then there’s another example of a photo that you can look at and completely understand why Louis Vuitton might not choose it to showcase their beautiful clothes. You can barely see the dress, it’s at an odd angle; but it’s a lovely, alive, fun, playful picture of Emma. It’s right up there with my favourites from award season. I love how first person it is and how the audience looking at that picture feels like they’re beaming with the same sunshine. We were in the penthouse of The Sunset Tower Hotel and there was a fire escape ladder going up to the roof. It was a lovely prop for me to encourage Emma onto. Also the net curtains, both backlit and front lit, work really nicely.

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The next pictures were before the Critics’ Choice Awards. She was shielding her eyes because it was so bright. That wasn’t the picture that I had in mind – you try not to put your subjects in glaring light, but sometimes I quite like it because there’s something in those contrasts, the shapes and shadows. The pictures that the brand used were backlit.

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These shots before the BAFTAs are tons of fun, she was literally dancing in her room. In those situations, I very much encourage play, I try for it. My favourite quote, and one that we use in Hollywood Authentic Magazine, is Willy Wonka saying ‘A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men’. I try to bring a little nonsense to as many of my shoots as I possibly can.

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emma stone, ee bafta film awards, greg williams, hollywood authentic

The shots taken for the SAGs show a natural beam, and you just sense Emma’s personality – that she’s a very down to earth, generous person. You just see that in those pictures.

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It all stepped up for the Oscars. This was shot for Louis Vuitton again and this is where the two jobs really collide. This shot is a fashion photo, but it’s not the expected one. We were going through these hotel back corridors to head to the red carpet and I happened on this closet where they keep all the towels and dressing gowns, and I loved all these hangers. It felt like a nod to ateliers and fashion.

Awards season is a marathon and it felt like Emma was coming to the end of the journey – regardless of whether she won – after many months running at this thing, it’s done. So there was definitely playfulness going in the lifts. What I was also doing was finding the shapes in the dress in a playful way that feels authentic to Emma. There was also a beautiful shot where Emma turned around, and she hit a piece of light just before she got to the red carpet.

Then I left her to walk the carpet, and I ran inside to shoot the awards. That’s when I’ve got a completely different hat on – a change from capturing portraits to being an event photographer. These photos are taken incredibly quickly – often I get a shot in just one frame. Someone will walk past me and I’ll literally just ‘click’ one frame and it’s just that look back or that reaction that I get. Even though it’s event reportage I’m still trying to deliver the Greg Williams viewpoint; spontaneous, authentic, giving the audience the sense that they’re there.

After Emma had won her award, she left the stage with these incredible past winners: Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron, Sally Field, Jessica Lange and Michelle Yeoh. She’s won an Oscar and she’s surrounded by absolute titans of her field. And it’s just a really special moment. You’re also not in any control of anything at that stage, you really are the observer. I can ask people to look in the camera, but actually the nicest pictures are when they’re all cuddling, crying, emotional and hanging on to each other – not worrying about, or thinking about the photo for a second.

After the awards Emma changed into another Louis Vuitton look. And then I got these really joyful shots of her with her team, holding the Oscar and really having some fun posing with it. There’s a lovely shot of her sitting on the floor of the corridor and a beautiful one of her walking through, which is a perfect balance of what I want to achieve and what Louis Vuitton wanted.

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So what you’re seeing here is a number of hats being worn over the season; the fashion photographer, the personality photographer, the portraitist and the reportage photographer. I switch very rapidly between those, sometimes in split seconds. I’ll be hiding behind the camera, getting something quite beautiful, and then I’ll peek over the camera and pull a silly face, and suddenly I’ll get a shot of laughter or a shot of joy. That’s part of the game of being a photographer, being able to wear these different hats. There’s this lovely sentiment; when you take a portrait it’s not a picture of the person, it’s capturing the relationship between the photographer and the subject. That’s what I’m doing a lot of the time, because I have established relationships and I come away with a set of pictures that feel distinctively mine.

