MOVIE NEWS – Many stars are nervous in front of the TV during the show, which will reveal whether they have been nominated for an Oscar, Paul Giamatti, however, is not one of them.

“My manager woke me up with the news because I was just sleeping,” the actor said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m a night owl, so I sleep when others are awake.” I thought that if they were nominated, someone would speak anyway. That’s how it happened.”

Giamatti has already been nominated for an Oscar once, in 2006, for the film Champion of Hope. His current nomination was not unexpected for him, because he already guessed based on the script that Winter break, in which he is the main actor, will not be just any movie.

“Alexander (Payne, the screenwriter-director – the editor) put a lot of work into the book with David Hemingson, so even the first version was a brilliant piece. Then they worked on it even more and managed to raise it to an even higher level. I really liked that this is a genuine Christmas movie, but it has a twist, and even though it starts out melancholic, the characters manage to get out of the story well in the end. It was a complete miracle that I was immediately on the same wavelength with all the actors on the set, we didn’t have to make an effort to get along.”

The protagonist of The Holdovers is an embittered history teacher (Giamatti), who spends the Christmas holidays in the boarding high school with a problematic student ( Dominic Sessa) and with the cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). All three carry heavy emotional burdens and have to figure out how to get through the holidays together.

The film was nominated for 5 Oscars, in addition to Gimatti, Randolph (best supporting actress), David Hemingson (best screenwriter), Mark Johnson (Best Film Producer) and Kevin Tent (Best Editor) deserved nominations.

Giamatti also revealed to HR what he is up to next. “I really like horror and I have a good friend who wrote an interesting little story. If everything goes well, I will play in this, it would be very nice.”

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