Justin Timberlake is mounting an aggressive campaign to land himself a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role in “The Social Network.” The singer-actor is pushing to land the nod as his movie career takes off with three pictures out this year.
A source close to Timberlake, 29, who’s currently filming sci-fi thriller “Now” in Los Angeles with Amanda Seyfried, said, “He’s hell-bent on getting a nomination this year even though he has tough competition from his co-star Andrew Garfield.
“Sony is footing the bill for advertising the awards campaign, but Justin is also doing things his own way, including attending Academy screenings on his own and privately reaching out to award winners and Academy darlings Tom Hanks and Kevin Spacey for campaigning advice.”
Timberlake faces competition not only from Garfield but from Geoffrey Rush, who plays a speech therapist in “The King’s Speech,” and Christian Bale, who stars as the trainer to boxer Micky Ward (played by Mark Wahlberg) in “The Fighter,” which opens Dec. 17.
Timberlake’s reps declined to comment, but another source confirmed, “He’s doing everything to support ‘Social Network.’ ”
Movie distributors went into overdrive ahead of Thanksgiving, barraging Academy voters with screeners of contenders, including “Black Swan,” “127 Hours,” “Inception,” “The Kids Are All Right” and “Toy Story 3.” The early push is due to the expanded field of 10 Best Picture nominees and an earlier Oscar ceremony on Feb. 27.
Meanwhile, campaigns for Best Actor and Actress are also in full swing. The Weinstein Company has held numerous screenings of “The King’s Speech” to drum up support for the film and its star, Colin Firth, who’s the buzzed-about front-runner as King George VI battling a stammer. And voter screenings and Q&As have been held for “The Kids Are All Right,” which has star Annette Bening as a favorite for Best Actress, and “Black Swan,” which stars Natalie Portman.