Jackie Spafford
The Virtuosos Award evening is a perennial favorite of SBIFF. Several (in this case 8) actors are recognized for an outstanding (and award-nominated) performance. Turner Classic Movies host, Dave Karger, has moderated the event for 15 years, and is a totally smooth pro.
The event format consists of Karger speaking with each actor one-on-one, after a screening of a clip of the performance in question. This is followed by a collective conversation, with Karger offering a few prompts to get things rolling.
The honored performers included:
Ariana Grande (Wicked): As expected, a large portion of the audience were huge Wicked fans, and went wild for Grande. She spoke of the deep connection with co-star Cynthia Erivo, and the resonating themes of the film. Glinda’s ability to change, and to become “good,” was very important for her, and she stated, “It’s such a gift to be able to play a character with so much nuance, there’s plenty underneath the surface. That’s my favorite thing about her.”
In response to the accolades and award nominations she has received, she said, “Playing Glinda was the dream of my life, and I was so deeply grateful to do that work and that was more than enough. To be recognized in this way is something you don’t even think about so I’m deeply grateful.”
There were, of course, questions about Wicked part 2, to which Grande said, “I would say, it’s very special, very emotional. I think the second movie really embodies unconditional love and forgiveness and friendship, and you’ll have to wait and see, but it’s quite different. You’ll see people bear the repercussions of their choices.”
Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing): Maclin spoke of the challenge of returning to a (decommissioned) prison to shoot the film, many years after his own incarceration, saying, “As you could imagine, on the onset, it was a lot of apprehension about going back to a place I clawed myself out of, to walk back into a prison and put on the uniform that so readily identified you as an outcast. The message is that people in prison are just that, they’re just people, and they have the ability to change. That message was more important than the apprehension I suffered to get that message out.”
Karger noted that he found a 20-year-old Esquire article about the Sing Sing Rehabilitation Through the Arts production of Hamlet, which featured a photo of Maclin holding a skull. Maclin spoke of other work he is doing now, including with a program sponsored by the Duke of Edinburgh, and that he had received a BA degree. He admitted that he was truly honored to learn that Al Pacino and Nicolas Cage both loved his performance.
Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here): Karger asked about her mother, the celebrated actor Fernanda Montenegro, playing the older version of her character, and Torres replied, “She was in the film already, I was not the first pick. For me, when he (director Walter Salles) invited me, I thought he was going to invite me to write his script for him. Then, he said ‘Do you want to play Eunice?’ and I was like ‘Are you sure?’ I was so moved, and then I started to work hard, from the first reading because I didn’t want to lose the character.”
She said she had been doing a lot of television work, and had not appeared in a film for 15 years before this role came along. Speaking about acting roles for women, she noted, “This is such a special year for women in cinema, great performances, a lot of them over 40, some of them over 50. This year there should be 10 nominations to be fair for all of us.” She also shared that it was a huge honor to play the Brazilian activist Eunice Paiva, and that Paiva’s son, whose book the film is based on, was “an idol.”
John Magaro (September 5): Karger asked Magaro about the challenges of working in a film about real people and events. He responded that, “I’m a nerd, so I like going back in history. Part of the reason I do this, part of the reason I love film, is the chance to time travel. The idea that film can transport us back in time and show us a moment in history that changed everything is really intriguing to me.”
He was able to have long conversations with Geoffrey Mason, whom he portrays, which was invaluable in developing the character. He described the tone of tension and intimacy that the film required, with most of the action taking place in a few TV studio rooms, over a short period of time. He stated, “It’s one of those lessons where you learn the oddest things can be captivating, the oddest things will be thrilling, and you don’t have to play this game, life can be captivating enough.” He proudly acknowledged that his favorite film growing up was Back to the Future, which he watched over and over, eliciting cheers from the audience.
Mikey Madison (Anora): Of all the awardees in the event, the shy and elegant Madison seemed the most unlike the character she portrayed. The clip that preceded her entrance mainly consisted of her screaming, and featured a huge close-up of her mouth. She confessed that she it took 8 days to film that scene, which included a lot more screaming.
