Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
For First Time, Both Best Actor and Actress Awards Go to People of Color
Aired March 25, 2002 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: How about we talk more about the history in just a moment, but let's check in just an overview of the winners, and that's with Eric Horng.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC HORNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A beautiful night for "A Beautiful Mind." The film based on the life of schizophrenic genius, John Nash, who was present at the Oscars, took home four awards, including Best Director for Ron Howard, and the coveted Best Picture prize.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And to receive an award for making this movie is a miracle.
HORNG: "Training Day's" Denzel Washington walked away with the Best Actor prize, and paid tribute to Sydney Poitier, who was the last African-American to win Best Actor 39 years ago.
DENZEL WASHINGTON, BEST ACTOR: Forty years, I've been chasing Sydney. They finally give it to me, and what do they do? They give it to him the same night. I'll always be chasing you, Sydney. I'll always be following in your footsteps.
HORNG: Halle Berry became the first African-American to win an Academy Award in the lead actress category, Berry taking home the prize for her gutsy performance in "Monster's Ball," and delivering perhaps the night's most emotional acceptance speech.
HALLE BERRY, BEST ACTRESS: This moment is so much bigger than me.
HORNG: The night's first Oscar statute went to Jennifer Connelly, her work in "A Beautiful Mind" earning her the Best Supporting Actress prize. The Best Supporting Actor went to Jim Broadbent for "Iris," his first Oscar.
JIM BROADBENT, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and I'd like to thank the Academy for this wonderful honor.
HORNG: This year's Oscars featured a new venue, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, as well as a new category, Best Animated Feature. That award went to "Shrek." (on camera): Overall, a lot of first-time Oscar winners tonight, perhaps none more interesting than Randy Newman, who won for Best Original Song. Newman nominated 16 times in his career. Finally tonight taking home Oscar gold.
Eric Horng, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: That was a good moment. Randy Newman came backstage afterwards, and someone ask him, "Are you kind of disappointed, because you're going for a record there," you know, you just shattered your Oscar record going for the most nominations?" He said, "you know, that might be a good thing to have as well.
HARRIS: You know, he...
KAGAN: Sixteen nominations.
HARRIS: Well, he can finally take Susan Lucci's name off his resume.
KAGAN: I know.
HARRIS: He's got the Susan Lucci of the Oscars.
KAGAN: Absolutely. And short (ph) people finally started voting for him, I guess.
HARRIS: Oh, yes, lots of them did apparently.
KAGAN: That's what he said. Well, other good moments backstage, and that was one of the great thing about the jobs that we had getting to talk to these incredible winners after they had their Oscars. I was backstage and got to see Denzel Washington as he came in with his Oscar gold.
HARRIS: You don't say.
KAGAN: Tough job, I know. Let's let everyone else peek at what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you going to do with that Oscar?
WASHINGTON: Put it next to my other one in my house. I don't know. You know, I will ask the kids. We will do it by committee tonight and find out what they suggest -- where they suggest it should go. You know, we have sort of trophy room in the house, so I guess that is where it will go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got a lot of support to get the award. One of those was Julia Roberts. What was that feeling about? WASHINGTON: Well, you know, I was getting -- I was hearing a lot from a lot of different people. I have been getting a lot of calls and people are like, this is your time. The old ladies have got dreams, and they dream about this and that and everything. I have been hearing from a lot of people, and you have to just kind of sit tight and put a lid on that, because you don't know, you know. But obviously, the feelings that people had were genuine, and you know, I'm happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel that there will be a time where we will not have headlines saying, "Black Actor Wins?" And do you think...
WASHINGTON: Do you write a newspaper?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, yes.
WASHINGTON: Well, then make sure it doesn't happen tomorrow. Just say, "Actor Wins."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's very fair.
WASHINGTON: What a chance you have. What an opportunity. What an opportunity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: A class act all the way. You heard Denzel Washington referring to the second Oscar. This is his second Oscar, and he won in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in "Glory" about 10 or 11 years ago. So he has taken home the gold before.
HARRIS: Yes.
KAGAN: But for Halle Berry, it's her first.
HARRIS: Yes, you know, and the thing is, you know, Denzel was talking about people were telling him things and saying things about him.
KAGAN: Yes.
HARRIS: But nobody was saying as much or dreaming as much or pulling as much as they were for Halle Berry. Every single person that we talked to the entire time we have been here was almost to every person, man and women, were all saying that for some reason even though she wasn't the one that listed as being or talked about as being a front runner, she seemed to be the sentimental favorite. And we actually got a chance to sit down and chat with her at a very informal and surprise impromptu interview yesterday.
KAGAN: You bet. A very surprised, Leon Harris.
HARRIS: Yes, I go up to her room expecting to sit down and talk to Daryn Kagan, and I walk in and guess who was there?
Karen: Not a bad swap most people would say. Let's listen to this little exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, congratulations. How do you feel?
BERRY: Thank you. I feel...
