Mudbound screenwriter Virgil Williams sat down with The Hollywood Reporter In Studio to share his thoughts on his “humbling” Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay.
“This whole experience has been humbling and magical. Just to get a movie made is a daisy chain of miracles. So to get it made and end up here, it’s a big fat miracle. It’s out-of-body,” he explained.
Williams shared his personal connection to the story of Mudbound, based on the novel by Hillary Jordan. “My grandfather fought in a segregated unit in World War II,” he said, “so the relationship between Jamie and Ronsel is intensely personal to me. It’s like those two guys were me.”
He continued, “There’s an access point for everyone in that film. We all have an inheritance from the history that we cover in that story. That’s part of the magic of it. It’s not just personal to me, but I think it’s personal to a lot of people.”
