On December 13th, the Museum of Moving Image saluted Annette Bening for her work in the arts and cinema.The night commemorated Bening’s lengthy career, solidifying her status as a remarkable voice in the film industry. Previous honorees include her husband Warren Beatty, and Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Goldie Hawn, and Julianne Moore.
Glancing at the filled room, Bening takes in her night. “I’m sort of overwhelmed to tell you the truth. But I’m very excited, I’m very touched by it. I know a lot have people showed up for me I also have very dear close friends, some of my girlfriends from when we went to acting school together, they’re here.”
Bening cements her position in the cinema community at a time that feels almost perfect. Taking on Gloria Grahame in Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, based on Peter Turner’s novel, Bening gives yet another career-defining performance. It feels so natural, and slightly symbolic, for Bening to take on this role.The night seems like a ceremonious head nod to an accomplished life. Accompanying her honoring at MOMI, Bening is also celebrating 25 years of marriage to director husband Warren Beatty. Alongside colleagues and friends such as Jamie Bell, Cherry Jones, Timothee Chalamet, and Tom Hulce, Beatty praised his wife at the ceremony, recalling the story of their first meeting. Bening would star beside him in the critically acclaimed film Bugsy (1991).
The importance of the night in Bening’s respect is obvious, but the intangible need for this night is ever present. In the conflicted state of the U.S., celebrating art feels not just appropriate, but a strangely therapeutic reminder of the effects of art on the oppressed and angry. With Hollywood being fine-picked under a microscope, Bening says that nurturing the arts is imperative. “We need to support arts institutions, we need to support arts education, and not lose hope, and not lose heart, even though there’s a lot of people trying to close walls down. There’s a lot of homophobia and nationalism and populism that is … ugly”, says Bening. “And we’re a country of diversity and openness and love. And those of us that are trying to make what we’re making is to open up people’s hearts.”
Timothee Chalamet, nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor and presenter, also recognizes the importance of the celebration. “It’s the most important. Art can be a refugee, it can also be the way forward to present a solution to these, this chaotic time. I think we’ll see leaning towards more and more uncynical work that can be unabashedly joyous and that our circumstance isn’t as safe as once was.”
Partnered with a relentless sense of humor, Bening’s humility rang through the entire night. In her speech, Bening takes time to thank those who helped her along the way, including Liverpool costar Jamie Bell, college friends, and impressionable colleagues met along the way. Bening also shares her rendition of her first encounter with her husband, recalling that all it took was a look from Beatty, and “I was pregnant”.
Bell opens his sentiment to Bening in a statement that is felt by everyone in the room. “It is genuinely a privilege to be sharing this night with you.” That it is.
