Newport Beach Film Festival honors talent including Eddie Redmayne, Mayers and Kiki Palmer

In addition to giving diverse’s Legends and Groundbreakers Award for Ron Howard, the festival will honor several creators at the 2022 Honor Film Festival on October 16 and Eddie Redmayne on October 15.

Eddie Redmayne
Icon Award

When Oscar-winner Redmayne sat down at his first production meeting for The Good Nurse, his daughter had just been born. His daughter is now 6 years old as the feature finally sees its Netflix debut on October 26.

“It was a passion project, and it was one of those projects where every step of the way was so much fun, despite the intensity of the topic,” Redmayne says. Directed by Tobias Lindholm, the film is inspired by the true crimes of nurse Charlie Cullen investigated by nurse Amy Logren, played by Jessica Chastain.

“With this movie, I was really fortunate to first get to meet the real Amy Logren,” Redmayne says. “She entrusted me with extraordinary information about her friendship with Charlie and about who Charlie is – looking back – I wouldn’t have been able to play without him. She was an essential part of making this movie.”

Months of preparation was involved in pre-production for the film, with Redmayne and Chastain even spending two weeks on a temporary nursing program led by an actual pediatric nurse. With access to hospitals severely hampered during the COVID-19 pandemic, the production team built a mock space in Connecticut for this training.

But getting into the mind of a killer is not easy. To embody Colin, Redmayne worked alongside an accent coach to perfect the killer’s way of speaking and teamed up with movement coach Alexandra Reynolds, with whom he had previously worked on “The Theory of Everything,” to elicit the emotional qualities of Colin’s behaviors.

The intense, brooding role is in stark contrast to Redmayne’s famous performance as the brave magician Newton Scamander in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, which the “The Theory of Everything” star admitted was a difficult concept for his children to understand.

“They kind of assumed I was a good nurse, and then they watched the trailer and it quickly became clear that I wasn’t the good nurse,” Redmayne says. “I think they were a little upset when they realized I might have been the bad nurse.”
– Katie Roll

Paul Fig
Career Achievement Award

The maker of films such as “Bridesmaids,” “The Heat,” and “A Simple Favor” are being honored for his work, including “School of Good and Evil,” which arrives October 19 on Netflix. Based on the popular 2013 novel of the same name, the film was directed, produced and co-written by Feig and under the title Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington. DGA Award winner and Emmy nominee, Feig is the founder of production company Feigco Entertainment and content company Powerkeg Media, which aims to support new and diverse voices.
– Jenelle Riley

Jonathan Majors
outstanding artist

Majors is living the calm before the storm in his already illustrious acting career. Among the notable recent roles in “The Harder They Fall” and upcoming assignment as Dennis Rodham in “48 Hours in Vegas”, he has a Marvel machine waiting for him as he is set to become the next big villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kang the Conqueror, early 2023 titled “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

But before Marvel’s whirlwind began, early glimpses of its massive award potential were beginning to pay off, starting with the award for Outstanding Artist he’ll receive at the Newport Beach Film Festival in October. Majors says he was humbled when he got the call.

“It means a lot,” he says, “that in just such a short time, the characters I’ve been fortunate enough to get into film and television have made that kind of impact.” “It really is humility.”

The festival in October will be his first, and he will visit before the release of Dedication, an upcoming war film in November directed by J.D. Dillard in which he plays Jesse Brown, based on the real-life pilot during the Korean War. .

“I just want to keep doing what I’m doing, [acting] It is my message and I want the business to be felt and understood as the format continues to grow,” Majors says. “Anytime someone acknowledges your work and the contributions they think you make; You feel good.”
– AJ Banaligan

Patton Oswalt
outstanding artist

Although he got his start in comedy, Oswalt has already established himself as a master of many mediums and genres. As an actor, he really got excited for his dramatic transformations in films including “Big Fan” and “Young Adult” while he was writing everything from graphic novels to memoirs. But it was a particularly notable year for the Emmy and Grammy winner. He appeared on TV alone in songs from “The Boys” and “Gaslit” to lend his voice to a scene-stealing role as Matthew the Raven in “The Sandman”. His latest Netflix special, “We’re All Scream,” has been released to spur comments. And on the big screen, he took his most challenging roles to date in “I Love My Dad,” which won Best Audience and Jury Awards at this year’s SXSW Film Festival. Playing a man, trying to reconnect with his estranged son, and his social media catch, Oswalt embraced the gray areas of the role. “I don’t have a problem with difficult or alienating characters,” Oswalt told Variety. “I have a problem with stories that are poorly told, and these are not.” —JR

Kiki Palmer
outstanding artist

Palmer’s violent performance in Jordan Peele’s science fiction film “No” captured the attention of critics and audiences, and provided the film with a vibrant spark of creative diversity. Caught in the middle of a battle of wits with an extraterrestrial, her character serves as a sharing anchor for the story, striking a perfect balance between vulnerability and resourcefulness. “Emerald’s character and strength was really obvious. She has a lot of guts and heart, and the character development surprised me,” Palmer says. “When I was first reading the script, I never saw any of it coming, and right now, it’s very difficult to figure out how to do something new in science fiction.”

