Blanchett in tribute to Ledger at Spirit Awards
Australian icon Cate Blanchett paid tribute to Heath Ledger here
today after scooping a top prize at the prestigious Independent
Spirit Awards.
A heavily pregnant Blanchett, who is tipped to win a second
Oscar in three years at tomorrow’s 80th Academy Awards, was on hand
to collect a best supporting actress prize for her gender-defying
turn as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There.
“It’s kind of cruel to make a pregnant lady waddle this far,”
Blanchett joked before paying tribute to Ledger, who died in
January after accidentally consuming a lethal cocktail of
drugs.
Blanchett, 38, described Ledger, who also featured in I’m Not
There, as one of the most “beautiful independent spirits of
all”.
The Spirit Awards honour the year’s best independent films and
are seen as a laidback antidote to the glamour and glitz of the
Oscars.
The popular teen pregnancy comedy Juno, which will be vying for
honours in several categories at the Kodak Theatre tomorrow, was
crowned best picture at the Spirit Awards.
The film also earned a best actress award for Canadian youngster
Ellen Page, who plays the movie’s quick-witted title role. Page is
also nominated for best actress at the Oscars.
The film also earned a best original screenplay Spirit award for
Diablo Cody, the one-time stripper who is expected to add an Oscar
to her awards-season trophy haul at the Academy Awards
tomorrow.
Best director went to Julian Schnabel for the critical hit, The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, based on the 1997 memoir by late
French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. Bauby dictated the book via
blinks of an eyelid after suffering a massive stroke that left him
paralysed.
Schnabel has also been nominated for an Oscar for the film.
AFP
