This morning, the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards were announced and, as now first-time Oscar nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten explains, it’s not an easy night’s sleep in the hours leading up to the announcement. McCarten is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on The Theory of Everything, the story of the relationship between Stephen and Jane Hawking and how they coped with Stephen’s crippling disease. McCarten is understandably happy and, yes, he admits, it really is nice to be recognized by your peers with an Oscar nomination, no matter what anyone says.
It’s still early in L.A. right now, but I’m assuming news like this will wake you up.
Yeah. And if it doesn’t, you need to see a doctor, right? I was staying at a friend’s actually, sleeping on the couch so I didn’t have to get out of bed. I flipped the TV on and, you know, I’m going to have to change the title of my movie so that the first letter starts with “A.” They announced mine last!
Yeah, it’s in alphabetical order. You really should start with an “A” or “B” from now on.
[Laughs] A … Theory of Everything .
An Awesome Theory of Everything.
Yeah!
When you went to sleep last night, did you have a good feeling about today?
Put it this way: My family did. And they impress upon you what they’re thinking. So, my family was very sure that I had nothing to worry about. I was trying to push the whole concept out of my mind just for my own sanity – and had been partially successful, but eventually it catches up to you. So, I was a little nervous sleeping in front of the TV, as anyone would be. It’s very, very gratifying to be recognized by your peers.
When you first decided to adapt Jane Hawking’s book, did you ever think this was a possibility?
Well, I knew it was an important and big story. I never doubted, which is why I was so dogged in my pursuit of the rights, which took years to secure.
We often hear people say, “Well, I don’t do this for awards,” but it does have to be nice on a day like today, to be recognized by your peers.
I think the last thing I won was a stuffed bear in high school when you throw a basketball into an unreasonably small basketball hoop. I think that was the last time I won anything, so I would be completely lying if I said this wasn’t one of the most pleasing moments of my life. This feels good all the way around and I’m surprised how encouraging this is.
To be fair, the basketball into the small hoop is extremely difficult.
[Laughs] It isn’t! And that’s sometimes what your career feels like. The hoop is actually smaller than the basketball!
It’s a scam, but you pulled it off. So congratulations on that, too.
I jammed that sucker in somehow.
Mike Ryan has written for The Huffington Post, Wired, Vanity Fair and GQ. He is senior entertainment writer at Uproxx. You can contact him directly on Twitter.
