Sally brings all the family to see her chance of Oscar glory
THE Oscars will be a family affair for Sally Hawkins.
The actress will attend Sunday night’s ceremony with parents Jacqui and Col in Hawkins, who are celebrated authors and illustrators of children’s books (Mig The Superstar Pig and Jen The Hen are just two of their creations).
Sally’s writer brother Finbar Hawkins will also be travelling to Los Angeles for the awards.
Hawkins has been nominated as best actress for her role in director Guillermo del Toro’s film The Shape Of Water, in which she plays a mute janitor who becomes enchanted by a strange aquatic creature: an Amazon river god being held captive at a U.S. research facility.
Sally told me her parents’ love of books allowed her creativity to flourish.
‘It influenced everything. Their world, and building and creating stories, meant everything. The images and the words they created are part of the same thing I do as an actor. You’re creating stories to tell in the same way they did,’ she said.
She cited other authors that her parents introduced her to: Quentin Blake, Maurice Sendak, Roald Dahl. ‘They were so important to me.’
She added: ‘I am only here because of my family and everything that they are. You’re only as good as the people who love you.
‘My brother, too. He’s the smart, bright one! I feel like I’m bumbling along and will soon be found out.’
I remember meeting Jacqui and Colin at the Oscars Governors Ball four years ago, when Hawkins was nominated for her first Academy Award (best supporting actress for her role in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine).
They were so much fun: a down-to-earth antidote to the superstar egos in the room.
The Shape Of Water has been nominated for 13 Oscars, including best picture. However, it faces fierce competition from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Dunkirk; Get Out and Lady Bird.
Hawkins’s rivals for best actress include Frances McDormand (Three Billboards), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) and Meryl Streep (The Post).