Oscar Nominees Brendan Fraser, Stephanie Hsu and Paul Mescal Reveal the Last Time They Cried at the Movies
From “All Quiet on the Western Front” sparking tears for Colin Farrell to “Triangle of Sadness” making Brian Tyree Henry laugh so hard he cried, this year’s Oscar hopefuls spoke with Variety‘s senior culture and events editor Marc Malkin at the annual nominee luncheon about which film most recently brought them to tears.
For Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), he said that he was “destroyed” by “All Quiet On the Western Front.” “It’s a beautiful and powerful and important film,” he said. “It’s painfully relevant today, shockingly and shamefully relevant.”
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“I teared up watching Adam Sandler in ‘Hustle,’ trying to convince this guy that he needs to play better basketball or get out and how passionate he was,” said Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”). “I’m a softie, I tear up during ‘Ratatouille.'”
“Top Gun: Maverick” did the trick for Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) when he was flying from London to Los Angeles. “It’s something when you are on flights…a nostalgic thing, I was completely surprised myself,” he said.
Henry said, “I did cry on ‘Triangle of Sadness,’ but it was laughter. I laughed really hard on that…The opening scene is really, really funny, the Balenciaga H&M scene, but also when they’re vomiting on each other.”
Stephanie Hsu said “The Fabelmans” was a big tearjerker for her and Paul Mescal got emotional watching “Casablanca” while on his flight from London to Los Angeles. Other films that brought tears included “Women Talking” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
The luncheon took place Feb. 13 at the Beverly Hilton, where the nominees took a class photo and had their names called out by Academy governor-at-large DeVon Franklin in an official roll call. Nominees also posed for portraits shot by Variety‘s Michael Buckner. The 95th annual Oscars will take place March 12 at the Dolby Theater with host Jimmy Kimmel.
See the full video of which movies made the nominees cry above.
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