MOVIE NEWS – Paul Giamatti went big the other day when he won the Golden Globe for his starring role in The Holdovers, and afterwards he didn’t rush to the elegant afterparty to celebrate but sat down to eat a hamburger menu in a fast food restaurant.

He placed the gilded statue on the table in front of him among the empty lunch boxes, one of his colleagues took a photo of it, which was uploaded to Insta, and the whole world could see it. Giamatti still won the Critics Choice award for The Holdovers a week later – and it will probably be the same with the other awards this season – the and after the event, he told reporters that he planned to push a menu again, but changed his mind and stayed in the car.

The relationship between Giamatti and hamburgers goes back a long way. Two years ago, he told a talk show that when he filmed a commercial clip for Burger King’s chicken sandwich, he was so pleased with himself that he told his agent that he might get a permanent card that would allow him to eat for free at any of the company’s facilities for the rest of his life. The agent made arrangements, and soon a package arrived from the fast-food chain, containing a magnetic card decorated with a crown. It was possible to catch a bird with the actor, since only the greatest get a permanent card, for example George Lucas, the father of Star Wars. Then he entered the serial number of the gift on the company’s website, and it turned out that it was just a $100 card that children get for their birthdays.

After the Golden Globe, as a candidate for the British Film Academy Award (BAFTA), Giamatti is of course also considered an Oscar prospect, who modestly told Sky News, afraid of many honors. “I’m terrified of having to speak in front of a large crowd,” he told the channel. “The only consolation is that I really like this film, so it won’t be such an ordeal.”

The actor, who has already been nominated for an Oscar (Champion of Hope, 2006), is still amazed that he has received so many awards over the years (he won 58 awards and was nominated 94 times for some kind of award), but according to him he still did better. Everyone in his family is a teacher, and he also prepared for this career, but then he became an actor. “It’s good that I avoided this fate, because I would have been a lousy teacher,” he said.

In The Holdovers, Giamatti plays an embittered history teacher at a boarding high school who is locked up with some students during the Christmas holidays, who are not expected at home. In the end, only one student (Dominic Sessa) and the cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph – who also won a Golden Globe for her role) remain in the building. They are all grieving heavy losses, but together there is hope that they will find a way out.

(The Holdovers – domestic release: February 29, 2024.)