Co-CEO of Element Pictures Andrew Lowe has described the four Oscar wins for Poor Things as surreal, adding that reality is slowly sinking in after last night’s ceremony in LA.
The acclaimed movie was nominated for 11 Oscars, second only to Oppenheimer, and won awards for Best Actress for Emma Stone, Makeup and Hairstyling , Production Design, and Costume Design.
Speaking on Six One news on RTÉ, Mr Lowe said that after a lot of celebrating, the Element Pictures team are still processing what happened as their Oscar haul far exceeded their expectations.
He said that Oppenheimer had been dominant during this year’s awards season and that the Poor Things team were prepared to come away empty handed or maybe with one Oscar.
“Four [wins] was incredible. In particular for Emma, as hers was such a hotly contested category.”
He said that after Stone failed to pick up an award in the SAG awards earlier this year, she believed Lily Gladstone would win the Best Actor Oscar for her role in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of The Flower Moon.
“You could see the emotion written largely on Emma’s face last night and she was really shocked,” Mr Lowe said.
“Afterwards she was almost traumatised by it, just so emotional and delighted and proud. It was a wonderful moment to share.”
Speaking about the other three Oscars Poor Things won, he said that the team did extraordinary work under the direction of Yorgos Lanthimos and that the awards reflected very well on him.
“We chose a great team to work in those departments and he really pushed those people in a very positive way by encouraging them to do their best work”
He said that for Shona Hath of the art department, Poor Things was her first film, and to win an Oscar was a reflection of the extraordinary work that both of them did, as well as Holly Waddington and Nadia Stacey.
“They were all at the top of their game and it’s so brilliant to see their work recognised. It was a real thrill on the night.”
On Cillian Murphy becoming the first Irish-born actor to win an Oscar, Mr Lowe said that the Cork star was “brilliant in the room” last night although he only spoke to him briefly, but that everyone was so proud of him.
He added that there were a lot of Irish at the ceremony on Sunday night.
“Everyone stood up when Cillian won the award, it was a wonderful moment and I thought he spoke so eloquently. We were so proud of him.”
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