Photographs and words by Greg Williams

Dispatches

OSCARS 2024

March 15, 2024

Words by JANE CROWTHER
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS

Awards season closed with an Academy Awards that was a who’s who roster of past recipients and powerhouse Hollywood talent. Twenty previous winners announced the four acting categories – each group leaving the stage as a gang with their latest inductee, a newly-formed club hanging out stage-side after each award. The community at the heart of acting was celebrated in this way, and also in a moment when the backstage team were brought centre-stage to celebrate the solidarity shown across the industry during the strikes earlier this year.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph was welcomed into the Best Supporting Actress community with Lupita Nyong’o, Jamie Leigh Curtis, Regina King, Mary Steenburgen and Rita Moreno championing each nominee in her category. Robert Downey Jr joined the best supporting actor club alongside Ke Huy Quan, Sam Rockwell, Tim Robbins, Christoph Waltz and Mahershala Ali; while his Oppenheimer castmate Cillian Murphy became a Best Actor winner with Forest Whitaker, Matthew McConaughey, Brendan Fraser, Nicolas Cage and Sir Ben Kingsley. Watching the show stage-side, the actors resembled Oscar statuettes as they stood together. The best actress category saw Emma Stone climb the podium to join Sally Field, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Yeoh and Charlize Theron.

regina king, da'vine joy randolph, lupita nyong'o, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Jamie Lee Curtis, Mary Steenburgen, Regina King, Da’vine Joy Randolph, Lupita Nyong’o and Rita Moreno

robert downey jr, oscars-2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Robert Downey Jr.

steven spielberg, cillian murphy, oppenheimer, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Steven Spielberg and Cillian Murphy

It was Stone’s second Best Actress award but the evening was notable for its firsts. Winning was a first for Robert Downey Jr (after three nominations), for Christopher Nolan as director, he and his producer wife Emma Thomas for Best Film, and for a British film to win Best International Film with Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone Of Interest. Matthew McConaughey waiting in the wings after Nolan’s win gave him a heartfelt congratulatory hug.

Family was also a theme of the night, especially as the date was Mothers’ Day in the UK. Bradley Cooper brought his Mom as his plus-one while Martin Scorsese attended with his daughter, Francesca. Best original screenplay winner Justine Triet in a sparkling Louis Vuitton suit noted her and her co-writer partner Arthur Harari juggled diapers and lockdown during their writing of Anatomy Of A Fall, Stone talked of her toddler daughter turning her life ‘technicolour’ and Nolan thanked his wife and producing partner Thomas – ‘producer of all our films and all of our children’.

christopher nolan, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey

jonathan glazer, oscars 2024 — Jonathan Glazer

martin scorsese, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Martin and Francesca Scorsese

justine triet, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Justine Triet and Arthur Harari

Meanwhile, Sean Lennon, exec producer of best animated short, War Is Over, asked the audience to wish his mother, Yoko, a happy birthday and Mother’s Day. It was also a family affair for Billie Eilish, in houndstooth Chanel, and her songwriter brother Finneas O’Connell, whose performance of Barbie’s What Was I Made For? electrified the room and won the siblings their second Oscar for best original song.

cynthia erivo, finneas, billie eilish, ariana grande, oscars 2024 — Cynthia Erivo, FINNEAS, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande

Their competition, Mark Ronson’s ‘I’m Just Ken’, may not have taken gold but Ryan Gosling’s full-throttle rendition of the song while wearing a custom pink Gucci suit involved the entire auditorium and featured many of the movie’s Kens, including Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir. It was a measure of the top-drawer nature of the show that Slash showed up to perform the guitar solo. It was one of many moments that demonstrated the star wattage wielded by the event – with iconic filmmakers and performers appearing together to remind movie fans of past classics or tease of future collaborations. Furiosa’s Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor Joy (in silver Dior); The Fall Guy’s Emily Blunt, shimmering in cream Schiaparelli, and Ryan Gosling; Beetlejuice 2 stars Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara; Twins co-stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito (both jested with Keaton over Batman) and Wicked’s Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in character–appropriate gowns – Grande in pink Giambattista Valli and Erivo in structural green leather from Louis Vuitton. Zendaya, currently starring in the world’s number one movie, added further star power in Armani Prevé.

