The 15th annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards, presented by Starz Entertainment, will honor Academy Award winner George Clooney with its 2011 Hollywood Actor Award.
The 50-year-old A-lister is being recognized for his performance as an emotionally-distant husband and father who is forced by tragic circumstances to become a family man in Alexander Payne‘s The Descendants, which has been celebrated by members of the press and public alike since its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in September. Clooney will collect his statuette at the Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony, which will take place at the Beverly Hilton on Oct. 24, 2011.
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Carlos de Abreu, the founder and executive director of the event, told me, “George Clooney delivered a flawless and passionate performance in Alexander Payne’s human drama The Descendants. Clooney continues to shine as one of Hollywood’s most gifted actors. We’re delighted to honor him at this year’s Hollywood Film Awards.”
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Previous recipients of the Hollywood Actor Award include Jackie Chan, Russell Crowe, Ewan McGregor, Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joaquin Phoenix, Forest Whitaker, Richard Gere, Josh Brolin, Robert De Niro, and Robert Duvall. Crowe and Whitaker went on to win the best actor Oscar just months after collecting theirs, while Hanks, Depp, and DiCaprio received nominations.
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In recent weeks, as “The Race” was the first to report, de Abreu revealed the recipients of a number of other prizes, as well (which are determined by de Abreu and a panel of advisers): the cast of The Help for the Hollywood Ensemble Award; Oscar nominee Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn, Meek’s Cutoff, Take This Waltz) for the Hollywood Actress Award; Oscar nominee Christopher Plummer (Beginners) for the Hollywood Supporting Actor Award; Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan (Shame, Drive) for the Hollywood Supporting Actress Award; Oscar winner Diablo Cody (Young Adult) for the Hollywood Screenwriter Award; Rango for the Hollywood Animation Award; Letty Aronson (Midnight in Paris) for the Hollywood Producer Award; Oscar nominee Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life) for the Hollywood Cinematographer Award; Oscar winner Stephen Mirrione (The Ides of March) with the Hollywood Editor Award; Oscar nominee Alberto Iglesias (The Skin I Live In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) for the Hollywood Film Composer Award; Oscar nominee James Murakami (J. Edgar) for the Hollywood Production Designer Award; Oscar winner Scott Farrar (Transformers: Dark of the Moon) for the Hollywood Visual Effects Award; Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) for the Hollywood Breakthrough Director Award; Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50) for the Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award; Jessica Chastain (Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, and The Tree of Life) for the Hollywood Breakthrough Actress Award; Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) for the New Hollywood Award; Bérénice Bejo (The Artist), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Elle Fanning (Super 8), Amber Heard (The Rum Diary), Andrea Riseborough (W.E), Shailene Woodley (The Descendants), and Anton Yelchin (Like Crazy) for the Hollywood Spotlight Award; and Oscar nominee Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) for the Hollywood Career Achievement Award.
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He also announced that the nominees for this year’s Hollywood Film Award, which will be determined by the public through voting on the Yahoo! Movies website, are Captain America: The First Avenger, Cowboys & Aliens, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, The Help, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Rango, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Super 8, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, and X-Men: First Class.
