Hugh Jackman may not be able to fulfill his friend Ryan Reynolds’ greatest wish, which is for a Deadpool/Wolverine buddy movie. But that doesn’t mean that Jackman doesn’t still support his pal’s work and want the best for the Deadpool star. In an interview at Variety, Hugh Jackman explained that he’s been campaigning heavily for Deadpool to be considered for award recognition from Hollywood higher-ups.
As Jackman points out in the interview, superhero movies and genre fiction movies in general don’t often get awards season nods: “When I hosted the Oscars, Batman didn’t get nominated and everyone was talking about it. I think the genre is evolving. It’s a stretch to say these are injustices in life — we are happy and making movies.”
Hugh Jackman is referring to the 2009 Oscars, which did not nominate The Dark Knight for Best Picture. Of course, the movie was nominated for several other Oscars, and it even won two of them: such as Best Supporting Actor, which was given posthumously to Heath Ledger. Still, it’s undeniable that genre fiction movies often get passed up for the “Best Picture” category.
Surprisingly, though, we’ve already seen Deadpool‘s screenplay get nominated for a Writers Guild Award. What’s more, Deadpool‘s in the running for multiple Golden Globes tonight, including that elusive Best Picture award, and also, Best Actor for star Ryan Reynolds.
Sadly, fellow genre fiction favorite Arrival did not end up in the running for Best Picture at the Golden Globes tonight, although it is up for some other awards instead. The reason why Deadpool appears there at all may be due in part to folks like Hugh Jackman arguing for the film’s inclusion, since awards shows are all about who you know and connections and whatnot. That will also determine the winners of the Academy Awards as well, when the time comes.
Unfortunately, that also explains why so many of these awards end up going to entrenched, successful white male stars. If it’s all about “who you know” in Hollywood, then powerful people will tend to reward their other powerful pals. That means that we’re going to see a lot of the same old faces again and again. The Oscars episode of Adam Ruins Everything did a great job of explaining how that works:
Still, if a white guy has to take home an Oscar, I wouldn’t mind seeing Ryan Reynolds take one for Deadpool, because that would be so freaking wacky. I’d rather see Hidden Figures or Arrival in the top slot, this year, but … hey, better Deadpool than Manchester by the Sea, right?
(via Variety, image via ScreenCrush)
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