Oscar-Nominee Paul Giamatti On How ‘The Holdovers’ Paul Potentially Echoes ‘Sideways’ Miles [VIDEO]

It’s incredibly difficult to believe that Paul Giamatti, one of the most ubiquitous and beloved actors of the 21st century, only has a single Academy Award nomination.

And it wasn’t even for his brilliant performance as Miles in Alexander Payne’s Sideways.

Instead, Giamatti received Oscar attention for Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man in 2006 for Best Supporting Actor. However, Giamatti’s latest acclaimed role in Payne’s latest film, the Christmas comedy The Holdovers. Playing classics professor Paul Hunham, Giamatti again embodies a broken man isolating himself through his intelligence and general bad attitude. However, forced to watch over boarding school students abandoned by their parents over Christmas break, Paul unexpectedly bonds with Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and head cook Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). What starts as an hilarious look at a damaged and eternally angry man becomes a truly heartwarming and touching film about kindness, connections, and compassion.

Perhaps the Academy will again take notice. Giamatti recently received a Best Actor mention from the National Board of Review and is tipped for Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations next week. Whatever the outcome, there’s no denying that Giamatti continues to deliver career-defining work again and again and introduces another iconic character in Paul to his already full repertoire.

Here, Giamatti sits down with Awards Daily to discuss The Holdovers and Paul’s potential connection to Sideways’ Miles. He also talks about finding the character and working closely with Randolph and newcomer Sessa. He posits why the film seems to be connecting so deeply with audiences. He also talks about the infamous eye and where that crucial character detail comes from. Finally, we talk about where Paul ends up and whether or not The Holdovers has a happy ending.

It does.

The Holdovers is now playing in theaters nationwide. It is also available on VOD.