mark ronson, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Mark Ronson

Ncuti Gatwa, Kingsley Ben Adir, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir

anya taylor-joy, chris hemsworth, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth

slash, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Slash

emily blunt, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Emily Blunt and John Krasinski

danny devito, arnold schwarzenegger — Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger

zendaya, oscars 2024, dune part ii, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Zendaya

Nolan’s win felt all the more resonant for being handed out by multi-award nominated Steven Spielberg, who gamely played along with jokes by Kate McKinnon. But when it came to addressing world events, the show did not shy away. Jonathan Glazer made an impassioned speech about the Gaza/Israeli conflict, Cillian Murphy (in Versace) dedicated his award to ‘all the peacekeepers in the world’, Mstyslav Chernov, feature documentary winner for 20 Days In Mariupol, reduced the audience to silence with his speech about Ukraine. Host Jimmy Kimmel addressed US politics when he read out a social media review of the show by Donald Trump. “Isn’t it past your jail time?” he responded.

The night’s big win belonged to Oppenheimer presented by Al Pacino, with Emma Thomas confessing to having ‘dreamt of this moment for so long’ as she accepted Best Picture and praised the team surrounding her, including Florence Pugh in silver bejewelled Del Core. The cast and filmmakers hugged backstage, dazzled by the amount of gongs in hands.

florence pugh, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Florence Pugh

jimmy kimmel, john cena, oscars 2024 — Jimmy Kimmel and John Cena

An impressive, slick show that re-established the Academy’s dominance in awards season, presided over by four-time presenter and ultimate pro Kimmel, the 96th Oscars closed out as a true celebration of cinema and its stars – putting the difficulties of the past year firmly in the rear view window.

ryan gosling, barbie, what was i made for?, oscars 2024, hollywood authentic, greg williams, oscars dispatch — Ryan Gosling

AWARDS

Best Film: Oppenheimer

Best Director: Christopher Nolan

Best Actress: Emma Stone

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy

Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr

Best International Feature Film: The Zone Of Interest

Best Animated short: War Is Over

Best Animated Film: The Boy And The Heron

Best Original Screenplay: Anatomy Of A Fall

Best adapted Screenplay: American Fiction

Best Makeup and hair styling: Poor Things

Best Production Design: Poor Things

Best Costumes: Poor Things

Best visual effects: Godzilla Minus 1

Best Film editing: Oppenheimer

Best documentary short: The Last Repair Shop

Best documentary film: 20 Days In Mariupol

Best cinematography: Oppenheimer

Best Live Action short: The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar

Best Sound: Zone Of Interest

Best original score: Oppenheimer

Best song: What Was I Made For?

Words by Jane Crowther
Photographs by Greg Williams

A Little Nonsense

JACK HUSTON

December 6, 2023

How important is a little bit of nonsense now and then to you?
A life without nonsense is no life at all. It’s what keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously, one needs a daily dose to keep us sane.

What, if anything, makes you believe in magic?
I think the profundity of our mere existence is magic, so therefore everything in our lives should be considered exactly that.

What was your last act of true cowardice?
Discovering a nest of brown widow spiders under a chair in our garden, and having my wife dispose of them as I ran away shrieking.

What single thing do you miss most when you’re away from home?
My children, without question. It’s one of the hardest things about having to travel so often. Whenever I’m away from them, it feels like a piece of me is missing.

Do you have any odd habits or rituals?
I find it very difficult to function if I can’t submerge myself in water at least once a day. Be it a bath, pool, ocean, lake, anything really, as long as I can hold my head underwater for a moment. There’s something incredibly levelling about being in and under the water.

What is your party trick?
Nowadays, just showing up counts as a party trick. I find it gets harder and harder to leave the house with each passing year.

What is your mantra?
To be grateful. Every day, no matter what, there are countless things in our life to be grateful for. In the same way, I often lean on the old adage “sleep on it”, a mantra in itself.

