It’s true that Monday, Jan. 24 is historically , though we have to wonder how Justin Timberlake was feeling on Tuesday morning.
The Oscars were all the buzz yesterday, and while “The Social Network” wrapped up with a whopping eight nominations — including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Original Score (Trent Reznor FTW!!) — Justin Timberlake’s name was no where to be seen.
After taking a break from music to focus on his film career, JT landed a supporting role in “The Social Network” as the pompous Sean Parker, Napster co-founder and general douchebag of the early 2000s. Naturally, Timberlake had hoped that taking the part in a highly-anticipated movie would give him mucho respect among the Academy.
Rumors last fall hinted that Timberlake would start heavily campaigning for an Oscar nom for Best Supporting Actor. At the time, a source close to Timberlake told the New York Post, “He’s hell-bent on getting a nomination this year, even though he has tough competition from his co-star Andrew Garfield. . .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.”
So, what happened?
In the celebrity-crazed world we live in, Justin Timberlake can easily be a music mogul or a movie star. He can take over SNL skits, apologize for “wardrobe malfunctions” while winning Grammys AND he can bring sexy back (from wherever it went). He can date Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, Jessica Biel or Olivia Munn. He can get everything he wants and desires, he’s effin’ JT! But you know what? It is arguable whether or not he was any good in “The Social Network.” Some say it was the perfect role for him — perhaps too perfect. But was it really a stretch to play a smooth-talking hot shot? Hardly.
Timberlake’s acting skills have barely evolved in the past 10 years, as his model-boy character Jason Sharpe in Disney Channel’s “Model Behavior” (2000) sounded freakishly similar to the cocky Sean Parker in the Facebook flick.
Tell me I’m not the only one to experience schadenfreude from Timberlake’s Oscar snub. I will gladly admit my smirk of satisfaction that he didn’t get it; I think it’s alright to take JT down a notch.
Timberlake’s first few films, including “Alpha Dog” and the Mike Myers comedy “The Love Guru” didn’t exactly earn him much acclaim — but that’s not to say he couldn’t, perchance, advance his film career. Yes, “The Social Network” was a much more legit step forward than his previous films and he’s still going forward with three films slated for 2011.
He’ll start with “Friends with Benefits,” a romantic comedy along the lines of Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman’s “No Strings Attached,” which came out this month. “Friends with Benefits” co-stars Mila Kunis, another actress who supposedly got snubbed from this year’s Oscars for her supporting role in “Black Swan.” Anyone find it precious that the two sex-friends movies star real life friends and competitors?
Fans shouldn’t get too upset about the JT snub. If anything, this experience might encourage him to write a sad song and finally bring his ass (and sexy, for that matter) back into the studio.
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Allison Berger is a Philadelphia-based writer and a Pop music columnist for Reverb. Check out more of her writing
