Misconduct allegations play a role
Just three days before nomination ballots for the Golden Globes were due, Sony Pictures screened a rough cut of “All the Money in the World” for the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.
One week later, the kidnapping thriller earned three nominations: Ridley Scott for director, Michelle Williams for actress in a drama film and Christopher Plummer for supporting actor. The latter nod was particularly surprising, given that the 87-year-old was cast in the film only in November.
That’s right — Plummer was cast in, shot and earned a nomination for “All the Money in the World” basically in the span of a month.
The whirlwind began on Oct. 29, when Kevin Spacey — who had already wrapped his role in Scott’s movie as oil tycoon J. Paul Getty — was first accused of sexual harassment by actor Anthony Rapp. Spacey apologized for the behavior
and entered treatment, but more than a half-dozen others then came forward with their own misconduct allegations against the actor.
He was fired from his Netflix show, “House of Cards” — which, in 2015, brought Spacey his only Golden Globe victory to date — and on Nov. 8, Scott announced he was taking unprecedented action with his film: The director said he would cut Spacey from the movie and replace him with Plummer. Reshoots, the filmmaker said, would begin immediately, and he intended to make his initial release date of Dec. 22.
“There are over 800 other actors, writers, artists, craftspeople and crew who worked tirelessly and ethically on this film, some for years, including one of cinema’s master directors,” the film’s U.S. distributor, Sony, said at the time. “It would be a gross injustice to punish all of them for the wrongdoings of one supporting actor in the film.”
For the most part, Scott has remained true to his word. After completing reshoots on Nov. 30 — and editing on the fly — the movie is still on target to be released at the end of the month, shifting a mere three days to Dec. 25.
“Despite the unexpected challenges we encountered after shooting was completed, we were determined that audiences around the world would be able to see our film,” Scott said in a statement following Monday’s nominations. “So the fact that we have received these wonderful acknowledgments this morning is especially gratifying.”
The film, based on the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III — a grandson of Plummer’s character — will screen for the press later this week. How it will fare during the rest of award season remains to be seen, but don’t expect to see it on the list when SAG Award nominations are announced this Wednesday — the film did not screen in time for that guild’s voting deadline.
The Spacey-Plummer casting drama is the most high-profile example of how the numerous sexual harassment revelations that have rocked Hollywood this fall are impacting awards season.
“Transparent,” the critically beloved Amazon show starring Jeffrey Tambor as a transgender parent, was not recognized by the HFPA in any category for the first time since it debuted in 2014. Tambor, who won a Golden Globe for his role in 2015, was last month accused of inappropriate behavior by his former assistant. Though he denied the allegations, the actor said he didn’t “see how [he could] return to ‘Transparent’ ” given “the politicized atmosphere” on set.
Dustin Hoffman, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women over the last few months, also did not receive a nomination Monday. The actor, who had earned early praise for his turn in Noah Baumbach’s “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected),” was grilled about the allegations by HBO host John Oliver in New York during a public Q&A last week.
Also missing from the Globes crop? “Wind River,” a murder-mystery set on a Native American reservation. The film, which stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, was beloved by many critics but was initially released by the Weinstein Co. in August. After the controversy involving the company’s then-chief executive broke, TWC’s name and logo were removed from the film and an awards campaign funded by some of the film’s producers was launched to emphasize a separation of any link with Weinstein.
Meanwhile, Geoffrey Rush — who appears as Albert Einstein in National Geographic’s limited series “Genius” — scored a nomination after being accused of inappropriate behavior during an Australian stage production of “King Lear.” Rush is suing Australia’s Daily Telegraph over the allegations, though he did resign as president of Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.
“This is good news for Albert Einstein. I believe in science,” Rush said in a statement Monday. “I also believe in the complexity of humankind. I am honoured to be in the company of fellow nominees who, with their artistry, have strived to define the multiplicity of dimensions in the male experience.”