Keeping it all-Canadian at the Oscars
When Canadian Oscar winner Alan Barillaro attended the celebritypacked Governor’s Ball and Vanity Fair party, it wasn’t American A-listers he made a beeline for; it was fellow Canadians.
“I went right for the Canadian heroes. I went to Eugene Levy and ( Catherine) O’Hara,” Barillaro told The Canadian Press.
“It was nice that they had seen the picture and Eugene Levy of course worked on Finding Dory. It’s one of those moments where you can never imagine watching SCTV as a kid that Eugene Levy, someone you adore, might actually like something you make one day.”
SCTV cast mates Levy and O’Hara weren’t up for any Oscars on Sunday, but the two will be prominent at the March 12 Canadian Screen Awards, where they’re presenting a prize with Levy’s son Daniel. The three are all nominated for Candys for their roles in CBC comedy Schitt’s Creek.
Barillaro won a Best Animated Short Academy Award for Piper. The six-minute film, about a baby bird facing her fear of ocean waves with her mother on a beach, screened before Finding Dory, which was 2016’s top-grossing film.
Barillaro has contributed to some of Pixar’s biggest hits, including A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc. and WALL-E, and will next work on The Incredibles 2.
He said one of his proudest moments Sunday was seeing his parents walk the red carpet, noting his parents helped foster his love of film while growing up in the Niagara Falls, Ont., community of Chippawa, as well as Markham, Ont.
“Saturday Night at the Movies with my mom every (week) with Elwy Yost is what I grew up on.”