Leo’s dancing, J-Law’s cinematic crush: Oscar nominee trivia

MANILA, Philippines – With more than a month to go before the Oscars in early March, speculation about Academy Award favorites and their competition is going into overdrive. Here are some tidbits we’ve picked up about the nominees:

(FULL LIST: Oscars 2014 nominations announced)

Lupita Nyong’o also produced her own documentary

Many know that the Kenyan actress attended the Yale School of Drama, but aside from her acting career, Lupita has also ventured into writing and directing, and even producing. The 2009 documentary In My Genes is her effort (watch the trailer below). Next up for Lupita is a thriller called Non-Stop, starring Liam Neeson.

Leonardo DiCaprio – no body double for naked scenes

The Wolf of Wall Street, as much about the wild lifestyles of high-rolling stockbrokers as it is about money fraud, features a lot of raunchy scenes involving nudity. “It was all me, pal,” he told Extra’s Jerry Penacoli. “Look, when you do a character like this, you have to go all out…all the flopping around, all the everything, was, ah, was all me.”

That Leo is so committed to his role isn’t really news. “One of the secrets that he has, that people don’t get,   is that Leo works really hard at the stuff that he does. He tortures himself over every line, every scene,” Jordan Belfort, the real Wolf of Wall Street, told Ford Fischer in an interview for ireport.cnn.com. 

Trivia: See Leo dancing in the trailer? Leo has said that it wasn’t hard for him to dance at all. He told Ellen DeGeneres that he “used to be a pop-locker” back in grade school. 

Jennifer Lawrence’s cinematic crush on Mia Farrow 

Internet darling Jennifer Lawrence is thought to be in fierce competition with Lupita Nyong’o in the best supporting actress category. The actress is dating Warm Bodies actors Nicholas Hoult, but her cinematic crush also has netizens buzzing.

In a video for W magazine‘s “Screen Test” series, Jennifer said that her cinematic crush is Rosemary’s Baby actress Mia Farrow. “Whenever I start feeling like a boy, I just tell myself I look like Mia Farrow, and I’m like, ‘OK,’” she said. In the 1960s, Mia Farrow’s signature look was a short blonde pixie crop, a style Jennifer embraced in 2013.

Interestingly, the role in Silver Linings Playbook that won Jennifer Lawrence her first Oscar last year was originally for Anne Hathaway. According to producer and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in an interview with Howard Stern, Anne left the movie due to “creative differences” with director David Russell.

Amy Adams’ girl crush on Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer isn’t the only one with a girl crush. Best Actress nominee Amy Adams told Hip Hollywood about her girl crush…on Jennifer Lawrence! “She’s been my girl crush for a while, since Winter’s Bone, she became my girl crush,” she said. 

The actress, who previously played Princess Giselle in Enchanted, picked up a Golden Globe this year for her role in American Hustle. This is her 5th Academy Award nomination.

Jared Leto’s drastic weight loss and gain for his movie roles 

Like co-star and Best Actor nominee Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto lost a lot of weight to play a transgender AIDS patient named Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club. Still, that isn’t the first time he’s done that for a role – Jared reportedly lost more than 20 pounds for Requiem for a Dream and gained over 60 pounds for his role as John Lennon’s assassin Mark David Chapman in Chapter 27. 

Just like Leo, Jared was dedicated to his role, committing to the whole character – high heels and all. He even told Cosmopolitan.com that he thought men should try it to gain a deeper understanding of women.  

Watch the trailer for Dallas Buyers Club here: 

 

– Rappler.com