Animal boys out to play without 'mum'

The boys of Animal Kingdom admit they get a bit rowdy when "mum" Jacki Weaver isn't
around.
Actor Ben Mendelsohn was lamenting the fact that Weaver, who plays the crime family
matriarch in the film, couldn't join the Animal Kingdom team in Melbourne for the
2010 AFI awards.
But while Weaver was on stage performing in the Sydney Theatre Company's Uncle
Vanya, the boys of Animal Kingdom were dominating attention on the red carpet for
the AFIs.
"Jacki is a champion to work with," Mendelsohn said.
"And any night that all of us are without Jacki, it's not quite the same.
"All the boys get quite rowdy until she's around."
The Animal Kingdom team had good reason to get rowdy at the AFIs, dominating the
nominations with a record 18 nods.
It is the largest number of categories a feature film has been nominated for in the
52-year history of the awards, and follows a year of back-to-back successes for the
independent film.
It took out the jury prize for world cinema at the prestigious Sundance Film
Festival in January and is now garnering best supporting actress Oscar buzz for
Weaver.
For writer and director David Michod, the film has already exceeded his
expectations, describing the Sundance experience as "incredible".
"That the film is even being talked about in those kinds of circles, in Oscar
circles, is more than I anticipated," he told AAP.
Mendelsohn said the film just seemed to grab people's attention.
"I think David did a great job, he made a very tough yet really personal film."
Fellow Animal Kingdom actor Sullivan Stapleton said the Oscar talk around Weaver -
"our mumma" - was "awesome".
"I don't think it gets any better. We've won Sundance and now they're talking about
a supporting actress Oscar award.
"I was in LA and I saw they made T-shirts with her on it, it's exciting."
And Joel Edgerton tipped Weaver would make Oscar night memorable.
"She's bound to make a cracker speech as well, I can just see her over the podium."