HARRIS: Is this real or what?
BERRY: I am in shock.
HARRIS: Can I touch it.
BERRY: Yes, you can.
HARRIS: Oh.
KAGAN: Have you had any champagne?
BERRY: No, I...
KAGAN: We have some champagne. Should we open some champagne?
BERRY: No.
KAGAN: No?
BERRY: I probably need to wait until I am seated.
KAGAN: OK.
BERRY: I have a lot of walking to do.
HARRIS: Listen, Daryn is working. I am not. I am off duty. I've just got to tell you. I am so proud of you home girl (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
BERRY: Thank you.
HARRIS: I am so happy for you.
BERRY: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: Well, go, everybody!
HARRIS: We couldn't ask for better ending. I'm telling you.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: That's what I'm talking about.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And in the same night. BERRY: The same night.
HARRIS: The same night.
BERRY: It's unbelievable.
HARRIS: Is it cool or what?
BERRY: Who would have thought?
HARRIS: You can imagine that.
BERRY: Never. Oh gosh.
BERRY: And I figured Denzel would.
HARRIS: You did? Yes.
BERRY: I thought Denzel and Sydney would have a great night tonight.
HARRIS: I've got to tell you something. I am sorry. I want to jump in (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I was out there all day with the crowd, OK? First time I have...
KAGAN: That's right.
HARRIS: ... been out with the crowd was at 5:00. I told you at 5:00. What did I tell you this morning when I talked about that?
KAGAN: You said you would do your own personal poll.
HARRIS: And every person we talked out there said what?
KAGAN: Halle.
HARRIS: These were white folks that drove from Miami. Am I right? Am I right? White folks who drove from Miami said...
KAGAN: And it had to be so.
HARRIS: The only reason why they came here was to see you get this. They knew you were going to do it. Am I lying?
KAGAN: No.
HARRIS: We have it on tape. As a matter of fact, we used it as live shot today. It was amazing.
BERRY: Oh, my god.
HARRIS: Yes, it's amazing.
KAGAN: There were lots of people.
HARRIS: Did you feel that confident? BERRY: No.
HARRIS: I mean, that's a heck of a lot of encouragement.
BERRY: I felt the love. When I got out there on the red carpet, I felt the love and the support, and that made me feel like no matter what happens, I felt supported.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, you know, the funny thing too is she milked the moment too. If you notice when we were watching the red carpet entry of all of the people, she came in somewhere in the middle of the arrivals.
KAGAN: Yes, that's right.
HARRIS: She was the last one to leave. She was about the last one to leave.
KAGAN: Really?
HARRIS: I sat there from where I was sitting on the top of the bridge overlooking the red carpet.
KAGAN: No, no...
HARRIS: She was the second or third to last to leave, because I think Russell Crowe came in last.
KAGAN: Can I tell you why that was? And it shows you what a class act Halle Berry is. It was because she had to pass us by. Because I was down on the red carpet, and she saw that we were CNN. She wanted to come over to talk to us, but ABC, who was doing the pre- show for big Oscar telecast, said no, she is obligated. So her publicist whisked her away. She specifically came back to talk to us...
HARRIS: Yes.
KAGAN: ... instead of going straight into the theater. And that's why she was still there.
HARRIS: Yes. And I'll tell you, after she left you, I saw she went back to the crowd, and she was playing to the crowd.
KAGAN: Yes. Well, good for her. Good for her. She knows what it means.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: ... was an incredible scene. And we weren't alone in watching it.
KAGAN: No.
HARRIS: We also had company.
KAGAN: Paul Clinton.
HARRIS: Paul Clinton, who is joining us here in the studio now, also watching yesterday.
KAGAN: He was also there for that special moment.
HARRIS: Yes.
KAGAN: It was you, me, Paul Clinton and Halle Berry.
HARRIS: That's right.
PAUL CLINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, you were loving it.
KAGAN: Yes.
CLINTON: You're an Ohio girl, yes, we are both from Ohio. So is she. You know, we are all buckeyes, so that was...
HARRIS: That's right. They used to stomp around her old neighborhood too.
CLINTON: Yes.
HARRIS: I wish I had known she had lived there.
KAGAN: Let's talk about some of these performances though, and especially Denzel Washington vs. Halle Berry. First of all, Halle Berry won this Oscar for a role that the director and the producer of this movie did not want her to have.
CLINTON: They didn't want her to have it. They thought she was too beautiful, and that has always been her problem. Spike Lee thought she was too beautiful for the movie he gave her a break in, and she played crack addict. So she has always gone against the tide. She really hasn't played on her beauty as much as she could. I mean, of course she's a Bond girl.
KAGAN: Right.
CLINTON: Now, you can't ignore the fact that she is gorgeous. But she does not try to cash in on that. She really tries to go for the edgy roles, and she fought for this and she went in and she ate that role for breakfast. I mean, she did a great job.
