Each year, Senior Planet reviews the Oscar landscape to point out the older candidates and their performances.  This year’s group offers some rare exceptions in youth-obsessed Hollywood.  

You could call the the Academy Awards selections this year “Oscars with Attitude,” especially considering two popular films in the mix.

Conclave

Not only is Director Edward Berger’s papal thriller Conclave up for a Best Picture Oscar – it also stands out as that rarity – a film showcasing a predominantly senior cast.

Starring John Lithgow, 79, Stanley Tucci, 64, Isabella Rossellini, 72, Jacek Koman, 68, Sergio Castellitto, 71, and Ralph Fiennes, 62, the film offers a thrilling peek inside the selection process of a new pope, while serving as a celebration of seniors with a cast of older actors at the peak of their talents.  “…Thinking back on it I never once thought of them in terms of age, only if they are right for the part and tone of the movie,” director Berger told Senior Planet exclusively. “Also I must say that the entire cast was incredibly young and adventurous in spirit. Age felt absolutely irrelevant. They just happened to play cardinals and those tend to have a good amount of life experience.”

Janet Yang, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, agrees: “These remarkable nominees have spent decades perfecting their craft, each performance a testament to their unwavering dedication and artistry. They continue to prove true excellence is timeless,” she says, in another Senior Planet exclusive.

Furthermore, Conclave‘s Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini have both been singled out for additional glory, nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress Oscars respectively.

A nail-biting thriller, Conclave documents a fictional 72 hours at the Vatican, where 120 cardinals in the strictest isolation converge and lobby their peers for votes.

To play the key figure of Cardinal Lawrence – foisted with the unenviable task of running the “conclave” – Berger immediately envisaged Fiennes. “As an actor, he’s so honest, earnest and full of depth. Most crucially, Ralph is able to portray a character’s inner life as well as or better than any actor I can think of. Lawrence is a careful, thoughtful man who doesn’t always say what he feels. Instead, other people talk, he listens and it all takes place behind his eyes. That’s what makes him so compelling to watch,” says the director.

Curious? Watch the trailer here.

In turn, Fiennes was immediately drawn to the role. “After a lifetime spent working toward this moment, Lawrence is now the reluctant manager of a conclave rife with political tension,” explains the actor whose performance marks his third Oscar nod. “Instead of being in the monastery he aspires to, he is at the center of controversy. As a man of spiritual integrity, the challenges he faces to make sure the election proceeds ethically, morally and transparently are inherently dramatic.”

In portraying the steely Sister Agnes – the nun in charge of running the Casa Santa Marta, where all the cardinals must live during the conclave – Isabella Rossellini was intrigued at the prospect of portraying the only woman with any authority in this sea of men. “But it is her role to remain silent, to not disagree with the cardinals. In her silence, though, there is a lot of information and a lot of presence, and I loved that,” says the actress.

And when Sister Agnes does speak, it brings the house down, creating a flurry of viral memes of her dressing down a room full of bickering cardinals.

“I didn’t know that the scene was going to be so impactful until I saw the film at the Toronto Film Festival, and people applauded because finally, she said something that everybody in the audience wanted to say. So I was kind of surprised by that reaction.

“I was so eager to see what he [Berger] could do with Rome, the city where I was born and grew up. The Vatican is such a strong presence there. The streets are full of cardinals and priests,” adds the acclaimed actress.  (Rossellini, the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini,  actually grew up in the Catholic Church, schooled by nuns.)

Demi Moore and The Substance

If there is a tremendous recognition for Conclave‘s cast, then it is Best Actress nominee Demi Moore, 62, who has arguably captured our hearts with her remarkable comeback.

Starring in Coralie Fargeat’s body horror film, The Substance, she has been feeling the love ever since receiving an astounding 11-minute standing ovation at the film’s Cannes Film festival premiere last May.

See what the fuss about in this trailer:

And while Moore was catapulted to stardom early on in her career with box-office hits like Ghost and A Few Good Men – films which won her collaborators awards but not for herself – her performance in The Substance serves as a timely reckoning.

Even the film’s theme is a bold stance against ageism.  Moore stars as Elizabeth Sparkle, a fitness guru who feels like her life is over after she turns 50 and is sacked from her daily TV show – and turns to a back-market drug to create a younger version of herself.

Ask Moore how she feels about finally receiving her due, she says, “You know, it’s just nice. I think it’s so important to keep right sized, stay present and in appreciation and just in the joy. And know that a career is not “up.” It’s not one thing. It’s a journey. And so it’s being in the ride of it, and not making it too much, but also not making it too little.”

On a roll after receiving Best Actress awards from both the Golden Globes and Critics Choice, the mom-of-three is genuinely humbled at her Oscar nod. “It is sweet! And knowing that this vote came from my peers is even more sweet,” says the actress who is the front-runner against another almost-senior actress Fernanda Torres, 59, for the Best Actress golden man.

“If we want to be inclusive we can’t be exclusionist towards a generation.”

-Edward Berger, Director, Conclave

Even streaming giant Netflix has taken note of all the senior love, convincing Robert De Niro, 81, to mark his streaming series debut with political thriller Zero Day, co-starring Joan Allen, 68, and Angela Bassett, 66.

Launching on Feb 20, the six-part series stars De Niro as a respected former U.S. president who, as head of the Zero Day Commission, is charged with finding the perpetrators of a devastating cyber attack that has caused chaos around the country and thousands of fatalities.

Oscars with Attitude

While a new generation of filmmakers and actors pushes the boundaries of storytelling, these seasoned stars who have shaped Hollywood for decades are reminding us that their craft only deepens with age.

“I am looking at the generational divide with quite a critical eye, notes director Berger.  “Since when can’t we learn from each other, further each other in our knowledge? If we want to be inclusive we can’t be exclusionist towards a generation. Every single one of us has strengths and weaknesses and flaws and regrets. None of us are perfect, but all of us are human, that’s what Conclave is all about.”

 In an industry where youth often dominates, the recognition of performers like Demi Moore, Ralph Fiennes, and Isabella Rossellini affirms that older actors are as relevant and necessary to the art of film as ever. And with the industry increasingly honoring this stage of their careers, it’s clear that “Oscars with Attitude” are here to stay.

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Gill Pringle began her career as a rock columnist for popular British newspapers, traveling the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Moving to Los Angeles 27 years ago, she interviews film and TV personalities for prestigious UK outlets, The Independent, The i-paper and The Sunday Times – and, of course, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Choice Association, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix family film, The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure. An award-winning writer, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Club with 1st prize at the NAEJ Awards.

To photo: (L to R) Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence and Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini in director Edward Berger’s CONCLAVE, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2024 All Rights Reserved.