>> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> nationwide is on your side >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- tavis: "race for best actress ppears to be natlie portman's to lose, but the men include previous winners jeff bridges and javier bardem. >> i do not accept it as a given that i did shoot le beef. >> you missed your shot. >> missed my shot? >> you are more handicapped without an eye it than i am with that the arm. tavis: i know this remake languages out there, but what sold you on this was not that it was a remake, but that the coen brothers were going to make this movie based on the book. it is really a redo. >> that is perfectly stated. charles portis wrote a wonderful "true in the '60s called grit." when joel and ethan coen came to me, they said there were going right to the book. once i did read the book, i saw what they were talking about. the book reads like one of their scripts. terrific characters, a lot of twists and turns. so i jumped on board after a read the book. of course, i was happy i enjoyed the book so much. the coen brothers are real masters. tavis: what about the cast? >> what about this girl, 13 years old when she did the movie? she is something else. we have matt damon. i have admired him for so many years. he is such a great actor. josh brolin. it was just a great cast. tavis: i keep hearing people suggest this may indicate that westerns are back. my take is a bit different. it does not necessarily mean that westerns are back. it means a good book might have a chance of becoming a good movie. what is your take? >> i hope westerns are coming back. a lot of people think that i was part of the movie that a lot of people say put the nail in the coffin of westerns, "heaven's gate." for my money, that was a classic in its own right. maybe with the success of this, people will start to revisit the film. movie, was," clint's maybe the beginning of bringing westerns back. a great book -- find that story. that is key. [speaking spanish] tavis: everybody in this town gets turned on by a character that has complexity. everybody wants to play a multidimensional character. you got your wish this time around. it is really a complex character. >> it is. all actors want the same thing, which is a chance to create somebody that is real. i think reality is very complex. it is not one straight line. i am not interested in people that fly and have super powers. i do not see myself doing that. tavis: you like characters with multiple layers. >> this man has to face his own end. that involves re-evaluation of his life and himself, and that is complex for everybody. but also, that is a chance for him to bring the best and worst of himself, and face it. i think those characters are the ones who speak a lot, not only to the actor, but to the people. tavis: has it been the case in your career this far that you play characters, not just characters that you enjoy it, characters you have fun with, but characters that for the rest of your life speak to you, change you? put another way, have you play characters that are life- altering? >> totally. movies are characters can really change the world. they can take you to a different place, to see it from a different perspective, and go back to your own self with some new answers, things and issues that you knew intellectually but did not have the chance to experience it. the actor has the possibility of releasing a different life. you can grow as a person with more empathy, because you have seen the world with different points of view. that is one of the greatest gift of being an actor. tavis: tell me more about the character. >> i think the character is a man who has to see himself in the mirror and face and embrace what he is and what he has done. he recognizes what legacy he wants to give to those children for the future, in a very extreme situation. as an actor, i want to take the audience by the hand and bring them on a journey. at the end, what people want to do when they come out of the theater is run to their loved ones and hug them and kiss them, and be grateful for what they are and what they have. that is a beautiful feeling. sometimes we are so lost in the rush of things that we do not realize how important it is, what we are living at this moment. i think that is the legacy of the movie. tavis: "the fighter" rubles around the relationship between two brothers, but it is the performances of talented women that have the film nominated twice in the category of best supporting actress, amy adams and melissa leo. >> i have problems. >> like what? >> like maybe you not showing up on time to train. let him having to find you in the crack house when you are supposed to be at the airport. >> i am sorry. i do not know who you are. why are you talking? >> i am shirleen. we just met. we are together. do we need to do this again? hello. tavis: what you think when you see your work in this film? >> i try to look at it from someone else's perspective, because i was there. what i really enjoyed about that scene is melissa leo and the sisters. they cracked me up. every time they talk in the movie, they made me laugh, even during filming. tavis: speaking of your character, how does one research what it is like to be a sassy bartender? [laughter] >> luckily, it is based on a real girl, charlene fleming. i had a little footage on her and she came and visited a couple of times. tavis: the story line is? >> is the story of mickie ward and his family, his brother dickie who trained him, and the mother who manage them. it examines his life and his journey to a championship. tavis: you were interested in doing this particular role why? >> it was just a great role. david o. russell sent about 20 pages, because there were working on the character a little bit. i had met him on some other projects. i really wanted to work with david o. russell. i really wanted to work with mark, and christian. i could not find a reason not to do it. tavis: that is the best kind of work. what is it like working with mark walberg? he is the man these days. >> he is. he is powerful and humble. he is really committed as an actor and as a creator. i was at a q&a the other day, and he was like a hustler. tavis: that sounds like mark. >> i have some of respect for that. i have zero hustle in me. i wish i had a little more hustle. tavis: you said he was powerful. i understand the point you made. he is powerful in a variety of ways. he is gathering power as a producer. people did not know about the total package. >> he makes things happen. he was like, "how do we family fights in three days?" he contacted hbo, and they came through. that is what they -- that is what he does with everything. he puts the working. i have met respect for him. >> what is the matter with you? >> i hope it hurts. >> he was a good man. he is a legitimate businessman. collect a legitimate businessman? the you know what that sounds flyspecks these are crux -- do you know what that sounds like? these are crooks. he is going to steal your money and rob you blind. tavis: you are both nominated in the same category. what is that like? >> some people say we are nominated in competition or against each other in the category. i like the notion that i am nominated with amy. she was a delight to work with on set, to have a bond and a feeling of really enjoying someone, and then have animosity on seen with them, is really fun for an actor to do. she was a good friend. we were in this lousy motel just outside of lowell. we would stay up late into the night, laughing and talking. it was great to have another female actor that i could spend time with. that does not happen all that