SubscribePODCAST: Kristin Scott Thomas
At the end of last week, I spoke by phone with Kristin Scott Thomas (scroll down to hear the podcast), a best actress contender for her nuanced work in Philippe Claudel's French film "I've Loved You So Long." Thomas is also well known for her previous performances in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994), "The Horse Whisperer" (1998), "Gosford Park" (2001) and, above all, "The English Patient" (1996), for which she received a best actress nod.
In "I've Loved You So Long," which has become a box-office sensation in France and is only now beginning to open across America, Thomas portrays a woman who attempts to reintegrate into society and her own family after spending the last 15 years behind bars for a crime few know about and fewer still can understand. It is a quiet, intense character study that subtly tackles issues like sisterhood (her kid sis is played by Elsa Zylberstein, with whom I also spoke last week), parenthood and selflessness of the most remarkable sort. The earlier performance that it most brings to mind — in terms of both the total commitment of the actress to the part and the part itself — is Meryl Streep's in "Sophie's Choice" (1982), which is no small compliment!
Thomas was born in England but moved to France at a young age and, as is evident in this film, is completely fluent in the language and mannerisms of the French. She is seeking to join a list of just 16 women who have been nominated for best actress for a performance delivered in a foreign language, and to become only the third — along with Sophia Loren for "Two Women" (1960) and Marion Cotillard for "La Vie En Rose" (2007) — to win. (Incidentally, the same excellent young publicist who guided Cotillard to her unlikely win last year is now helming Thomas' awards push, so anything's possible.)
Photo: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times
Scott Feinberg is a film industry awards analyst. He boasts one of the best track records at projecting the Academy Awards, including a 21 for 24 effort in 2006, first among all pundits according to OscarCentral and Variety. Feinberg, who studied film at Yale University and Brandeis University, is the founder of 
Very nice!
I recently interviewed KST and Mssr. Claudel myself and I think that there really is not any viable competition for her this year, in terms of performance quality.
Anyone who is NYC ought to check out The Seagull!
Posted by: Matt Mazur | November 10, 2008 at 06:48 PM