Congratulations!
Don't say anything crazy!
OK, OK.
Thank you very much.
I'm such a fan of yours.
And you're so amazing in this movie.
Congratulations.
Thank you very, very much.
Ditto.
I mean, you've been working a long time.
I have, as I'm very old.
I am.
Well, it doesn't matter how old you are.
You've done a lot of movies.
And this is your first nomination, which is crazy.
Yeah.
Absolutely extraordinary.
I never thought-- I'd never been nominated or awarded
anything in my whole life.
So a majority of actors' life--
99% of us never have that happen.
So when it happens, it's a big deal.
I'm not cynical about.
I'm absolutely pumped.
Yeah, you should be!
That's great!
That's so great.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
So you posted a video the morning of the nominations
in front of your--
I mean, really, it got a lot of pickup.
Yeah, it did.
Normally, on my Twitter feed, I get
something gets about 400 likes or whatever.
And this thing went 3.4 million-people viral.
So--
Because it was your first apartment, is that right?
Yeah.
It was one of those that you can reach out and touch both walls
with your hand, like that.
Right.
I've been in one of the those.
You have.
In San Francisco, I had something like that.
Right.
But you now own 74 houses, now, don't you.
Yes, exactly, yes.
60.
So I hope most people have seen it by now.
But just in case-- and they should see it.
If you haven't seen it, explain what the movie is about.
It's a true story.
It is.
It's a true story.
Lee Israel was a fairly successful writer in the '80s
and '90s in New York City, fell on hard times,
was not selling books anymore, couldn't get hired,
and was a challenging personality,
could kind of not get along.
And so she starts forging these literary letters
with Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker.
And then we, unlikely pair, we meet at a bar, at Julius's.
Take it away.
That's us sending the letters.
And then we get caught.
And we do get caught.
The FBI comes in.
They get caught.
His character sells me out.
Yeah.
But we've stayed friends in real life.
So, now, did y'all know each other before the movie?
No.
We didn't.
I mean, I knew who he was.
I'd seen--
I'd heard of her.
No.
We met on a Friday in New York two years ago in January.
And we went through all our scenes for a couple of hours.
And then we started working on the Monday.
And did you have chemistry right away?
Because it's so great in this movie.
Oh, thank you.
No, it was very difficult. I hated her.
Yeah.
She's difficult to work with.
Yeah, she is, very.
She never knows her lines, either.
Oh, God.
Yeah, no.
When he leans in, I can't hear.
It's the weirdest thing.
No, we did.
We'd like-- because it was nerve wracking.
Because you think, well, we're going
to start shooting in 48 hours.
And we could have really not gotten along.
And boy, that would have been super awkward.
And I think, right away, we just kind of clicked.
And it went on.
And I thought you were going to be such a prat.
First of all, I didn't know you were from Swaziland,
even though you are British, too.
But I thought he was going to be so proper and very serious.
And so I was like, I'm also going to be proper
and, I guess, very from Illinois.
But I was all prepared to be like, and hello to you.
And you were weird and funny.
And you were smelling things right away.
Yeah, I like to smell things.
Am I allowed to smell you?
Yeah, sure.
Yeah.
He's like a bloodhound.
Oh, thank you.
OK.
I'll remember that, always.
But he smell something across the room and be like, oh,
and then go over there, smell it.
I'm wearing yours.
Can you tell?
Yes, I can.
We both wear it all the time.
But you smelled.
And I knew we were friends forever.
Because within the first hour, you
smelled all four walls of an elevator.
And I thought, I like him.
I need to hear more about this.
We're going to take a break.
I need to find out more about this.
We'll be back.
Another thing that I need to know
is this Barbra Streisand story.
So you're a huge fan of hers.
But it's not like you haven't met her before.
Yeah.
I met her in 1990 when I was doing a movie here called
The Player.
But when I was growing up in Swaziland,
which is the smallest country in the southern hemisphere,
I'd read that, in 1972, when I was 14 years old,
that she was having love-life problems with Ryan O'Neal.
And she didn't like her fame.
So I wrote this letter saying, dear Barbra Streisand,
please come to Swaziland.
We have a lovely house.
Nobody will know who you are here.
And you could come and stay with us for two weeks
or however long you want and then put a Shakespeare
quote at the end of it to try and make it
sound more grown up.
Anyway, she never, obviously, got this letter.
And I then drove up--
I had a day off the other day.
And I went up to Malibu and just beyond where she lives.
And my wife said to me, why are we going here?
We don't know anybody here.
And I said, well, we're just going to park here.
And she said, why are we here?
And I said, well, that's Barbra Streisand's gate.
She said, you're going to be arrested for this.
You're insane.
And so I got out.
And I said, no, stay in the car.
So I got out, pressed the buzzer.
Buzzer said, hello.
And I said, well, I'm here.
And I've been Oscar nominated.
May I take a selfie outside the gate?
And she said, hold on.
So somebody came out.
And it was a security person.
I said, am I allowed to take a photograph outside the gate
because I've been a lifelong fan.
I sent this letter 47 years ago.
And he said, what company are you from?
I said, I'm not from a company.
And he said, OK, you can take it.
Because it's a public area.
We're no jurisdiction over this.
But thanks for asking.
So I did.
I posted it with a copy of this letter on Twitter.
And 24 hours later, I kid you not, I got a direct reply
from the lady herself.
And it undid me.
I just crinkled up.
And 47 years later, it was an unbelievable moment for me.
Aw.
That's amazing.
[APPLAUSE]
When he came, he was like, did you talk to Barbara?
Did she see the movie?
And I'm like, I'm not calling Barbara Streisand
and asking her if she saw our movie!
I was like, I don't casually call her.
I don't call her.
I mean, I'm like, you know.
All right, well, she's watching this, I'm sure.
And she will call you.
I'm sure Barbara will call you.
We'll get her in touch with you.
It's called Can You Ever Forgive Me?
It's in theaters now.
We'll be right back.