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Home , Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Terrence Howard

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Crash,” and Should Take Home Oscars, According to Harris Poll of U.S. Adults For Best Picture award, plurality says they are either not sure who should win or that they would not pick any of the nominees to win

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – March 1, 2006 – While “” may be receiving a lot of critical acclaim and attention from the media, one in five (20%) U.S. adults say “Crash” should win the Best Picture Oscar® this year. Only 13 percent believe “Brokeback Mountain” should win, followed by 10 percent who each say “Good Night and Good Luck” and “Munich” should take home the award. The fifth nominee “Capote” has the support of four percent of adults. What may be worrisome for the producers of the ® is that one-quarter (24%) of adults say they are not sure who should win, and 18 percent think none of these five should win. Without being invested in a movie, will they tune in to watch the awards?

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,016 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive® between February 7 and 14, 2006.

In the race for Best Actor (32%), one-third of adults say Joaquin Phoenix should win for his portrayal of in “,” while 15 percent believe the Oscar should go to for his performance in “Brokeback Mountain.” The other three nominees do not garner as much support as eight percent say the award should go to for “Capote,” seven percent choose for “Hustle and Flow,” and four percent say should win for “Good Night and Good Luck.” Again, almost one-quarter (23%) say they are not sure who the Best Actor nod should go to this year.

The Best Actress race is much clearer, at least in the minds of the American public. More than two in five (43%) adults say Reese Witherspoon should win the Oscar for “Walk the Line.” fellow nominees receive single-digit support: Keira Knightley for Pride and Prejudice” (7%), Felicity Huffman for Transamerica (7%), for “North Country” (6%) and Judi Dench for “Mrs. Henderson Presents” (6%). One in five (20%) are not sure who should win for Best Actress.

Each year there is debate over the choice of host, so Jon Stewart may have his work cut out for him on Oscar night. Though he may have come in second this year on The Harris Poll’s top-10 list of favorite

The Harris Poll® #21, March 1, 2006 By Regina Corso, research director, Issues and Industry Research Practice, Harris Interactive® television personalities1, when asked about his selection as host, only nine percent of adults say Jon Stewart will make them more likely to watch, seven percent say it makes them less likely to watch and 84 percent say it makes no difference.

Other results from The Harris Poll® are:

• While both men and women say the Best Picture Oscar should go to “Crash” (19% and 21%, respectively), women are more likely than men (18% vs. 8%) to say “Brokeback Mountain” should win the Oscar.

• Perhaps due to the eclectic nature of the movies nominated, there is a large generational divide over who should win. “Crash” is a clear favorite of the younger generation, as 40 percent of Echo Boomers (those 18 to 27 years of age) say it should win Best Picture. Baby Boomers (those 40 to 58 years of age)are split, as 15 percent each say “Crash” and “Brokeback Mountain” should win the Oscar, while 15 percent of Matures (those 59 years of age and older) say the Oscar should go to “Good Night and Good Luck.”

• Both African Americans2 and Hispanics3 are more likely to say “Crash” should win Best Picture (42% and 28%, respectively), as compared to 17 percent of Whites who say this. (40%) are also much more likely than Whites (2%) or Hispanics (4%) to say that Terrence Howard should win for Best Actor. Hispanics (25%) are more likely to name Heath Ledger as Best Actor than Whites or African Americans (14% and 15%, respectively).

• The partisan divide in this country is not only seen in Washington, but also in the Oscar race. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say that both “Crash” (28% vs. 18%) and “Brokeback Mountain” (18% vs. 8%) should win. Republicans are more likely to say none of the nominees should win (22% vs. 11%). This same partisan divide is evident in the Best Actor race, as 42 percent of Republicans want to see Joaquin Phoenix thank the Academy, compared to 25 percent of Democrats. Democrats, however, are more likely than Republicans to say Heath Ledger (21% vs. 10%) and Terrence Howard (12% vs. 1%) should win.

1 Harris Poll #12, February 3, 2006, “For Fourth Consecutive Year, Oprah is America’s Top Favorite TV Personality.” http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=636 2 Small base (n<100). Data should be used directionally. 3 Small base (n<100). Data should be used directionally.

