A sidelines view
Thomas Haden Church’s publicists wanted him to fly to Los Angeles on Monday so he would be, as he says, “conveniently available” for interviews and photographs upon hearing the news of his Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his role in “Sideways.”
But Church is an actor, which means “prone to superstition” and so he chose to stay on his Texas ranch. “Because if you fly to Los Angeles and then don’t get the nomination,” he says, “you will feel like a colossal jackass. And this is something I try to avoid actually.”
Instead, he spent Monday “completely consumed with dread,” going to the gym, out to lunch, running as many errands as he could think of -- “anything,” he says, “to avoid the obvious.”
But the obvious found him anyway -- he got his nomination.
“I was watching [the announcement],” he admits, “and there were some sweaty palms, let me tell you. But they announced Virginia [Madsen’s nomination for best supporting actress] first so I was really delighted by that. And they list nominees alphabetically, thank God, so I was right after Alan Alda, which was a big relief.”
The calls started immediately, “faster than I could shovel,” he says, but he did manage to leave congratulatory messages for Madsen and director Alexander Payne, and to talk with costar Paul Giamatti who, to many people’s surprise, did not get a best actor nomination.
“I was very disheartened that Paul was not nominated,” Church says, “but it was a tough category. Between Javier Bardem and Liam Neeson [who also were not nominated] and Paul, it’s amazing who wasn’t nominated.”
Besides being his own personal “dream come true,” Church’s nomination offers hope to every actor with career issues and proves what every struggling artist longs to believe -- that missing out on what seems like the perfect opportunity only means there’s something better waiting down the road.
Five years ago, Church was the runner-up for the role of Jack Nicholson’s mullet-wearing son-in-law in Payne’s “About Schmidt.” (Dermot Mulroney won the part.) But Payne kept tabs on Church. He not only offered him the role of Jack in “Sideways,” but did so over interest in the part from the likes of Brad Pitt and George Clooney as well as Fox Searchlight’s observation that some A-list talent would give the film oomph.
Though he definitely considers “Sideways” a career comeback, Church is getting a little tired of the mythology that seems to have grown up around his casting -- that he was as big a has-been as his character.
“I’m very flattered by all the attention,” he says, “but there is this tone among some journalists that Alexander had to pry the lid from my coffin. It wasn’t quite like that. I hadn’t done anything high-profile in a few years, but ... I had 11 years starring in television.”
Church came to the public’s attention in 1990 as oblivious Lowell Mather during the five-year run of “Wings.” Then he starred for two years with Debra Messing in “Ned and Stacey.” His switch to film could be described as “challenging.” He worked steadily -- starring as Jane’s sleazy fiance in “George of the Jungle” and its sequel -- but often in films that never found a distributor. Two years ago he moved to Texas where he has concentrated on writing and directing.
The nomination will no doubt add further heat to a career that shifted into a different gear days after “Sideways” debuted to great acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival last year.
But Church says he will continue to turn down the bad scripts and look for the roles that mean something to him. He says he took a tiny role in “Spanglish” simply because he wanted to work with James Brooks. His next big project is a remake of “Charlotte’s Web.”
He will be coming to Los Angeles later this week, but he’s keeping his expectations low regarding a win.
Church recalled his Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor, which was the first category announced that evening. The honor, however, went to Clive Owen, for “Closer.”
“I was the first loser out of the gate. Although oddly when it happened,” he adds, “I felt exactly the same as I had a minute before.”
