The award goes to the that guy or that gal you recognize without knowing the name; Blue is nominated since he just became Blue, the singing serial killer with a machete on CSI, while Ethan Supley (as transcribed) is ruled not a that guy because he is Ethan Supley.
The nominee for the winner is Boone's wife, who barely has any work to do here but is Becky Barnett, one of the porn people with Don Cheadle in Boogie Nights; nobody offers a better that person.
Asked for a candidate, she questions whether it counts as overacting: Damon is the one not quite comfortable performance; he is supposed to be the squirrely younger guy who wants to fit in, but he plays the discomfort a little and looks too confused, the opposite of Ruffalo screaming. — Amanda Dobbins
Damon trying a little too hard for the banter and rhythm is called the same thing in a way; Cheadle's accent is legit terrible, really bad, and the choice, perhaps why he was not top billed; he reportedly agreed it was bad and tried to change it in 12 and 13.
Soderbergh considered shooting in black and white; the code names (Boski, Jim Brown, Miss Daisy, two Jethros, Leon Spinks, Ella Fitzgerald) all appear in the movie; Clooney sent Julia Roberts the script with a $20 bill; Don Cheadle is unbilled after a billing dispute, resolved in 12 and 13
Soderbergh considered shooting the film in black and white; one host would have liked that, but it would lose pops of color like her jacket at the boxing match, would not have been as mainstream successful since it is a popcorn flick, and would change the commentary on celebrity and make it more moody.
The code names in the we're-going-to-need speech are all represented in the movie: a Boski (as transcribed), after the Wall Street fraudster, is Reiner's con man Saul; the Jim Brown is the Bernie Mac bit; Miss Daisy is the getaway vehicle; the two Jethro's are the Molloy's (as transcribed); Leon Spinks refers to doing something during a boxing match; the Ella Fitzgerald is the videotaped robbery, after her 1970s Memorex commercial with the tagline is it live or is it Memorex; credit to Ted Griffin.
Roberts, coming off Aaron Brogovich (as transcribed), was probably the biggest movie star in the world making $20 million a movie; when Clooney sent her the script he attached a note reading I hear you're getting 20 a picture now, with a $20 bill inside, and of course he called it a picture.
Not much drama surrounds the movie, but Don Cheadle was not psyched about his placement and billing; he has said he would have done it for free but is glad he did not; he is famously unbilled, his name absent from the credits, which was resolved in 12 and 13 by placing him alongside Damon, Clooney and Pitt; as one of two black actors in the film, his fight for recognizability is interesting.