The Harris Poll® #21, March 1, 2006 By Regina Corso, research director, Issues and Industry Research Practice, Harris Interactive® TABLE 1 BEST PICTURE OSCAR “Which movie should win the Oscar for Best Picture?” Base: All adults Gender Race Total Male Female White African Hispanic** American** % % % % % % Crash 20 19 21 17 42 28 Brokeback Mountain 13 8 18 14 7 12 Good Night and Good Luck 10 8 12 10 7 16 Munich 10 11 8 10 2 13 Capote 4 4 4 5 3 2 None of these 18 24 12 17 20 14 Not sure 24 24 24 26 19 14 Decline to answer 1 1 1 1 - -

Party ID Generation Total Republican Democrat Independent Echo Gen X Baby Mature Boomer (age 30-41) Boomer (age 61+) (age 18-29) (age 42-60) % % % % % % % % Crash 20 18 28 19 40 27 15 3 Brokeback 13 8 18 13 8 17 15 13 Mountain Good Night and 10 8 13 10 8 6 11 15 Good Luck Munich 10 11 6 10 13 7 11 7 Capote 4 6 3 6 3 5 5 4 None of these 18 22 11 17 12 20 17 22 Not sure 24 26 21 25 16 18 26 36 Decline to answer 1 1 * 1 * 1 2 * Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. * Less than 0.5%. ** Small base (n<100). Data should be used directionally.

The Harris Poll® #21, March 1, 2006 By Regina Corso, research director, Issues and Industry Research Practice, Harris Interactive® TABLE 2 BEST ACTOR OSCAR “Who should win the Oscar for Best Actor?” Base: All adults Race Party ID Total White African Hispanic* Republican Democrat Independent American* % % % % % % % Joaquin Phoenix for 32 35 9 30 42 25 28 “Walk the Line” Heath Ledger for 15 14 15 25 10 21 14 “Brokeback Mountain Philip Seymour 8 8 5 6 5 10 9 Hoffman for “Capote” Terrence Howard for 7 2 40 4 1 12 8 “Hustle and Flow” David Strathairn for 4 5 5 7 5 5 4 “Good Night and Good Luck” None of these 10 9 12 10 11 7 11 Not sure 23 25 10 19 24 18 25 Decline to answer 2 1 4 - 2 1 2 Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. * Small base (n<100). Data should be used directionally.

TABLE 3 BEST ACTRESS OSCAR “Who should win the Oscar for Best Actress?” Base: All Adults Generation Total Echo Boomer Gen X Baby Boomer Mature (age 18–29) (age 30–41) (age 42–60) (age 61+) % % % % % Reese Witherspoon for 43 53 48 40 33 “Walk the Line” Keira Knightley for “Pride 7 10 5 9 3 and Prejudice” Felicity Huffman for 7 5 11 6 5 “Transamerica” Charlize Theron for 6 13 6 4 4 “North Country” Judi Dench for “Mrs. 6 6 4 6 10 Henderson Presents” None of these 10 3 10 9 15 Not sure 20 9 15 23 29 Decline to answer 1 * 1 1 1 Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. * Less than 0.5%.

The Harris Poll® #21, March 1, 2006 By Regina Corso, research director, Issues and Industry Research Practice, Harris Interactive® TABLE 4 JON STEWART AS HOST “This year Jon Stewart has been chosen to host the Oscars. Does this selection for a host make you more likely to watch the Oscars this year, less likely to watch the Oscars or will it make no difference to you?” Base: All Adults Generation Total Echo Boomer Gen X Baby Boomer Mature (age 18–29) (age 30–41) (age 42–60) (age 61+) % % % % % More likely 9 10 10 8 7 Less likely 7 7 7 6 6 No difference 84 83 82 86 86 Not sure * * - * 1 Decline to answer * - - - - Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. * Less than 0.5%.

Methodology The Harris Poll® was conducted by telephone within the United States between February 7 and 14, 2006 among a nationwide cross section of 1,016 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results of the overall sample have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling error for the sub- sample results is higher and varies. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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The Harris Poll® #21, March 1, 2006 By Regina Corso, research director, Issues and Industry Research Practice, Harris Interactive® To become a member of the Harris Poll OnlineSM and be invited to participate in future online surveys, go to www.harrispollonline.com.

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Harris Interactive Inc. 03/06

The Harris Poll® #21, March 1, 2006 By Regina Corso, research director, Issues and Industry Research Practice, Harris Interactive®