Once you get nominated for an Academy Award, you must give thanks. Here are some of the thanks ...
Brad Pitt’s statement on today’s nominations.
“This is a great honor for the movie, and I'm especially happy for David Fincher, for without him there would be no Ben Button.”
Anne Hathaway on being nominated for Best Actress Academy Award:
“It is such a thrill to be recognized in this category with these remarkably talented women. I was with my parents and my dog when I got the news and we were all overjoyed- although I'm not sure my dog knew what was going on. This is a great day to be an actress!"
Taraji Henson’s statement on today’s nominations:
“I am very excited, deeply honored and grateful. I thank Laray Mayfield, David Fincher, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy for giving me the opportunity to bring Queenie to life.”
Richard Jenkins in regards to his nomination for Best Actor for THE VISITOR:
“This nomination is such an unexpected honor and I am grateful to the Academy for the recognition. I’ve been awed by the work of my fellow nominees this year and am truly humbled to be in their company. Having been an actor for many years now, I am moved by the fact that something like this can happen at this point in my career, particularly for a film that has meant so much to me.”
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
This is the fourth time I've been nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and once again I'm honored and delighted that the quality of writing I and my actors work so hard to achieve has been recognized and respected by my fellow Writers in the Academy.
Viola Davis-Best Supporting Actress Nominee, DOUBT
“I still feel like the little brown skinned girl from Central Falls, Rhode Island who dreamed the biggest dream. And how great that all of my fellow actors were recognized with this incredible honor.”
Andrew Stanton, Director of WALL•E
"We are ecstatic and grateful for the Academy's generous and humbling recognition of ‘WALL•E.’ It is an honor and privilege to make films at Pixar, where we have grown into a great, big family. This is a tribute to all of us at Pixar and Disney who do our best to make films, not just animated films, but films for everyone that just happen to be animated."
And not surprisingly, the longest 'thanks' is from a writer.
Dustin Lance Black (Nominee/Original screenplay/MILK)
I won’t lie, I was up at 4:30 AM Pacific Time this morning. I couldn’t sleep. I took a shower, I started washing dishes, I did a load of laundry… I was completely losing my mind waiting for that local ABC telecast. My heart jumped when Josh Brolin got nominated, but the tears started flowing when Gus got his. I couldn’t have asked for a better director for this project, a fiercer protector of this little spec script that meant so much to me. And that script would have been nothing without the dedicated talent of nominee Sean Penn, who truly inhabited Harvey’s soul, and Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, Alison Pill, Joseph Cross, and on and on. This film was a real team effort.
By the time the nominations got to Best Picture, I was a wreck. Tears… lots of tears. I couldn’t breathe. My big hope had been that the Academy would recognize our film enough that Harvey’s story could get a wider release, but I could never have predicted 8 nominations including Best Picture. I’m still pinching myself. When I first heard Harvey’s story at 13, I was a closeted kid living in a conservative Mormon, military home. It was a rough time for me. Hearing Harvey’s story not only gave me the hope he talked so often about, it very likely saved my life. What happened this morning means this film WILL win a wider audience, and maybe, just maybe Harvey’s message will reach some of those kids out there today who have been told they are “less than,” that they are sick, that God does not love them, and perhaps, from the grave, 30 years later, Harvey might give those kids the hope and love he gave me so long ago. It might sound overblown to some, but I firmly believe these nominations are life-saving. I can’t thank the Academy enough.