Nominees' joy at Oscar hopes

Nominees' joy at Oscar hopes

Nicole Kidman at a London press conference

Actors and directors from Nicole Kidman to Sir Michael Caine have toasted their nominations for the 75th Academy Awards.

The 69-year-old Caine was honoured for his role in The Quiet American as a journalist in 1950s Vietnam.

He has won two Oscars for supporting roles before - for Hannah And Her Sisters in 1987, and The Cider House Rules in 2000 - but never best actor.

He has been nominated for best actor three times before - for Alfie in 1967, Sleuth in 1973, and Educating Rita in 1984 - but has so far been unsuccessful.

"It's been a long, long journey - I just wanted to see whether I could get a nomination," he said.

"I've got one, I'm happy now, and my work is done."

Sir Michael in The Quiet American

He said be would "hold out hope" - despite facing Adrien Brody in The Pianist, Nicolas Cage for Adaptation, Daniel Day-Lewis for Gangs of New York and Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt.

He said: "I get the difficult year, don't I? I don't get an easy year, I get four geniuses."

Day-Lewis, who won the best actor prize in 1990 for My Left Foot, said the nomination had "made my day".

He is favourite with UK bookmaker Coral at 10-11, though rival outfit Ladbrokes make Jack Nicholson favourite at 11-8.

'Surreal'

Both my characters happened to be placed in the 1950s, but I didn't even think about that when we filmed them

Double nominee
Julianne Moore
(above in The Hours)

Julianne Moore said she was "absolutely stunned" to receive two nominations - best actress for Far From Heaven, and best supporting actress for The Hours.

"They're wildly diverse characters. The fact that both happened to be placed in the 1950s, I didn't even think about that when we filmed them," she said.

Moore, who covered her trademark red hair with a blonde wig in Far From Heaven, added: "Except that I didn't want my hairdos to be the same."

Nicole Kidman described her best actress nomination for The Hours as "slightly surreal" and "a bit scary".

She admitted to hiding with a friend drinking coffee while the nominations were announced because it was "too much pressure".

Kidman added: "For a film like this, if you can have the acknowledgement and the critical respect that we've been so fortunate to get, it's such a blessing."

Julianne Moore: Double nomination

She said she would be "keeping her head down" and carrying on with her work as she waited for next month's ceremony. The Hours director Stephen Daldry said he was "delighted" The Hours had done so well, with 10 nominations.

They included best director - two years after Daldry missed out on the same prize for Billy Elliot - and best adapted screenplay for Sir David Hare.

Lord of the Rings staff were "terribly disappointed" the trilogy's director Peter Jackson did not get an Oscar nomination this year.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has been nominated for best film as well as for best art direction, sound, sound editing, film editing and visual effects.

Director of photography for visual effects, Michael Funke, said it was a thrill to get the nominations but that he and the movie's crew were disappointed Jackson himself missed out.

"But we always say film three is the big one, so we know he's going to get nominated then," Funke said.