82nd Annual Academy Awards
Best Original Screenplay presented by Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr.Tina: Great movies begin with great writing.
RDJ: What does an actor look for in a script? Specificity, emotional honesty, catharsis.
Tina: And what does a writer look for in an actor? Memorizing. Not paraphrasing. Fear of ad-libbing.
RDJ: Actors want scripts with social relevance; warm weather locations; phone call scenes that can be shot separately from that insane actress that I hate; and long, dense columns of uninterrupted monologue. Turning the page and, for instance, seeing the phrase “Tony Stark continued”.
Tina: And we writers dream of a future where actors are mostly computer-generated and their performances can be adjusted, by us, on a laptop, alone.
RDJ: It’s a collaboration. A collaboration between handsome, gifted people and sickly, little mole people.
Tina: It’s really not. You should just say whatever we type.
RDJ: You know what, I should, you should—
Tina: Just say—say that.
RDJ: Ah…here are the nominees for best original screenplay.
Tina: Thank you.
