Director Mike Leigh vividly remembers the 1997 Academy Awards, where Marianne Jean-Baptiste was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in his nominated film "Secrets & Lies."
Hard Truths (Director: Mike Leigh) 2024 | Official Trailer | Movie 4
“She should have won,” Leigh said during an interview at the Variety Studio, sponsored by J Crew and SharkNinja, during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Jean-Baptiste lost the award to Juliette Binoche, who surprisingly won for her role in "The English Patient," which also took home the Oscar for Best Picture. However, neither Binoche nor Jean-Baptiste were favorites to win. Instead, Lauren Bacall won Golden Globe and SAG awards for her work in "The Mirror Has Two Faces."
"The person who won that year walked backstage after the interviews and went straight up to Marianne and said, 'You should have won this,'" Leigh recalls. "I have to put that on record."
