Kate & Leo's revelations at 'Revolutionary Road' Q&A

By Kevin Lally

Co-stars of the biggest movie of all time, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are also two of the most gifted actors of their generation. DiCaprio, 34, has earned three Oscar nominations, while Winslet, 33, is the youngest actress to have attained five Oscar nods. Each actor gives an exceptionally strong performance in director Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road, certain to be recognized by the Academy when nominations are announced on January 22.

DiCaprio, Winslet, Mendes, and supporting actors Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon, David Harbour and Zoe Kazan were all on hand for a Q&A session moderated by Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers at a packed Producers Guild screening of Revolutionary Road at the AMC 34th Street Theatre in Manhattan last night. They seemed happy to be there, and justifiably proud of their work.

Based on the celebrated 1961 novel by Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road tells the story of Frank and April Wheeler, a onetime "golden" couple whose marriage and dreams are suffocated by life in suburbia in the 1950s. Their impetuous plan to change their fates and move to Paris merely underscores the fragility of their bond.

Winslet, working for the first time with her director husband Mendes, described the theme of the Yates novel as "the eternal struggle to find happiness." In the search for personal identity, she confided, "we all experience moments of incredible pain." The tragedy of Frank and April is that "they don't even know what they're hoping for anymore."

DiCaprio marveled at the "voyeuristic quality" of the material. "You shouldn't be hearing these conversations," he said, adding that Yates "taps into the unconscious voice we all have."

The two stars were thrilled by the complex emotional demands of their parts, and they each deliver arguably their strongest, rawest performances under Mendes' direction. "I couldn't wait to attack Kate," DiCaprio said of the movie's most ferocious moments opposite his onetime Titanic love and close friend.

Winslet confessed that "I don't switch off" at the end of the shooting day, unlike her husband, which led to a few unwelcome middle-of-the-night pleas to discuss new insights about her character.

Adding some fun to the Q&A were the supporting cast. Bates, who plays an intrusive neighbor, said she lost weight for the role but was distressed to see new wrinkles. "I look exactly like my mother!" she lamented.  Harbour, who plays one of the Wheelers' best friends, joked that his intimate dance scene with Winslet made just the desired impression: "sexy and pathetic."

But the night's scene-stealer, just as in the film, was New York theatre veteran Michael Shannon, who plays Bates' bluntly truthful son, recovering from shock treatments in an insane asylum. "I'm not right for many parts," he gratefully acknowledged about this award-bait role. When Travers asked the panel why modern audiences should relate to a story about a disintegrating marriage in the 1950s, Shannon had a retort worthy of his volatile character: "Not all films can be as contemporary and relevant as vampires and James Bond."

Kate Winslet's Oscar Hopes caught in power struggle

By Sarah Sluis

Awards season is months away, but Harvey Weinstein and Scott Rudin have already fought a few rounds over the release date (and Oscar chances) of The Reader and Revolutionary Road, two aspiring Academy Award
contenders starring Kate Winslet and produced by Scott Rudin.  With a prime December 26th release date and positive buzz, Winslet was a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination for Revolutionary Road.

Now, after a lengthy battle between power players Weinstein and Rudin, The Reader will release on December 12th, cannibalizing the Revolutionary Road release and creating a publicity dilemna, while also opening up the possibility that Winslet could win two nominations and then split the Oscar vote.

The Weinstein Company has been dealing with various business and legal challenges as of late, which partly explains why Harvey pushed so hard to move forward the release date.  Needless to say, he has burned some bridges in the process, and much of the fallout has already hit the Internet.  An email purportedly surfaced from Rudin talking about Weinstein trying to finagle editorial rights out of Minghella on his deathbed, which spurred a Page Six fight.

As a prelude to the subsequent rounds of power plays that this decision will engender, I have put together a brief primer to help you place your bets:

In one corner, The Reader:

• Producers Sydney Pollock AND Anthony Minghella passed away this year, and we all know what happens to the value of artists' canvases after they die.  However, both of these producers have already won the coveted Best Director Oscar (Pollack for Out of Africa and Minghella for The English Patient), so it's not like this would be a chance to reward someone overlooked in their lifetime.



• With a WWII-related topic, war criminals and Nazis,  the material is tried-and-true Oscar fodder.

In the other corner, Revolutionary Road:

• This is Kate Winslet's "passion project."  She enlisted her husband, Sam Mendes, as the director, and got Leonardo DiCaprio to re-team with her.  Personally invested in this project, she has the power to work the talk show hosts to her advantage when she promotes both of these films.



• Rival The Reader is still in post-production, giving Revolutionary Road an edge both in terms of film quality and marketing campaigns--I still haven't seen The Reader's trailer, but Revolutionary Road has released the trailer over the internet and in theatres.  Their marketing team also bought a two-minute trailer spot on Mad Men this Sunday to show the full trailer.  Given both the film and television show's focus on retro suburban ennui, the tie-in was spot-on, making Gold Rush, The Hollywood Reporter's year-round awards blog, take notice.

With both films receiving strong advance buzz, it's a shame to pit them against each other.  Of course, any internal competition or sabotage of these films would only end up hurting producer Scott Rudin and star Kate Winslet, who have both put much effort into the success of these film.  Stay tuned, the fight is certainly not over!