The writer of Call Me By Your Name kept the star of the film close to his heart at the 2018 Oscars. James Ivory showed up at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in a black tuxedo, but instead of a white button-down shirt, he wore a white t-shirt with the face of Timothée Chalamet, the 22-year-old star of the film.
Ivory has been nominated for Best Director four different times for Howards End, A Room with a View and The Remains of the Day. If he wins an Academy Award this year, he will become the oldest-ever Oscar winner. Call Me By Your Name is nominated for four awards this year, including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Original Song and Lead Actor (Chalamet).
The movie, about two men who fell in love during the 80s, stars Chalamet alongside Armie Hammer. While it was adapted from André Aciman’s book, Ivory wouldn’t do the film without writing the screenplay himself.
“I worked on that screenplay for about nine months, and in that time they were able to get the money to produce the film. But the French financier decided it would be better to just have one director,” Ivory said in an interview with Parade in May 2017, adding that it’s an important time for the film.
“It’s interesting, because this is a gay story, certainly, but it does not have a happy ending, really,” Ivory continued. “But on the other hand, you’re not unhappy. It’s about a young man who has an affair with someone slightly older. You have the feeling at the end of the film that this is his first love, but there will be many other loves in his life.”
