‘Hard Truths’ Director Mike Leigh Still Peeved Marianne Jean-Baptiste Lost the Oscar for ‘Secrets & Lies’
variety.comClayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Director Mike Leigh vividly remembers the 1997 Academy Awards, where Marianne Jean-Baptiste was nominated for best supporting actress for her role in his best picture nominee “Secrets & Lies.” “She should have won,” Leigh said during an interview at the Variety Studio, sponsored by J Crew and SharkNinja, during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Jean-Baptiste lost the award to Juliette Binoche, who shockingly won for her performance in “The English Patient,” which also took home the best picture Oscar.
However, neither Binoche nor Jean-Baptiste were favored to win. Instead, Lauren Bacall in “The Mirror Has Two Faces” won Golden Globe and SAG prizes for her work. “The person who won that year walked backstage after the interviews, came straight over to Marianne and said, ‘You should have won this,’” Leigh recalled. “That has to be for the record.” Nearly three decades later, Leigh and Jean-Baptiste are teaming up again for Leigh’s 15th feature film, “Hard Truths,” having its world premiere at TIFF.
A stark contrast to Leigh’s 2008 comedy “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Hard Truths” tells the story of Pansey, a hypersensitive woman who erupts at the smallest provocations.
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