That’s the tricky balance: You can’t want it too bad, but most actors also need to campaign. There are, of course, the outliers who refuse to play the game: Sean Penn showed up at the Globes, smoked a cigarette indoors, and then did no other awards press and still won the best-supporting-actor Oscar for One Battle. Frances McDormand, who rarely ever does awards events, has won three acting Oscars. But for most actors, especially newer talent, it’s important to get in front of voters at screenings and receptions. “Some people might say receptions and luncheons can be a little try-hard, but they’re small spaces, they’re controlled, they’re person to person, and it’s unique and it’s sort of that discovery element to that,” says the publicist.
When it comes to an acting nomination, which is voted on by only the actors branch, every vote really does count. “You don’t think those old-school things matter because you’re sitting there in a room with 117 people, but they’re showing up,” says the studio publicist. “There’s the consistency.”
It worked for Oscar winner Rami Malek, who ran a campaign that prioritized intimate screenings and Q&As over big stunts. At the time of Bohemian Rhapsody’s release, he wasn’t a household name, so he attended numerous screenings for guild members in Los Angeles and New York. Adrien Brody ran a similar campaign for The Brutalist and won.
So what tips it over from trying hard to trying too hard? It’s almost an ineffable quality, but you know it when you see it. It’s a tall order for anyone: be open, but don’t overshare; be interested, but not too eager; be confident, but not arrogant. The overall sentiment from awards insiders is that it must feel, above all else, authentic—and that could be Cruise’s toughest stunt to date.
