Eric Roberts has over 700 screen credits to his name and I highly recommend this interview he gave to THR, published today, where he talks about his sprawling career.
Since I’ve tracking “Babylon,” in which Roberts has a small part, I keep mentioning how we shouldn’t take Margot Robbie’s performance for granted. Almost everyone whose seen the film tells me Robbie is sensational in the role of a 1920s silent movie star who transitions to talkies. Robert predicts Robbie will win the Oscar for her work:
“Damien Chazelle’s movie, I have watched that. I will also tell you that Margot Robbie is going to win an Academy Award for that. She gives the most incredible performance in Babylon that I have ever seen. The two incredible actresses in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? gave perfect performances, and it’s on that level. She blew me away. I couldn’t believe how brilliant every minute of every day she was.”
Fine, he’s in the movie, but saying she’s going to win and that it’s one of the most incredible performances he’s ever seen tracks well with what I’ve heard.
Robbie is being campaigned as Lead Actress. She will face stiff competition this year as that category is stacked with great performances such as those from Cate Blanchett (TÁR), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans), and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once).
A person who went to the “Babylon” test-screening in March told me, “you can’t take your eyes off her. It’s a sexy, bewildering, rousing and ultimately tragic performance.”