Talking about working with Anora director Sean Baker, Madison said “When I met Sean for the first time, there was no script, we had a coffee and it was the first time a director gave a role without auditioning me. He saw a horror film I did opening weekend and from that he remembered me from a small part in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, so he called me a few days later and pitched it to me and said if you want to do it, I’ll write it for you.” She spoke of the improvised sequences filmed in a strip club, and developing the character’s accent and attitude. She described her involvement with every aspect of the making of the film, at Baker’s urging, even collaborating in the editing room.
Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown): Surprisingly, Barbaro had to learn to sing and play guitar for her role as Joan Baez. Among the challenges was creating a believable interpretation of Baez, “Everyone talks about her vibrato and the key that she sings her songs in, and at that time in performance style, she was quite still and people would talk about her seeming deeply troubled and affected from the songs she was singing…If I could get close to those things, I could portray her as someone recognizable to people.”
She was asked about her character “flipping the bird” in both this film and in Top Gun, and she laughed about that becoming her signature move. Sharing her experience collaborating with Timothée Chalamet, Barbaro said “We met like a week before filming, and one of those meetings was a music rehearsal. I admired his work, he’s already having a career retrospective, and he’s not even thirty! It was nice to have tangible work to present at the beginning of this and so we kind of kept our relationship similar to theirs in that they were silo performers when they met.”
Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice): The film clip that preceded his entrance was the longest shown, a scene in which Donald Trump is being encouraged to go into politics by Roger Stone. Describing the uncanny characterization, Stan stated, “There was obviously so much footage and it was really helpful. Part of it was like learning a new instrument, you practice until you can do it. I worked with a dialect coach and everything had a purpose, the lips weren’t there for no reason. He (Trump) doesn’t really breathe, you look at his posture and wonder why it’s that way.”
He referenced a 1977 interview with Rona Barrett that he played every night, and credited as a huge help in preparation. Given the highly controversial topic, and the unsurprising pushback, Stan said it added to the challenge, saying, “We just didn’t know what was going to happen, and that to me, as an actor, is what you dream of. You spend months preparing for lightning to strike, and you go there and want to be surprised. Jeremy (Strong, who played Roy Cohn) and I never spoke, hung out; we met and sort of realized we were going to trust each other. I only saw him on set and there was a tension that I think helped us.”
Selena Gomez (Emilia Perez): Again, not surprisingly, Gomez was met with screams from the fans in the audience. However, she elicited screams of “No!!” when she stated, “I think I’m ready to just focus on this for a while, film- and art-making and being around talented people who uplift me along the way. I think it’ll be hard for me to go back to music after this.”
When asked how many times she has viewed the film, she said just once, at the Cannes Film Festival. She said she was worried about her grandparents seeing it, given some of the language and ‘adult situations’ in the film, but she said they are so proud, and watch it frequently.
The film’s reception has been tarnished lately, given the comments by actor Karla Sofia Gascon (her past racist social media posts have resulted in significant negative press), and Gomez admitted, “Some of the magic has disappeared, but I continue to be proud of what I’m doing, and I’m just grateful, no regrets. I’d do this movie over and over again if I could.” Karger asked her about her surprise visit to a girls’ volleyball game in Telluride. Gomez said the girls had invited her and she decided to go, and that it brought her as much joy as it did the girls.
When the whole group reassembled, one of Karger’s questions was what real-life person they would want to play in a film. Maclin said he would love to play Smoky Robinson, although he admitted he can’t sing. Magaro looked down at SBIFF Executive Director in the front row and said, “Roger. I will need cool sunglasses.” Barbaro said she would like to play the dancer/actor Cyd Charisse, who she thinks has been under-appreciated. Gomez shyly said that she would love to play Linda Ronstadt, and the audience erupted into cheers once again.
The evening concluded with the awards presentations by local favorite Jane Lynch.
Note: Three other actors had been scheduled for the event, Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), Harris Dickinson (Babygirl), and Karla Sofia Gascon (Emilia Perez), but were absent. No reason was given.
About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a celebrated venue for independent and international cinema. Over its 40-year history, SBIFF has grown into one of the leading film festivals in the United States, known for its commitment to community education and the arts. The festival not only showcases world-class filmmaking but also supports educational initiatives aimed at students and underserved communities within Santa Barbara County. For detailed information on films and events featured at the festival, please visit SBIFF’s official website.
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