John Malkovich: Oscars Race Is a 'Different World' Now — SkimNews
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- John Malkovich, 72, is being tipped for an Oscar nomination for Martin McDonagh's CIA black comedy "Wild Horse Nine," marking his first sustained awards campaign in roughly 30 years
- At a London Film Festival Screen Talk on Sunday, Malkovich said campaigning is now "months and months" and "the only way to get people to go to the theaters," contrasting it with 1984 ("Places in the Heart") and 1993 ("In the Line of Fire"), when those films "already made their money" before nominations
- Malkovich was previously nominated for best supporting actor for "Places in the Heart" (1984) and "In the Line of Fire" (1993) but never won, and said he attended the Oscars only once — for his first nomination
- Recalling that first ceremony, Malkovich said his then-manager Phyllis Carlyle told him en route to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: "Honey! It's the Oscars, there's no side door!"
- "Wild Horse Nine" premiered at Venice Film Festival in September, where Malkovich won best actor for playing a veteran CIA agent dispatched to Easter Island with Sam Rockwell shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup d'etat
- At a Venice press conference, Malkovich deflected the personal praise, saying he "never feel[s] in competition" with collaborators and that "the nicest thing is the film getting attention"
Why it matters: A two-time past nominee who has never won is now considered a frontrunner for a film that just won him best actor at Venice, and his candid framing reframes the months-long Oscar grind as a structural necessity of the post-streaming theatrical business — a backhanded concession that even prestige releases now require sustained marketing pushes to pull audiences away from their couches.
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