Room co-stars Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay were at the National Board of Review awards last night in New York, both taking home trophies - Best Actress for her and Best Breakthrough Award for him, which he split with Beasts of No Nation's Abraham Attah, who flew in from Ghana. But Brie and Jacob also dominated this morning's headlines:
Matt Damon & Sylvester Stallone Upstaged By Nine-Year-Old Jacob Tremblay – Deadline
NBR gala makes 'Room' for Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay - USA Today
Vet Sylvester Stallone, Youngsters Jacob Tremblay and Abraham Attah Steal Show at NBR Awards - The Hollywood Reporter
“Upstaged.” “Stealing the show.” It’s acknowledgment of how they’ve been networking in pursuit of Oscar even though their movie did not earn a coveted Producers Guild of America nomination yesterday - a near surefire prediction for all-things Best Picture at the Oscars, but you could never tell by this coverage. Brie remains the Best Actress frontrunner in the Oscar race, and apparently filmed Jacob's entire acceptance speech, which he delivered while standing on a crate, on her phone. Her speech was pretty ballin' too, partly because of her introduction by Straight Outta Compton's Jason Mitchell A.K.A. Eazy E, Brie's co-star in the upcoming Kong: Skull Island.
In his mind, Brie is "Young Brie" or "Young Burrito," not because of her teen popstar past (seriously - it's a fun YouTube deep dive…) but because of her smooth personality, rap game and acting prowess. How's that for an endorsement? Isn't that cooler than Jessica Chastain introducing Ridley Scott? And I say that as a die-hard Chastainiac.
But having starred in Trainwreck and Room in the same year, Brie also has some perspective about her year of hype. She saw it coming to a degree, not as much as, say, Alicia Vikander, but her team did hire her a more high-profile stylist before the Met Gala in May. Then? She wore Dolce and Gabbana. Last night? Giambattista Valli - a big step up from her Palm Springs get up, which was more or less a knockoff of Taylor Swift's 2013 Golden Globes dress.
"I've never experienced anything like 2015 and I've been working since I was Jacob's age," she said.
For Brie, her campaign message always comes back to Jacob, even in her thank yous. The movie's success hinges on their mother-son bond and according to her, they're still best friends.
So if Brie is a lock, could Jacob sneak in for Best Supporting Actor? He's certainly charming his way through Hollywood. Jason Segel presented him with his award last night and said that at November's Governors Awards, the two had a Muppet-related meet-cute before Jacob asked Jason if he "wanted to meet his new friend Johnny Depp."
"Young Burrito" and little Jacob will be storming almost every red carpet over the next few months. Have you seen Room yet? Click here for my review.
(Lainey: They've already earned an invite with their performances, but awards season loves a youngster. (see Quvenzhane Wallis) and/or a dog (Uggie from The Artist).
Thank you @NBRfilm for getting us all together to inspire, laugh and toast a really great year in film. Congrats! pic.twitter.com/NzNl4Qh4on
— Brie Larson (@brielarson) January 6, 2016