Alexander Payne Talks ‘The Holdovers,’ Paul Giamatti Being The “Greatest Actor” And Teases Future Western & French Language Projects — Thessaloniki
deadline.comBorn in Omaha, Nebraska, to two parents of Greek heritage, two-time Oscar winner Alexander Payne was awarded Greek citizenship last year around the time he was working on his latest feature, The Holdovers.
In line with the honor, Payne has returned to his adoptive home to present The Holdovers as one of the centerpiece screenings at this year’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival. “I’ve screened almost all my films here,” Payne said, addressing the crowd at a presser in Thessaloniki this afternoon.
The Holdovers, Payne’s eighth feature, is a 70s-set comedy centered around Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), a bad-tempered tutor at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go.
Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — the damaged, brainy troublemaker Angus (Dominic Sessa) — and the school’s head cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
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