PORTLAND, Ore. — Inside a home in Southeast Portland's Centennial neighborhood, you will find one proud mom.
"I'm really, really proud of him," Candy Field said.
Candy adores all of her children, but right now it's all about the third of her four kids, Todd Field. Todd is an actor-turned-director, and his latest project is the film "Tar."
"I thought it was amazing," Candy said. "What I couldn't get over is he wrote it in 12 weeks."
That special sort of brilliance hasn't gone unnoticed. On Tuesday, "Tar" and members of its cast and crew were nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Director.
"I think that's really pretty good," Candy said. "Even if you don't win, the nomination's really important."
"I'm happy people are talking about it," Todd added.
Todd talked with KGW from a hotel room in Beverly Hills. Todd said he is as flattered as his mom by the Oscar nominations.
"It's beautiful (that) it's been recognized in this way and I'm very, very happy, especially for Florian Hoffmeister and Monika Willi, my editor," he said.
Todd also said he was happy for lead actress Cate Blanchett, who plays the role of Lydia Tar, a classical music conductor whose career and life unravel.
"The film was about hierarchy," Todd said. "Straight up. That's it."
The Centennial High School graduate, who also attended Mt. Hood Community College and Southern Oregon University before attending film school in New York, said he wrote the movie with Blanchett in mind. Todd has liked the Hollywood darling ever since meeting her a decade ago.
"I was so struck by who Cate was coming out of that meeting as an artist and the way she looks at narrative," Todd said. "Very much like any storyteller, like a filmmaker, outside of what the role was itself."
All Todd had to do was convince Blanchett's agent to get the actress to read the script. It proved easier said than done, but in the end it paid off.
"She called me and said she's doing this," Todd said. "She doesn't know it yet but she's doing this. We're going to move some things around."
Now the film is up for a half dozen Academy Awards. Winners will be announced in Los Angeles in early March. Candy Field will be watching in Portland.
"With popcorn," she said with a laugh.