Paul Giamatti has been getting strange calls from a pop superstar.
During a recent appearance on “The Howard Stern Show,” the Golden Globe-winning actor spoke about his experience playing phone tag with legendary singer Cher, telling host Howard Stern, “Every now and then I get a message from somebody that says Cher … really needs to talk to me, like it’s important, like it’s crucial that she talks to me.”
The actor explained he was confused to hear she was trying to get in touch with him, saying his reaction was “What the f—? Why does Cher want to talk to me?”
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Giamatti told Howard Stern he couldn’t understand why Cher was trying to get in touch with him. (Getty Images)
Giamatti went on to say, “Then a year will go by, and it happens again.” He said Cher eventually left him a voicemail saying, “I hear you want to talk to me.”
“That was it. That was all she said,” the “Big Fat Liar” star explained. “And I left her a message and said, ‘That’s great, I’d love to talk to you, but I thought you wanted to talk to me.’ And that’s the last I heard, I haven’t heard anything again.”
When asked why he thinks Cher wanted to talk to him, Giamatti admitted he had “no f—ing idea” and he can’t imagine “what she could possibly want to talk to [him] about.”
Giamatti said he’d love to talk to Cher, but he doesn’t understand why she wants to talk to him. (Photo by Araya Doheny/Getty Images)
He added, “It’s killing me, I’m dying to know what she wants to talk to me about. I mean, it would be great, I’d love to talk to her about anything, I don’t care, it would be fantastic.”
The actor recently won a Golden Globe for his leading role in “The Holdovers,” playing a cranky history teacher at an all-boys boarding school, who is assigned to stay behind over Christmas break to look after the boys who were going to be staying at the school over the holidays.
Giamatti won a Golden Globe Award for his role in “The Holdovers.” (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images)
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He was nominated for his first Golden Globe in 2005, for his part in Alexander Payne’s 2004 film, “Sideways.” Payne also directed “The Holdovers.”
“I have been lucky to be acknowledged before. And I really love this movie. There’s something special about that,” he told The Hollywood Reporter last month.”I’m older than I was 20 years ago, obviously. I think there’s a way in which I feel a little bit like, ‘OK, I can relax.’ I actually did the right thing with my life. And I’m going to work again, and I can recognize that I’ve done some good stuff, I can feel good about it.”
“That’s a lot for me to say. So, it’s a really good thing,” he continued. “It feels nice coming at this time of my life.”
The role has also earned him his second Academy Award nomination, his first being for his supporting role in the 2006 movie “Cinderella Man.”
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Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph are both nominated for Academy Awards for their performance in “The Holdovers.” (Getty Images)
His co-star in the movie, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, was also nominated for an Academy Award, and the film was nominated for best picture.
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“I was flabbergasted. I’m still flabbergasted by it. I’m trying to take it in,” he said about finding out about his nomination. “I’m so happy the movie got acknowledged in so many ways. I’m so happy the editor, Kevin Tent, got acknowledged. He’s the best. I’m still just trying to take it in. It’s amazing. I didn’t need to call anybody. Everybody started calling me. I was like, ‘Holy cow.’ Everybody started contacting me. So, it was lovely.”
