Reactions to nominations for the 82nd annual Academy Awards

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Reactions to Academy Awards nominations

What they said upon learning of Tuesday’s Academy Award nominations:

“This is my fifth nomination and I’m more proud of that than all the rest of it, I think. Getting nominated, to me, that’s the plateau. After you’re nominated, it’s like a crap shoot, it’s like throwing dice.” — Morgan Freeman, best actor nominee for “Invictus.”

“It was a phone call that interrupted a wonderful night’s sleep that I was having. It was the phone call. It was the phone call that you always hear people saying, ‘I was awoken by the ring of the phone’ and that’s exactly what happened with me.” — Sandra Bullock on how she learned of her first Oscar nomination, for best actress for “The Blind Side.”

“As soon as I heard, I jumped up and down and for some reason I kept screaming, ‘I’m gonna get a car, I’m gonna get a car.’ I don’t know why.” — Gabourey Sidibe, best actress nominee for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire.”

“(I feel) like I’m 6 and I’m just getting in line for Disneyland or something. I never could have imagined feeling like this again, this sort pure exhilaration. I’m so honored in so many ways. It’s a massive triumph for all of us.” Jeremy Renner, best actor nominee for “The Hurt Locker.”

“I’m just going to carry on with my life and be thankful and that’s it. My celebration days, which were huge, are now slightly modified, shall we say. At my exalted age I can’t quite do the old 24-hour nightly shifts that I used to.” Christopher Plummer, age 80, on receiving his first Academy Award nomination, for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Leo Tolstoy in “The Last Station.”

“I’m very happy and honored for Christopher, myself and our film. I think Tolstoy himself would have been perplexed by all this, but Sofya, his wife, would have been over the moon. So in that spirit, I am too.” Helen Mirren, nominated for best actress for her role as Tolstoy’s wife in “The Last Station.”

“I certainly, if one can give the impression that the impossible is possible, then I am perhaps overwhelmed with joy. But I do think that I hope someday we can lose the modifier and that becomes a moot point whether the person is male or female and they’re just filmmakers making statements that they believe in.” Kathryn Bigelow on becoming only the fourth woman nominated for a best director award, for “The Hurt Locker.”

“After 82 years, it’s the first film nominated for best picture directed by an African American. Isn’t that great? It’s so exciting. How can you lose? You can’t lose!” Lee Daniels, best director Oscar nominee for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire.”

I can’t crack champagne because I’ve been cracking champagne throughout all these awards ceremonies and I’m on this psychotic diet, so I’ll celebrate in the gym. It is an Oscar diet. I gotta fit … in that tux.” Daniels on his plans to celebrate becoming only the second black director nominated for an Academy Award.

“It was like a really good, friendly punch in the stomach. It’s a good feeling, but it’s like a jolt. You can be in as many top-five lists and have as many people say things to you on red carpets as you like, and it doesn’t for a single second make you honestly think that you’re going to get nominated.” — Carey Mulligan, best actress nominee for “An Education.”

“My son is obsessed with the remote so he kept switching off the station and throwing the remote across the room, but we managed to scramble and turn it on right before my name came up. So it was high-stakes drama but wonderful.” Vera Farmiga on how she learned she had been nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for “Up in the Air.”

“We popped a bottle of champagne at 5:30 in the morning. We each had three sips of it. It felt really wrong to be drinking that early before the sun is up. … It mostly made me want to go back to sleep, and I’m like really tired right now because I got up so early, but I’m so afraid of going to sleep and finding out this is all like a fever dream.” Anna Kendrick, best supporting actress nominee for “Up in the Air,”

“It’s been a bit of a ride for this film. It started as a small-budget indie film and now it’s standing shoulder to shoulder with ‘Avatar.’ It’s a victory for small films and I’m delighted. — Barry Ackroyd, best cinematography Oscar nominee for “The Hurt Locker.”

“Maybe with the nomination, people will have a chance to understand what a Palestinian living in Israel is. It will put us on the map.” — Scandar Copti, one of the two directors of “Ajami,” nominated for best foreign language film.

“I think of all these actors, all of the directors who have been in this same place, all of those lovely people who have made me dream and want to do what I do today and, in many respects, brought meaning to my life. So what am I feeling? In short, immense gratitude.” Jacques Audiard, director and co-writer of “A Prophet Un Prophete,” nominated for best foreign language film.

“That’s pretty amazing. We treat these films just like movies, regular movies, whether they’re animated or whatever, so to be treated like that is amazing, really cool.” Writer-director Pete Docter on his film “Up” becoming only the second animated feature nominated for a best picture Oscar.

“It’s nice to be taken seriously.” Henry Selick, director of “Coraline,” which was nominated for best animated feature film.

“It’s nice to be taken seriously.” Henry Selick, director of “Coraline,” which was nominated for best animated feature film.