As we all know, Hollywood has been a die-hard supporter of the Democratic Party in the United States for decades. This year coincides with the US election year. From the famous actor and director George Clooney to the founder of DreamWorks Animation Jeffrey Katzenberg, many Hollywood filmmakers have already participated in the Democratic Party in which Biden has withdrawn from the candidacy and Harris has taken over. He plays an important role in the drama of changing presidential nominees. Relatively speaking, there are really very few Republican fans active in Hollywood. Even though some people support the Xiang Party in their hearts, due to the overall situation in the industry, they can only put away their political opinions and not mention them. Of course, there are not all filmmakers who are not afraid of pressure and dare to state their party positions. The 77-year-old actor James Woods is a representative of this type of person.
James Woods. Oriental ic data map
James Woods was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively for Oliver Stone's "Salva" and Rob Reiner's "Waiting for Black Dawn". Perhaps his most well-known role is the role of Max in the classic film "Once Upon a Time in America"; in addition, he has played roles in "The Videotape Murders" directed by David Cronenberg and "The Big Brother" directed by Curtis Hanson. There are also outstanding performances in works such as "Not Falling Down".
James Woods was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor for "El Salvador".
James Woods in "Once Upon a Time in America"
According to Woods' own statement, before Bill Clinton's sex scandal was exposed, he had always been a supporter of the Democratic Party; however, this incident made him completely disappointed with the Democratic Party, so First he became independent and then joined the Republican camp. In the past few years, he has often used his personal social media account to express his support for Donald Trump, and has occasionally engaged in verbal disputes with netizens who oppose the Republican Party. In 2018, his agency contract was even canceled by his long-term brokerage company because of this.
Last week, in an interview with Megyn Kelly, a well-known pro-Republican media person, James Woods mentioned that last year's "Oppenheimer" produced by Universal Pictures and directed by Christian Nolan was a box office hit. Sales, he is actually one of the executive producers. However, from the film's promotion period until its release, he did not participate in many public activities of the film, and not many viewers know that he also participated in the production of the film. And all of this was what he was forced to do in order to comply with the requirements of the film company.
"Before the release of Oppenheimer, someone at the company had a discussion about my personal social media account, and they gave me a gentle suggestion: basically asking me to be invisible. This is "It was very painful for me," Woods said, "but on the other hand, I am also a pragmatist. I know how many people have worked hard for this movie, and for the sake of the overall situation, I can only be willing to be an invisible pariah." , because there are many people who are qualified to vote for Oscars, and they will take this kind of thing very seriously. I don’t want this to happen, and I don’t want to see the Internet fermenting something like, ‘James Woods is the executive producer. , so we won't go see that movie! 'So I decided to take a step back and think about it for the sake of the whole team."
At the Oscars ceremony held at the beginning of this year, "Oppenheimer. "Won the Best Picture Award as expected. When producer Charles Rowan took the stage to accept the award, he also thanked James Woods, who is the executive producer. As early as 2015, David Wargo, an American businessman who was obsessed with Oppenheimer's life story in his spare time, bought the copyright of Oppenheimer's biography at his own expense, and then invited his friend Woods to develop a film adaptation project of the biography. Find connections in Hollywood. As a result, Woods recommended the biography to Nolan's long-term collaborator Charles Rowan, and as a result, in accordance with industry practice, Woods and David Wager received the title of executive producer together.
From the outside, you might think that Woods’ connection with the movie “Oppenheimer” is just that, and he doesn’t have much influence, so not letting him participate during the promotion period doesn’t seem to be a big deal. . But according to Woods himself, even if he is only a nominal executive producer, it is an affirmation and an honor. However, when "Oppenheimer" competed for the Producers Guild of America Awards, he was not invited to attend the awards. Ceremony, this is really too much. Moreover, according to Hollywood's usual practice, the more traffic the better during the film promotion period. Obviously, as an executive producer, he can use his personal influence to increase the popularity of the film, but the film company's senior executives have been criticized because of his political orientation. Suggesting that he remain anonymous is the height of hypocrisy.
"If you want to make a name for yourself in Hollywood, you must not reveal your leaning towards the Republican Party. Otherwise, you will have no way to get ahead." James Woods concluded in the interview.
