As mentioned in the Matt Damon post earlier today, he was not at the LA premiere of Downsizing last night. He was supposed to be though. He is, after all, the lead of the film. He gets top billing. You’ll recall, however, that when Sarah reviewed the film at TIFF, her issue with the story was that it should have been about someone else. “Wrong protagonist syndrome” is what she called it. The “right protagonist” should have been Hong Chau. Hong Chau is the heart and soul of Downsizing. This is why she’s the one who’s been recognised during award season. She’s pretty much repping Downsizing on her own at the Golden Globes and at the SAGs (so far). And she’s just gotten her own Vanity Fair award season profile.
What’s an “award season profile”? It’s when you’re asked how you’re handling award season. And you get questions about what you’re doing to get ready. And whether or not you’re feeling the pressure. Not exactly an original process. But what makes it original here is that it’s not a 25 year old Jennifer or a blonde Emma supplying the answers. It’s Hong Chau. All dressed up in silver on the red carpet. In one of those sequin fabrics that flips over to a new colour when you press in the opposite direction. You can see that she’s got patches of dull gold here and there all over. It’s a cool effect when done right. And it’s done very well here, although I do wish maybe the shoes weren’t so pearly and … I wouldn’t have gone with the silver eye shadow. That, perhaps, is my own thing. I hate eye shadow.
Whatever. The good news is that Hong Chau will be on several carpets this award season which means more opportunity to see her in more dresses, more looks. And, more importantly, more opportunity to see her in other roles, in other films, films without a “wrong protagonist syndrome”. For more on Hong Chau, listen to this week’s episode of Show Your Work.
