"It is one of the hardest roles to play, not just a living person but one who is part of our everyday lives in Britain. … I hope that my performance has conveyed a sense of Elizabeth the woman as well as the queen." — Helen Mirren, in a statement on her best-actress bid for "The Queen."
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"I’m in frighteningly good company. It is very nice of the queen to allow me in for a minute." — Judi Dench, best-actress nominee for "Notes on a Scandal," with a nod to Helen Mirren, in a statement from London.
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"Without a doubt, receiving this nomination will stand out as one of the highlights of my career." — Eddie Murphy, supporting-actor nominee for "Dreamgirls."
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"I am going to be screaming and whooping all day long. I really thought I wasn’t going to get a nomination. I am really going to try to enjoy this moment. I’m speechless." — Kate Winslet, best-actress nominee for "Little Children."
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"Any time someone says you have an opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese you jump at the chance." — Mark Wahlberg, supporting-actor nominee for "The Departed."
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"On a professional level, what’s really wonderful about it is to be part of a film that dealt with these difficult and painful and contentious events." — Paul Greengrass, best-director nominee for "United 93," speaking on BBC television.
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"The biggest effect it’s having on little kids is they all want to go to tap-dancing lessons." — George Miller (news, bio, voting record), director of animated feature nominee "Happy Feet."
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"If each one of them got nominated on their own, that would be great, but the fact that they all did … that’s just too much for one little girl this early in the morning." — Salma Hayek, nominations announcer, on a slew of bids for Hispanics, including friends Penelope Cruz ("Volver") and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel").
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"If you get put in a list with those guys you’ve done pretty well." — Stephen Frears, director of "The Queen," talking to BBC television about fellow best-director nominees Clint Eastwood ("Letters From Iwo Jima") and Martin Scorsese ("The Departed").
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"I think the Academy responded to the movie on an emotional level." — Jon Kilik, a producer of best-picture nominee "Babel."
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"I am now going out to buy a new dress." — Susanne Bier, director of Denmark’s foreign-language nominee "After the Wedding," talking to Copenhagen’s TV2 News.
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"It’s sort of like asking who your favorite child is. We’re thrilled for both the films, the filmmakers." — Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC Entertainment, which distributed two foreign-language nominees, "After the Wedding" and "Days of Glory."
AP
No one I want to hear from has commented yet! I think that Ryan Gosling is going to be this year’s Oscar sweetheart, so I can’t waitg to hear from him! I can’t wait for Jennifer Hudson’s remarks and Eddie Murphy’s was not pompous at all about it. Talking about pompous, hopefully Sascha Baron Cohen will respond as himself and not Borat. What a schmuck!