What is your favourite smell?
The smell of flowering jasmine is pretty extraordinary, but a Christmas tree would be my absolute favourite, not only for its smell but for all the feelings and memories it helps to conjure.

What do you always carry with you?
A healthy dose of scepticism, optimism and gut instinct.

What is your guilty pleasure?
Far too many of them to feel guilty anymore.

Who is the silliest person you know?
My Uncle Danny, and he’d probably say the same for me. Our time spent together is always filled with laughter and silliness. It’s why we are so close.

What would be your least favourite way to die?
Young (if I’m still allowed to call myself that). I want to spend as much time as humanly possible with the ones I love. I want to see my kids grow up, meet my grandkids and even great-grandkids, if I were to be so lucky.

Day of the Fight, which Jack Huston directed, wrote and produced, is a black-and-white feature in part inspired by Kubrick’s first short film of the same name. With a stellar cast – Michael Pitt, Joe Pesci, Steve Buscemi and Ron Perlman – there’s even a small part for Jack’s young son, continuing the family tradition as the fifth generation of Hustons in cinema.

Dispatches

CAILEE SPAENY

September 10, 2023

hollywood authentic, venice dispatch, venice film festival, greg williams

cailee spaeny, priscilla, venice film festival, venice dispatch, hollywood authentic, greg williams, bulgari, miu miu

VENICE DISPATCH 3 …
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS

Cailee Spaeny, who last night won the Volpi Cup for best actress at the 80th Venice film festival, shot on the way to the premiere of Sofia Coppola’s eighth feature Priscilla. Spaeny plays Priscilla with Jacob Elordi as Elvis. The film is based on executive producer Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me.

Cailee Spaeny and the Priscilla cast have been granted an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA encouraging the cast to promote the film.

Priscilla is released on the 27 October.

Cailee Spaeny wears jewelry by Bulgari, dress by Miu Miu, with make-up by Loren Canby, hair by Kiley Fitzgerald and styling by Nicky Yates

Dispatches

MADS MIKKELSEN

September 3, 2023

mads mikkelsen, the promised land, venice film festival, venice dispatch, hollywood authentic, greg williams

VENICE DISPATCH 2 …
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS

Mads Mikkelsen before the premier of his new movie The Promised Land at the Venice Film Festival on Friday.

Playing in competition in Venice, Nikolaj Arcel’s film portrays Mikkelsen as Capitain Ludvig Kahlen who in 1755 sets out to build a colony in the uninhabitable heath of Jutland following the Kings call to cultivate the land.

Arcel and Mikkelsen have previously collaborated on the Oscar nominated A Royal Affair. The Promised Land will be released 5 October, 2023.

Mads Mikkelsen wears watch by Chopard, suit by Zegna.

Dispatches

ADAM DRIVER

September 1, 2023

adam driver, ferrari, venice film festival, venice dispatch, hollywood authentic, greg williams

VENICE DISPATCH 1 …
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS

Adam Driver heading to the premiere of Ferrari.

Michael Mann’s film is showing in competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival with Adam starring as Enzo Ferrari alongside Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon and Patrick Dempsey.

An American biographical sports thriller film written by Troy Kennedy Martin about Enzo Ferrari, the Italian founder of the car manufacturer Ferrari. Based on the 1991 biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine by motorsport journalist Brock Yates.

Adam Driver wears custom Burberry, grooming by Amy Komorowski

Dispatches

WILLEM DAFOE

May 20, 2024

Breakfast Club

JACK O’CONNELL

May 16, 2024

A Little Nonsense

STEPHEN MERCHANT

May 11, 2024

Trailer Talk

JULIA ROBERTS

May 11, 2024

Dispatches

AWARDS JOURNEY – PHOTOGRAPHING EMMA STONE

March 15, 2024

Dispatches

OSCARS 2024

March 15, 2024

A Little Nonsense

JACK HUSTON

December 6, 2023

Dispatches

CAILEE SPAENY

September 10, 2023

Dispatches

MADS MIKKELSEN

September 3, 2023

Dispatches

ADAM DRIVER

September 1, 2023

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