In 2000, when Hilary Swank was making the award-show rounds for her phenomenal performance in Boys Don’t Cry, her savvy PR team made the decision not to release a clip from her most powerful scene, where she painfully admits her “sexual identity crisis” to a police detective after having been raped. That way, when they finally authorized it to be used as her “Oscar scene” on the night of the Academy Awards ceremony, it had the maximum impact because it hadn’t been seen on television before. This year, I’m noticing the opposite trend: Studios are allowing us to see their contenders’ strongest moments now, surely in the attempt to build buzz in what’s becoming an increasingly competitive year. For instance, I’ve seen Mickey Rourke’s indelible heart-to-heart with Evan Rachel Wood from The Wrestler on the web already, and now Universal has given EW.com this clip from one of Frost/Nixon‘s most memorable scenes, where a drunk Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) telephones TV host David Frost (Michael Sheen) the night before their final interview together. Take a look, as this may be the first of many times that you see this scene in the next few months.
Nov 12
2008
05:21 PM ET
Frank Langella's Oscar scene?
- Comments 3
- Add comment
Latest News
- 'Idol': Replay tonight's MJ Santilli chat
- 'Hunger Games' soundtrack: Cover art
- Melissa McCarthy, hubby land pilot at CBS
- Nancy Pelosi's 'Stop Colbert' ad: Watch
- President Obama has a Spotify playlist
- 'Wet Hot American Summer 2'? Not yet
- 'Game of Thrones' season 2: New photos!
- George Lucas talks 'Menace' 3-D
Most Commented
Top 5 Most Read
- Fox’s ‘House’ will end this season
- This Week’s Cover: ‘The Vampire Diaries’ stars talk about the red-hot Damon-Elena-Stefan triangle
- Watch ‘American Idol’ contestant Symone Black fall off the stage — VIDEO
- 'Vampire Diaries': Exclusive pics!
- Bill O’Reilly defends Ellen DeGeneres in One Million Moms, J.C. Penney controversy
Honestly? I wasn’t really impressed by that. I’m much more impressed with what I’ve seen of Sean Penn in just the trailer for “Milk” than I was with that. Leonardo DiCaprio looks very impressive in the “Revolutionary Road” trailer as well. Nixon is so often impersonated, and I just don’t think Langella is doing anything different than what the million other Nixon impersonators have done in the past.
i saw langella on stage in frost/nixon, and let me tell you, it’s one of the most amazing performances you’ve ever seen.
Great scene. Langella is a lock for a Best Actor nomination.