The brother-sister relationship at the center of “no,” which Palmer refers to as “brothers,” is one of the creative angles that appealed to the actor, not to mention the collaboration with Bell. “You know you’re going to get a really unique perspective, and when you work with passionate and talented people, the project becomes more than what’s on the page.”

As someone who has been in the industry for over 20 years, Palmer has learned to go with the flow. “You’re not always going to be ‘in’ the thing. You have to keep doing your job, doing the things you love. William H. Macy once told me to ‘take one scene at a time,’ and I think that’s a good way to look at life in general.”
– Nick Clement

Aubrey Plaza
outstanding artist

When a colleague introduced the screenplay for “Emily the Criminal” to Plaza, she was immediately captivated by the titular character.. “It felt like a story for a young generation at the moment.”

Plaza worked with a first-time accent coach to achieve Emily’s accent in New Jersey, saying of the role, “It was an opportunity for me to physically flesh out a character, and I didn’t really do that.”

To expand on Emily’s background and character, Plaza drew on her personal experience of living in New York. “I came back to that place, in my mind, when I was younger and struggling and working different jobs and working out in New York. I just tried to go back to that place and remember how it felt.”

After that, Plaza is diversifying its already extensive portfolio, starring in the second season of “The White Lotus” and “Megalopolis” by Francis Ford Coppola.

From her stand-up comedy role as April Ludgate in “Parks and Recreation” to leading such gritty dramas as “Emily the Criminal,” there seems to be no limit to Plaza’s scope. “I love challenging myself in all kinds and all kinds of projects. I always find it interesting to go back and forth from a bigger budget, business, and then a small, independent business, for love — and TV.”

She adds, “I guess I don’t discriminate against any kind of media. I’m only interested in the characters and the stories that drew me in.”
– Michaela Zee

Cooper Rave
Maverick Award

After his critically acclaimed feature film “Shithouse,” he wrote, directed, produced and starred in “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” which won an audience award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Available now on Apple TV+, the film centers on a somewhat aimless young man who finds lucrative work as a “party starter” at bar and pat mitzvas. The film stars Dakota Johnson as Domino, the mother of autistic teen Lola, played by newcomer Vanessa Burghart at a surprising turn. – JR

Colson Baker
Spotlight Award

Nobody can accuse a musician of turning-
Actor Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) didn’t encounter the introspective lead role in writer-director Tim Sutton’s “Taurus” so straightforward and with laser-focused intensity. Playing a young musical sensation battling character demons, and accurately portraying his character’s inner psychological torment, became crucial to him as an artist. “Tim and I were shooting The Last Son Western, and we were smoking weed in a Montana cabin, and we were sharing life stories. He told me if I made a movie about my life, he wanted me to make it. Three weeks later, I got a Taurus script, which Despite being very dead, some things were inspired by Tim’s own experiences and vision.”

The elegant film casts a peek at the high cost of hard living in mega-celebrity culture, where multiple worlds, some more often than others, collide, with results that can be both rewarding and tragic. Baker used personal experiences to upgrade his craft. “I’ve experienced some of these scenes in real life before. It’s something I’m not very proud of, but in the end it allowed the authenticity to emerge in a moment that would be forgotten if it had just been ‘acted’.”

For now, he seems to be focusing heavily on his progress as an actor, while still balancing his incredibly successful career as a rapper, singer, and songwriter. “I’m interested in making something important.” – NC

Anna Diop
Spotlight Award

After appearing in films like “Us”, “Titans” and “24: Legacy”, Diop is starring in the upcoming Amazon Prime Video movie “Nanny”. Diop plays an unregistered nanny who works with a wealthy couple as she hopes to bring her son from West Africa into the film, which mixes elements of horror and thriller while examining issues like race and privilege. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and is the first horror film to win such an honor.
– JR

Amy Carrero
Breakthrough Award

After appearing at FX’s Emmy Award-
Winner of the winning series “The Americans” and the Netflix limited series “Maid,” Carrero is set to be crowded. She will appear opposite Ralph Fiennes in The Menu in Searchlight in October, and alongside Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds in the Apple Original “Spirited” in November. She will also appear in Amazon’s upcoming series “The Consultant”.
– JR



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