Nominees react to Oscar news

testing captions

The following statements were received by CNN on Tuesday morning after the announcements of the Academy Award nominations:

Best Actor Nominee Morgan Freeman:

“I’d like to thank the Academy for this honor.  Congratulations to Matt Damon on his nomination. I’m especially grateful to Clint Eastwood, Invictus producer, Lori McCreary, and the entire cast and crew of ‘Invictus.’  Most importantly, thank you to Nelson Mandela for his encouragement, his blessing and his friendship – without which, this film would not have been possible.”

Best Actor Nominee Colin Firth:

"I thought I was managing my expectations, but on hearing the news I discovered new and unfamiliar vocal tones. Perhaps I should do another musical."

Best Actress Nominee Helen Mirren:

"I'm very happy and honored for Christopher, myself and our film.  I think Tolstoy himself would have been perplexed by all this, but, Sofya his wife would have been over the moon. So in that spirit, I am too."