“Midnight in Paris’s” Hemingway will break out his Papa impression one more time to remind the Academy how brilliant it was.
Nearly everyone who has seen Woody Allen’s absolutely charming “Midnight in Paris” has walked away from the theater smiling and asking: “Who was that guy playing Ernest Hemingway?” Well, “that guy” was Corey Stoll an acclaimed theater actor who has appeared in a myriad of small roles on television and film. Stoll was asked to read for the part of Hemingway after Allen saw him perform in “A Few from the Bridge” on Browdway, which starred former Allen muse Scarlett Johansson. After a reading with the iconic director Stoll was eventually given the biggest break of his acting career.
“Midnight’s” nostalgic time-traveling through Paris’s incredible literary and artistic ex-pat scene of the 1920s was mesmerizing. Everyone in the film seemed to be perfectly cast. Owen Wilson gave the best Allen-esque neurotic performance in years. Tom Hiddleston played a a wonderful F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Adrien Brody was hilariously bizarre as Salvador Dali. However Stoll’s performance as prose-speaking soliloquy-prone Hemingway was a revelation.
Now, with Oscar season kicking to high gear and a Spirit Award nomination under his belt, Stoll and Sony Pictures are primed to mount a campaign for Best Supporting Actor. “Midnight” is sure to see a strong studio push for Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay, but it’s nice to see an actor from this great ensemble get recognition as well.
In one of the more original and refreshing kick starts to an Oscar campaign I’ve seen, Stoll will dust off his Papa impression to read Hemingway’s letters at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Sunday, December 11.
Hopefully it’ll go a little something like this:
[Hitfix]
