1998 Cable Ace Awards
Oscar Speech: I'm surprised nobody's ever fainted up here. I'm -- I'm in shcok. And I'm so in love with my brother right now. He just held me and said he loved me. And I know he is so happy for me. And thank you for that. And thank you to Columbia. Winona, you're amazing, and thank you for supporting all of us through this. And all the girls in this film are amazing. And Whoppi, everybody, and my family for loving me. Janine Shrier and your sister Michelle. We love You. Eric. My Mom who is the most brave, beautiful women I've ever known. And my Dad. you're a great actor, but you're a better father. And Jamie you're just... I ahve nothing without you. you are the strongest, most amazing man I've ever known. And I love you, and thank you so much.
Backstage Interview
Q. Angelina, what was your greater concern in doing this role, in going too far or not going far enough?
A. Oh, I think I'm never concerned about going too far because I've never -- I've never seen anybody do that. I've never seen
anybody try and be brave and fall over, and I've never thought that wasn't brilliant. It was always amazing to me when I see
people just be free and not care if they're judged, so I kind of counted on people to have a fire in them as however too much it
was or silly it was or --
Q. Angelina, hi. You credit your brother more so than any other winner with siblings. Can you explain the nature of
your closeness to your brother?
A. Oh, God, well, I don't know if it's divorced families or what it is, but he and I were each other's everything, always, and
we've been best friends. And he's just -- maybe it's just my brother. He's been always my strongest support, and he's the
funniest person I know. He's the sweetest human being I know. He's a good person, and he's just given me so much love and
taken care of me, and you know, it makes life great. He's my friend.
Q. Hi, Angelina, congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. After you won the Golden Globe, you ended up in the swimming pool. What now?
A. I mentioned to somebody something about a roof at the Shrine, but I'm not sure I can get on it in this dress. I'm sure I'm
going to do something, yeah. I don't even know yet because whatever is there -- I'm going to have to. I'm too happy. I'm
excited, you know. Some weird things happen when I get excited.
Q. Angelina, you looked very shocked when your name was read. What was going through your mind when your name
was called?
A. I really didn't expect it. I just hid in my brother's arms, and I think in both of our minds we both were just like oh, my. All of
our lives I think -- we grew up in this business, and dad has an Oscar, and it's like the big thing you try to attain as an actor, to
do a performance that's really acknowledged and means something. And so you know, it's kind of -- we've always -- it's
always been a big deal to us, this show. We've always watched it, so we both were sitting and I think for the first whole section
we are going, do you believe we're here and they let us in? And then, you know -- I haven't seen him. I don't think he could
really move. I think he stayed in his seat. He was very emotional, so --
Q. Congratulations.
A. Where are you?
Q. I'm here.
A. Hi.
Q. You recently said that Lisa, the woman you portrayed, is alive. Can you tell us about her and how she's doing now?
A. I haven't -- she hasn't decided to be in very much contact with me. I'm thinking she probably -- until all of this blows over
with all of you. She's in a bit -- she's living her life. At the end of the book, she had a child, Suzanne had run into her with a
child, so that child is probably around my age now. He's a boy -- or a little older. And I think she's in New York, but I would
guess she's gone through a lot, and she's kind of maybe just now settling.
Q. Angelina, a lot of actors say by reading a script they can see themselves in a script. What was it for you when you
read the script?
A. Generally when I read a script and I'm scared to play the role, I know it's the right one. And I was scared to death of Gia
because I thought it was just going to expose too much to myself about myself, and I didn't think I could do it and I thought it
was important to do right. And when I read this, I just -- she made me cry, Lisa. Different things I read, it hurt me. It was
important to me, and I didn't even want to go over the lines because I was deeply affected by her. And then I decided that
somebody had to speak, you know. I wanted her to have a voice really strongly, so I thought maybe I wanted it more than
anybody for her to be heard, so maybe it should be me. But it's always hard to say I'm the right person for something, but I
wanted this part.
Q. Congratulations. You were about a year old when your father won his Oscar for Coming Home. What was your first
memory of seeing or holding the Oscar?
A. I never actually held an Oscar before. It's quite amazing. My dad's mother had his in a goldfish bowl, or something, on the
mantelpiece in New York. It was way up in something. And I've never held it. Growing up with it, you figure it's the strange
thing in grandma's house, but -- you know. I don't remember much -- I don't remember much about it -- the last time I was
here was when I was really young; and I was with my dad -- was just how long it was and that there was some empty seats.
And I think you had cartoon characters painted in. And I remember being a little girl and realizing they weren't actually there and
being really upset.
Q. Talk about working with Wynona Ryder. You seem to have different acting styles, and I was wondering how that all
went.
A. I don't -- I don't know if any actor knows each other's technique. I don't know how different we are. I know our characters
were very different, and it was very -- I think in many ways it was scarier for her to play that role. I took on a personality so full
of force, and she took on a personality that was scared, so the two of us together -- I'm sure I was not lovely in the morning to
her, you know. But she -- I don't know. I was very proud of her. I was very proud of how much this affected her, how hard
she worked. I'm a little crazy probably in comparison. I'm a little out of my mind.
Q. Angelina, whether it's Gia or Lisa, your choices, as far as actors, are completely different than what you may seek.
I'm just wondering what was your inspiration, what you actually grew up with or someone you really liked or watched?
A. My inspiration is everybody. I like everybody. I don't judge. Everybody . . . I find everybody attractive and interesting. So I
get all of these different roles, and I can slide into one side of something I've seen in the world that I think is great, so I don't
know. I'm fascinated by people, and I like to see them get up and yell and shout and be happy and say what they want and
mean. So that was my inspiration for Lisa, is run around with the other girls and getting them to come on. That's it. I like to see
people alive.
Q. Angelina, congratulations. Did you have a conversation with your father today, earlier today? What did you talk
about?
A. Both of my parents came over to the hotel when I was getting ready. They both surprised me and brought gifts and things for
Lisa. They write to Lisa. My dad gave me something that said we love you, and we're proud of you from the whole family. And
they both -- my mom just said -- she was in the car with me the other day, and I said mom, you need a new car. She said, but
you went on all of your auditions in this car, you lost a hundred jobs in this car. And she got emotional and said, can you believe
you're going to the Oscars? And I was -- you know, that's my mom. She was like -- my dad came in and said he was proud of
me and that I was a good actress. To hear that from your father, for him to think I'm a good actress is kind of a big deal to me,
so that was all I needed, and he loved me, and that's all that mattered.
Q. Obviously your parents are really proud of you, but I was wondering, your brother said sometimes the process of
your winning an award is a little overwhelming for them. It took 48 hours for them to contact you after the Golden
Globes. Do you think that will happen this time? Are you sympathetic to that?
A. We brought a cell phone. It's not that, they contacted me after the Golden Globes; they couldn't contact me after the Oscar
nominations. That's what it was. I was in Mexico. There were no phones. I've never not called my parents. They're the first
people I call. They're always together with each other. They always see me before a show. Between my brother and mom,
they've got all of the awards. My only -- you know -- I'm going to call her as soon as I get out of this room.
Q. Is he a good cuddler, Oscar?
A. He's quite an interesting little man.
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