Into the Woods Official Movie Thread — Page 137

Here is a brief interview that Lilla Crawford did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhRc7NLzYl4

Here is what Billboard predicts might happen with Oscar nominations.


Disney Musical 'Into the Woods' Swoops Into Awards Season -- How Far Can It Go?

Besty, your point about the difference between a character disappearing from the film with a good deal of screen time left as opposed to a character coming into a film and taking over is typically insightful coming from you. I hadn't really thought about it, but it makes a lot of sense. I guess I get why they want to push Blunt as lead, and obviously Joanna Gleason managed to get that lead actress Tony over someone in a star vehicle like Patti LuPone, but I think the more time passes, the more we realize what Joanna Gleason achieved with that character is in a class of its own and I'm not quite sure anyone will be able to make the Baker's Wife feel as much of a centerpiece and as effortlessly as she did.
I was annoyed when Marion Cotillard was campaigned as lead actress for a clearly supporting role in NINE. Though Cotillard was fantastic in the movie, she was left out of a weak field that included such unforgettable performances as Helen Mirren in THE LAST STATION. Hopefully Blunt can gain some traction over the intolerable Hillary Swank.

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"but I think the more time passes, the more we realize what Joanna Gleason achieved with that character is in a class of its own and I'm not quite sure anyone will be able to make the Baker's Wife feel as much of a centerpiece and as effortlessly as she did."

Everything about this. Which is why Emily Blunt had/has such a hard uphill battle to climb. She is taking on one of the best and trickiest characters in musical theatre. The way the role is written, it isn't really a leading role. Joanna just made it her own in a way no one can really copy effectively and was amaze-balls at it. To put it bluntly. ( haha)

Updated On: 11/24/14 at 12:10 PM

Disagree. The Baker is the lead. The Baker's wife is more of a supporting role. The way the character is set up, she can't possibly be the lead of the whole show.

I think the character is always on the fence of being a lead or supporting. There isn't a real clear answer with how the role is written. I have to ask, would you feel the same way if Kerry O'Malley was the original Baker's wife and you never saw Joanna Gleason do it?

I didn't say the Baker's Wife was a lead or not, but rather that the character stands on a grey area. Regardless of the creative team's intention, it's hard to think of the Baker's Wife as a conventional lead. She CAN be as depicted by Gleason and Lapine's original vision as a director (though even at the time Gleason won a Drama Desk for Featured Actress in a Musical), but it's easy to allow the performance and the character be more supporting. Gleason somehow made the role feel as relevant to the piece as Momma Rose is to GYPSY, if Blunt is able to do that, she has a good chance of getting in for lead, but it doesn't seem like it from the reviews.

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I get that the only "tangible" way to measure it is through the nominations...
But those are as much about (for the lack of a better word) Politics than anything else.

Remember the whole Joel Grey debacle in the Chicago Revival...

It comes down, to me, to looking at the show itself. And The Witch is Supporting/Featured, and The Baker's Wife is the lead.

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Staunton actually won the Olivier for Best Actress in a musical.

Three wins for Best Actress in a musical between the Tonys and the Oliviers is pretty solid reasoning for looking at the role as lead, Kerry O'Malley's Drama Desk nom not withstanding.

"Three wins for Best Actress in a musical between the Tonys and the Oliviers is pretty solid reasoning for looking at the role as lead, Kerry O'Malley's Drama Desk nom not withstanding."

But then the obvious question has to come up, Why wasn't Kerry O Malley put in the leading category for Drama Desk? Same with Joanna and Drama desk?

"Staunton actually won the Olivier for Best Actress in a musical."

My mistake. While we are on the subject of Staunton, did anyone here see the original London production? I have searched far and wide for more videos of it but I always come up with very little. The production looked absolutely bonkers.

People keep pointing out in these articles the possibility of another musical cracking the Best Picture Oscar nominee list, but they actually have a much bigger hurdle than that.

It's a fantasy and a fairy tale.

I agree that the film has an uphill battle due to its genre, best12bars, but I think it has some important distinctions that may help it nab a Best Picture nomination. It certainly has Oscar pedigree both in front of and behind the camera (Rob Marshall, Meryl Streep, Stephen Sondheim), has the backing and campaigning of one of the heavyweight Disney studio, and is one of the most esteemed musicals of the last few decades. It's also quite a sophisticated and adult interpretation of fairy tales, elevating what could be considered family fare to something much more high-brow.

Although I'm not sure how the work of Sondheim could / would compare to Tolkein's in terms of honorary status, they are both obviously influential and revered figures, and therefore screen adaptations of their works carry a similar panache.

I certainly don't agree with your assessment, but I think Into the Woods is in a unique position and should definitely be in the conversation despite the genre biases of the Academy.