WILL THE OSCAR GO TO DENCH OR GOSLING

Amy Adams in American Hustle and Sandra Bullock in Gravity are just some of the performances nominated at the 86th Academy Awards this Sunday, March 2, with …

The 79th annual Academy Awards is honoring Oscar nominations to two very different types of teaching performances for Judi Dench and Ryan Gosling. Dench is nominated for her leading role as a desperate, needy teacher who falls for Cate Blanchett’s more exciting teaching ways in Notes On a Scandal. Ryan Gosling is a drug addicted urban educator trying to keep it together for his students in Half Nelson.

Judi recalls a scene with Cate which called for a celebration when they finished.

“We have a big fight and that was for scene 122. We have that underlined in kind of marker pens. And then gradually the day came and we both dreaded it, absolutely dreaded it. And then at the end we came off the stage and there was a great big bottle of champagne from Cate which we immediately cracked open and drank most of it with relief.”

Ryan really did his homework to prepare for his role in Half Nelson shadowing an 8th grade history teacher and living close to the location so he could walk to school.

“I went out to Red Hook to hang out with this teacher named Mr. Easton to see how he teaches his kids but where we shot was just a block from my house so I would walk to work in the morning, then I’d teach and go home.”

This is Ryan’s first Oscar nomination coming a long way since his Teen Choice Awards win for The Notebook. Judi Dench is drenched in Oscar nominations with five going back to 1998 for Mrs. Brown. She won for Best Actress in A Supporting Role for Shakespeare in Love.