The Talent’s the Thing
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Richard Natale lists many reasons why screenplays by actors have continued to do well at the Oscars in recent years (“Oscar’s Goodwill Toward Actor-Writers,” March 10). He cites the large number of actors in the academy, the high visibility of actor-writers and the desire to reward actors for their passion and determination.
Conspicuously missing, however, is the main reason actor-writers have won two screenplay Oscars in the last two years: talent. Emma Thompson’s “Sense and Sensibility” and Billy Bob Thornton’s “Sling Blade” were widely lauded by critics, audiences and screenwriters alike, just as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s “Good Will Hunting” has been.
One finishes reading Natale’s article wondering what he has to say about that most famous “hyphenate” of them all: Good Will Shakespeare.
BRENT TONICK
Simi Valley
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