Penelope Cruz, Troy Kotsur and More Oscar Noms Discuss Parenthood Roles In Their Films

variety.com:

Courtney Howard The delicate facets of parenthood are on full display in this season’s awards contenders. Whether they’re capturing the struggles of training world-class winners, instilling compassion and hope during the Troubles or tackling the stresses surrounding motherhood either by protecting or rejecting it, the acclaimed actors portraying these disparate parents blend movie magic with memory and imagination.Back in the late 1980s as “The Fresh Prince,” Will Smith scored a hit with “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” Yet, in a few decades’ time, he’s experiencing a royal ascension in director Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “King Richard,” playing father Richard Williams, who does understand what it takes to raise tennis champions.

Aunjanue Ellis proves the perfect partner for verbal volleys as Oracene “Brandy” Williams, mother of Venus and Serena Williams.

Both find themselves nominated for Academy Awards for their roles. Surprisingly, the on-screen spouses didn’t discuss their collaboration in advance, nor rehearse together.“Ultimately it worked,” Ellis says. “We had got into this rhythm where he was who he was as Richard and I was who I was as Oracene and they were very divergent at a certain point.”This division further deepened their dynamic. “Her marriage to Richard was not about him.

Her marriage to him was about how she expressed her faith. Everything was secondary to that.”To better inform what was on the page, Ellis watched recordings of Price being interviewed by the filmmakers.