Chapter 296: The Oscars (Part One)

[Chapter 296: The Oscars (Part One)]

Eric was deep in thought about the various silver screen personas of the three European actresses, while also scanning the room for Isabelle Adjani's familiar figure.

If he hadn't been affected by the butterfly effect, at this point, this actress, who had repeatedly won the Cesar Award as France's highest honor, would have likely met and fallen in love with Daniel Day-Lewis last year. But now, that was hard to say.

After a round of searching, Eric still hadn't spotted Isabelle Adjani. Just then, Virginia gently nudged him at his side and said, "Eric, it's time for Best Supporting Actress."

Eric quickly shifted his attention to the stage. The presenter for Best Supporting Actress, Kevin Kline, had finished his opening remarks and began introducing the nominees: "The nominees for Best Supporting Actress this year are Brenda Fricker for My Left Foot; Anjelica Huston and Lena Olin for Enemies, A Love Story; Julia Roberts for Steel Magnolias; and Dianne Wiest for Parenthood."

As Kevin Kline introduced the five nominees, their images appeared one by one on the big screen behind him. While Eric was a little surprised to see two nominations from Enemies, A Love Story, he directed most of his attention towards Brenda Fricker, who was up for Best Supporting Actress for My Left Foot.

My Left Foot was Miramax's first exceptionally successful Oscar contender that year, garnering nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Eric distinctly remembered that Daniel Day-Lewis had won his first Oscar for Best Actor for this film as well.

Regarding the other award outcomes, Eric wasn't quite sure.

Thus, the nomination for Best Supporting Actress for My Left Foot clearly posed the biggest threat to Julia.

When the nominations were announced, Eric was still caught in the aftermath of that incident and couldn't focus on the promotional aspects of the awards. Disney, handling the film's distribution, certainly wasn't going to manage publicity for it either. Therefore, he could only watch to see if Robert Shea, with ten more years of experience in film distribution than Miramax's Weinstein brothers, could outdo them in terms of award publicity.

Eric watched Julia's image on the big screen; she seemed nervously focused on the stage, her body slightly leaning forward. Curiously, as he looked for Julia's seating position, he realized she was leaning against Elisabeth. Through the gap between the seats, he could see the two women with their arms intertwined, and that strange feeling he'd experienced when they had encountered each other at the end of the red carpet resurfaced in his mind.

Before he could think more, Kevin Kline opened the envelope and read out loud: "The winner of this year's Oscar for Best Supporting Actress is Julia Roberts."

The sound of music and applauding erupted as Julia, stunned, covered her mouth and leaned back in her chair. Moments later, with encouragement from those around her, she stood, embraced the members of the Steel Magnolias cast, and walked to the stage.

Although she didn't turn to look at him even once during the entire process, Eric wasn't angry. Instead, he felt a sense of relief.

At least this result indicated that Robert Shea's capabilities in awards publicity weren't that much worse than those of the Weinstein brothers.

Carefully holding her Oscar, Julia gave her acceptance speech before walking off stage with the presenter, followed by a string of less significant technical awards.

...

A few minutes later, Julia emerged from the backstage exit on the left side of the stage. When she made her way toward the cast, she finally glanced over at Eric, her eyes reflecting a hint of gratitude. Just before Eric could respond, a fair arm tugged her away, and Elisabeth shot Eric a hard glare.

"Eric, did you do something again? Julia and Elisabeth look like they're both quite upset with you," Virginia quietly asked after noticing the two women's reactions.

Eric glared back at Virginia, dissatisfied, and said, "Why 'again'? Do I always do something outrageous?"

Virginia playfully rolled her eyes at him. "What do you think?"

Eric clasped his hands together and made a few cracking sounds with his knuckles, replying, "Looks like you have quite the opinion of me. How about you come over to my place tonight, and we can talk about what you mean by 'outrageous'?"

Virginia blushed at Eric's words, but didn't argue back. Even though she lived very close to Eric's mansion, she had yet to visit him.

Whenever Eric had moved, she had been either at her parents' for the holidays or busy promoting The Others. Now returning to Los Angeles, Eric had encountered that incident.

Counting it up, they hadn't been intimate for several months. As a ripe peach of a woman, it would be a lie to say Virginia didn't desire that. However, due to Eric's previous stipulation and with her own career in Hollywood just beginning to pick up speed thanks to The Others, Virginia didn't entertain thoughts of abandoning Eric. No matter how annoying he could be at times, he was still quite considerate most of the time.

...

After a succession of technical awards like Best Cinematography and Best Sound, the ceremony gradually reached its climax in the latter half.

After Tom Hanks and Melanie Griffith announced the Best Cinematography award, the legendary Gregory Peck, star of Roman Holiday, took the stage.

Even though Sigourney Weaver had simultaneously garnered nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at last year's Golden Globes with her performances in The Accused and Working Girl, Eric knew such a feat would be hard to replicate at the Oscars. Julia was only twenty-three, and in this still somewhat conservative Oscar era, merely winning one for Best Supporting Actress while also being nominated for Best Actress was already quite the stroke of luck. Winning both awards? The odds of that were slimmer than an alien invasion.

As Eric pondered this, Gregory Peck was wrapping up his introduction of the five Best Actress nominees. Many media outlets had predicted that the Best Actress winner this year would likely be Jessica Tandy for her outstanding performance in Driving Miss Daisy. At eighty-one years young, she had been hailed as "Broadway's First Lady," a title that hinted at the peaks of her illustrious career.

Even without Jessica Tandy and Julia's recent Best Supporting Actress win, Eric was certain Julia hadn't a chance at this award due to another competitor: Isabelle Adjani, whose performance in Camille Claudel was nothing short of outstanding. Hollywood often overlooked foreign actresses, but if the competition was just an established veteran like Jessica Tandy, the Academy would undoubtedly award Isabelle Adjani.

On stage, Gregory Peck slowly opened the envelope. Amid the audience's tense anticipation, he announced the name that had lacked suspense after last year's Best Actor, Dustin Hoffman, had taken the stage: "The winner of this year's Oscar for Best Actress is Jessica Tandy."

Applause erupted once more as a gray-haired old woman stood slowly, her fellow cast members from Driving Miss Daisy congratulating her as she made her way to the podium.

Along with everyone else, Eric turned to the Driving Miss Daisy cast, his gaze fixating on the movie's male lead, Morgan Freeman. This seasoned veteran had begun performing at age eight but had faced numerous struggles throughout his career. Only at the age of fifty in 1987 did he finally rise to prominence in Hollywood, making him one of the most legendary "inspirational figures" in the industry.

Once Jessica Tandy concluded her speech and received assistance down from the stage, host Billy Crystal then stepped up, silently watching until Jessica and the others disappeared from view. Finally, Billy turned to the microphone, cleared his throat, and said in an unusually serious tone, "Without a doubt, Driving Miss Daisy is an outstanding film that has produced two remarkable actors. In addition to the departing Ms. Jessica Tandy, we have Mr. Morgan Freeman seated among us. Mr. Freeman is fifty-three years old, and with Ms. Tandy's age, the average age of this winning pair for Best Actor and Actress must be the highest in Oscar history."

As Billy concluded, respectful applause rippled through the audience. Though Morgan Freeman maintained a composed demeanor, his excitement was evident on his face. After decades in the industry, the journey to finally receiving this recognition had indeed felt endlessly long.

*****

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