often. tavis: if natlie portman does win an oscar for "black swan," it will be another milestone for darren aronofsky. this is a complex look inside the world of ballet, including the dark side of dance. >> how do you know where i live? >> i have my ways. >> she is after me. >> nobody is after you. >> please believe me. >> what happened to my sweet girl? >> she's gone. tavis: there is a lot of buzz on natalie. is it deserved? >> i think so. she worked really hard, spent a year training five hours a day, becoming a ballerina. tavis: the story line is? >> it is a movie set in the ballet world. the young dancer is given the chance to play the queen swan in the famous tchaikovsky ballet "swan lake." one dancer plays the black swan and the white swan. the white swan is innocent and virginal. the black swan is a seductress. playing both roles kind of splits her. drama ensues. [laughter] tavis: are other things you tweaked or changed? >> based on "swan lake"? it is a fairy tale and has a lot of gothic horror elements and melodrama. we tried to take the energy and turn it into the different characters in the film. that inspired the entire film. tavis: why this project for you? why did you want to do this one? >> "the wrestler" was very connected to "black swan," because they are both about performance. they are both about artists that move their bodies and put them at risk to do what they do, except one is about the highest art and one is about the lowest art. the magic of cinema is that you can take an aging 50-year-old wrestler at the end of his career and a young 20-year-old dancer at the beginning of her career, but if their emotions are real, hopefully audiences will go on a journey with him. tavis: danny boyle already owns an oscar for best director on "slumbod millionaire." his next film is about a trap hiker played by james franco. the film is "127 hours." [grunting] >> aron ralston had a video camera with him and left a series of video messages to his loved ones every day. that was our ammunition. he can talk directly to the camera, because he is leaving those messages. you can go inside the camera and look at this guy who knows he is dying. he wants to leave these messages to people to apologize for the way he has been in his life, that he has not appreciated people as much as he knows he should have. it is wonderful, moving. there is a process, a journey he has to go on in his heart to find himself to be a better man. it is only then he will get out. he cannot get out in the beginning, when it is just about his power and his achievements. none of those skills will help him. it is only when he achieves a change of heart that he will get out of there. avis: if "the king's speech" takes top prize, it will help a talented film maker who has a knack for history. following projects about john adam and elizabeth i, tom hooper focused on eight british monarch with a speech impediment. >> germany will come, and we will need a king who is not afraid of his own shadow. >> the nation believes that when i speak, i speak to them, but i cannot speak. >> you can do it. do not be overcome by fear. >> be like mad king george. get up. that is st. edward's chair. listen to me. >> why should i waste my time listening to you? >> because i have a voice. >> yes you do. tavis: i had a friend years ago who said something to me that resonates. his phrase was that each of us, as surely as we have a thumbprint on our hand that makes us uniquely different, each has a thumbprint on our throats. we each have a thumbprint on our throat and life is about finding your voice. >> i think the thumbprint on the throat of many people is to out good, that goes unprocessed and unrest and i'd -- is a childhood trauma that goes unprocessed and unrecognized. if you feel your childhood has been defined by aepisode, try nt overshadow your adult life. in this film, it is in middle age that the king finely addresses his childhood. i think the film is about processing your childhood so it does not define new and you do not live with a thumb on your throat. tavis: there was a strong group of documentaries, including a controversial snub of the education film "waiting for superman." among the nominees was a look at one of the largest land fills, and the intersection between garbage and art. the film is called "waste land," directed by lucy walker. [unintelligible] [speaking a foreign language] >> it is like a stock exchange. they take a plastics and paper. they are selling it to wholesalers who then turn those materials into pvc and sell it. they get re-molded into buckets and car bumpers. there is a whole industry of commodities like a stock exchange, and prices go up and down for paper and different types of plastic and aluminum, and all these different resources that are saving from the landfill and recycling back into the world for using. tavis: the role of music and film continues to define moviemaking in ways traditional and cutting edge. the nominating artists are a microcosm, with nominees like randy newman in his 20th nomination for "toy story 3," and an unlikely award for trent reznor of 9 inch nails, who scored "the social network." >> you don't think i deserve your attention? >> i think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves paul, they are welcome to try, but i do not enjoy listening to people like. you have part of my attention, the minimum. the rest of my attention is back at facebook, where my colleagues are doing things nobody in this room are creatively capable of doing. does that answer your condescending question? tavis: rock stars composing original film scores. there was a time when this was not the coolest thing to do in hollywood, and now you are cranking these things out. >> it seems to be the case. tavis: how did you get pulled index >? >> i decided to take time off of my day job and get out of the grind of touring and get back to what drove me to make music in the first place. out of the blue, i got a call from david fincher, who i have known from various things over the years. he asked me if i was interested in scoring "the social network." i had not planned on that, but the opportunity came up. it is something i have always been interested in. i love the medium of film. i thought it would be interesting to see if i could take my set of tools and apply it to that medium. 20 years into making music and being able to make a living making music, this whole thing with the soundtrack of this film has been a breath of fresh air. i felt it was a real reinvention. it was exciting. it felt good. >> to reboot the buzz lightyear, do not hold button for more than five seconds. >> it is not my fault. >> [speaking spanich] >> what did you do? >> i did what you told me. tavis: what happens when you are approached about doing a sound track? >> we talk about it and we decide mutually what the director and i want the music to be. then i try to do it. they as well as the can in a non-musical terms tell me what they want it to feel like. they"you've got a friend," want to emphasize the relationship between andy and woody. so i wrote "you've got a friend" three times and then said something else and then went back to it. [laughter] there is some truth, where movies are concerned. for "toy story 3," the want everybody to stick together, so i thought "belong." tavis: randy newman will be performing on sunday night. i hope you enjoyed this look behind the oscar-nominated films. keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org tavis: join me next time with forrest whittaker. we will see you then. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. pbs.
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