The Holdovers centers on a curmudgeonly teacher (Giamatti) at New England boarding school, forced to watch over small group of students during the holidays.

He’s joined on campus by a grieving cook (played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who was also Oscar nominated) and rebellious senior looking for trouble (newcomer Dominic Sessa).

The film scored five Oscar nods, including for picture and original screenplay.

Location when you got the news?

I have to admit, I was asleep. My manager woke me up. I’m a night owl. I stay up late. I think I was like, “I’m just going to ignore these things. Somebody will tell me what happened.” My manager of many decades woke me up.

feeling when you got the news? 

I was flabbergasted. I’m still flabbergasted by it. I’m trying to take it in. I’m so happy the movie got acknowledged in so many ways. I’m so happy the editor, Kevin Tent, got acknowledged. He’s the best. I’m still just trying to take it in. It’s amazing. I didn’t need to call anybody. Everybody started calling me. I was like, “Holy cow.” Everybody started contacting me. So, it was lovely.

I’m so happy for her. It doesn’t surprise me one bit, though. From the second I saw the movie till now, I was like, “She’s amazing in this.”

First impressions of getting the script 

Alexander (Payne) spent enormous time on the script, and he did it with David Hemingson. So I always know I’m going to get something incredibly, perfectly written. And even the first draft they sent me was incredibly great. I thought, “Well, this looks good to me.” And then they kept working on it and made it even better. I loved the setting of it. It was a familiar setting. So, that was kind of interesting to do. I loved the Christmastime aspect of it. I thought it was a real, genuine Christmas movie. The values of Christmas are genuinely put on display, and the guy does something truly selfless at the end of the movie. I would do anything Alexander wants to do because he’s just the best director I’ve ever worked with and ever will work with. And then meeting [the cast] was amazing. I saw Dom’s early audition tape, and I thought he was the only person for the job. They thought so, too. He was a joy to work with. And Da’Vine is fantastic. We had easy, no-sweat relationship of working because I think we work similarly.

I have been lucky to be acknowledged before. And I really love this movie. There’s something special about that. I’m older than I was 20 years ago, obviously. I think there’s a way in which I feel a little bit like, “OK, I can relax. I actually did the right thing with my life. And I’m going to work again, and I can recognize that I’ve done some good stuff, I can feel good about it.” That’s a lot for me to say. It feels nice coming at this time of my life.

Celebrate today? 

My girlfriend and I are going to do something. My son is around, and maybe we’ll go have a nice meal somewhere, but I didn’t have any plans because superstition precluded any plans. I was like, “I can’t plan anything. I’m just gonna see what happens.”

Other great films or nominations?

Actually, there are so many people who gave great performances that I know. I know Lily Gladstone, I’ve worked with her. It’s so awesome that she’s doing this. I’m really amazed and happy and pleased that Jeffrey Wright is nominated. I’ve known him for many years. And he’s, I think, one of the greatest living actors. So, it’s awesome that he’s being acknowledged, and I thought that movie was great. I thought Sterling K. Brown was also so great in that movie. I’ve known him for years.