The Guy Page gets excited like everyone else over the Oscars. In fact, we couldn’t help but note that plenty of Alpha-type material will be displayed in Sunday’s telecast.
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For instance, Clint Eastwood, whose “Million Dollar Baby” got a best picture nomination as well as best actor and best director nods for him, is destined for a charter membership in the Guy Page Hall of Fame as soon as one gets built. “Dirty Harry” clinched that more than 30 years ago.
Furthermore, Howard Hughes, an all-time Hollywood hedonist, is the subject of Oscar-nominated “The Aviator,” Jamie Foxx (nominated for best supporting actor) was superb outsmarting villainous Tom Cruise in the violent “Collateral,” and, on the sensitive side, best director nominee Mike Leigh showed males can have empathy with “Vera Drake,” a best-picture candidate.
But if the Guy Page were to award its own Oscar, say an Oscar Mayer, the vote here goes for Thomas Haden Church, nominated for best supporting actor for his role in “Sideways.” He plays Jack, a middle-age, womanizing, not-so-bright, has-been actor out for one last fling on the eve of his wedding–or, in other words, someone all of us knew at one point in life.
Name: Thomas Haden Church
Born: June 17, 1961; El Paso, Texas
College: North Texas State
Current home: Kerrville, Texas, where he lives with his family and operates a cattle ranch “to pay bills” as he pursues his acting/directing career.
Early jobs: Concierge, Adolphus Hotel, Dallas; radio disc jockey, commercial voice-overs.
Career: Got acting bug with uncredited walk-on role in “Gypsy Angels” in 1980.Big TV successes were recurring roles in “Wings” and “Ned and Stacey.”
Highlight: After he narrowly lost a good role in “About Schmidt,” director Alexander Payne asked him to try out four years later for his “Sideways.” Church got role of Jack, in part, because he was the only actor to disrobe during the audition. In the film, he has explicit lovemaking scenes with actress Sandra Oh, Payne’s wife.
Quote on these scenes: “He [Payne] told me straight up when I first met with him, `That’s going to be my wife. That’s going to be Sandra.’ It’s just one of those things. Everybody is a professional. It’s part of the story. But yeah, it’s a little awkward.”