Congrats on the Oscar nomination! How did you find out about it? What was your reaction?
I think I got a call around 6 a.m. telling me, and I just went, "That's great," and I went back to bed. It was good news, but I've been nominated a couple of times. You get a little used to it. It's new and scary the first time, but you get more relaxed and just go with it as you get older. But it doesn't change the fact that nobody knows who is going to win. People do all these calculations, and place all these odds — people gamble on this in Las Vegas! But the calculations are no better than conspiracy theories, even if they are in your favor. I'm in no position to run from it, but it's better to run in the middle of the pack than be the favorite. I think the two times I was nominated before, I was pretty strongly in the lead, I was the favorite, but I remember, Robert Altman told me, "If Jimmy Coburn wins as Best Supporting for Affliction, you won't get it," because historically, that's what happens. So when he won, I knew it was over. I was very happy for him, and then for me, because I could relax a bit. Although this time, you do have two older actors nominated [Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow], and there's this kind of sentimentality that runs throughout the Academy to honor past work, so the older ones have more of a shot at it.
At least your nomination will give some love to Warrior, which could have been a bigger film when it came out — it could have been a Rocky.
That's exactly what Arnold said to me! I ran into Arnold Schwarzenegger in an elevator the other night, and he said to me, "Man, you could have had a Rocky on your hands. How come that didn't happen?" And I said something dumb, like, "How come you didn't become governor again? How come that didn't happen?" He didn't respond to that. But I think everybody feels that they couldn't figure out the marketing on that movie. I don't know if it's the studio's fault or not, because trying to predict the public is like gambling too. Even with all the advertising and the audience Q&As, there's no way to tell. But that's why I balk at studio heads.
Source: Full interview @ Vulture
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