HARRIS: And we were talking about this briefly. It seemed as though the choice with her had no politics whatsoever, Paul. But there did seem to be some with Denzel.
CLINTON: Well, with Denzel, you have the whole thing with Russell Crowe and whether he should be given back to back Oscars this close to Tom Hanks, because the Academy didn't want to look like they were giving it away like, you know, candy. Because that's a very nig thing to get it back to back. It didn't happen since Spencer Tracy and then Tom Hanks. And Tom Hanks has been within the last decade. And Russell Crowe is also not -- how do you say this? He is not like...
KAGAN: He is not beloved.
CLINTON: He's not beloved like Tom Hanks is. He has got a temper, he has got a viewpoint, he's got an attitude, and he is not about to change it. And so, Denzel, I don't want to make at all like he won by default, because his role and his performance was great. But he played a villain, and that is not usually rewarded. Although Anthony Hopkins did win it for "Hannibal" -- I mean, Lechter...
HARRIS: Lechter.
KAGAN: Yes.
CLINTON: Yes, so he was bad that got rewarded. But it doesn't happen very often.
KAGAN: So where do these two careers go from here? One question backstage for Denzel Washington was, well, the Oscar is one thing, but what does it feel like to be a $20 million man?
CLINTON: Yes.
KAGAN: I guess for his next movie, he is going into an elite class of actors that gets that much per film.
CLINTON: Yes, but he ballyhooed, it. He didn't want to talk about the money. And by the time you get to Denzel's level and the money he has got, I mean, you can only, you know, drive one car at a time, you can only live in one house at a time, and Denzel strikes me as the kind of person that is, you know, levelheaded enough that I don't it's really about the money as much.
HARRIS: Yes, let me ask you this, too, because coming into this, those of us who were trying to read tea leaves are saying, you know -- well, we were talking to people who were reading the tea leaves, and they were saying it seems as though no matter what happens as far as an African-American winning or not winning, one way or the other, Hollywood couldn't walk away from this one. Because if an African- American won, it going to be said, just because. And they didn't...
CLINTON: Had they didn't win...
HARRIS: Yes.
CLINTON: ... they ignored it, then the Academy is a bad guy.
HARRIS: Exactly. So now that we have actually had the moment and it's actually happened, where does that issue go?
CLINTON: Well, the problem is it all boils down to getting the role to get you on the carpet in the first place. It has nothing to do with the Academy awarding or not rewarding people. You don't get the role. The Asians don't get it, the Latinos don't get it, and the African-Americans don't get the role to begin with. And what happens has to happen is that casting is color blind, and Denzel has reached that point. He did "Bone Collector." He is in other films where it didn't matter whether he was white, black, green or orange. And that's what has to happen for men and women when they are cast in roles to begin with. There's lot of roles that doesn't matter, and especially in today's society. Thirty years ago, no, you couldn't cast a black man as a federal judge. Now you can.
HARRIS: Yes.
KAGAN: Yes.
CLINTON: I mean, it's got to -- it has to be crossed that line where it doesn't matter. And there's a lot of roles what the color or the nationality is, and that's where it begins, because if you ever got that, you're not getting to that carpet.
HARRIS: Yes.
KAGAN: All right. It's been fun watching with you.
HARRIS: A great evening, and we sure do appreciate your help. You were a lot of fun last night.
CLINTON: So were you.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: ... calling me Al Roker, but that's a whole different story.
CLINTON: After you called me Peter (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
KAGAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I will tell you if you ever want to learn a lot about film and about Oscars, you sit in that backstage room with Mr. Clinton here, and he'll go, oh, well, in this year, blah, blah, blah.
HARRIS: OK.
KAGAN: He has a stat and analysis for every single word.
HARRIS: So I guess I'll take you up on that, and next year I'll sit back there with him.
KAGAN: And I'll be outside doing the cold live shots?
HARRIS: Yes.
KAGAN: Well, let me tell you, it's not...
CLINTON: You've got to do a different dress.
HARRIS: That's for sure. OK.
CLINTON: No strapless... (CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: Yes, yes, yes, Leon in strapless in the backstage. I don't know if the Oscars are ready for that.
HARRIS: I don't think so.
CLINTON: There are some ceilings we don't want to break.
HARRIS: All right.
KAGAN: But we will...
HARRIS: On that note, let's give it back to Carol Lin.
KAGAN: Yes, we'll see you later in the hour, Carol.
LIN: All right, thanks, guys.
We just want to let everybody know, too, that in addition to Leon and Daryn's coverage, you can get complete looks at Oscar's big night from the star stroll down the red carpet to peek inside those expensive goody bags. All you have to do is log on to the in-depth special part of CNN.com. The AOL keyword is CNN.
Of course, we'll have much more on the Oscars later in the show with Leon and Daryn, and we'll hear what Halle Berry had to say about her dress. But next, we've got news on the raging wildfires, which are forcing more evacuations in New Mexico. We are going to have a live report right after this.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
