Hundreds of people spent Valentine’s Day with Paul Giamatti in Santa Barbara to recognize the actor for his performances in “The Holdovers,” “Sideways” and many other films.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival honored Giamatti with the Cinema Vanguard Award Wednesday night, which was presented by his “Sideways” co-star Virginia Madsen.

The 2004 movie was filmed in Santa Barbara County and shone a huge spotlight on the Santa Ynez Valley’s wine industry.

“It’s nice to get it here, because we left a little part of our heart and soul in this place,” Giamatti said of the award.

In conversation with The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, Giamatti reflected on his film and television roles, and effusively complimented fellow actors, directors and crew members of past projects.

Before drama school, he studied primate anthropology (until he had to take a statistics class), fine art (until he realized he wasn’t great at drawing), and English.

He started his acting career with small roles like Heckler No. 2 and Man in Sleeping Bag.

Small roles can be the hardest, he said, because the actor may only have one line to get it right and “no one cares – you get in, do it and get out.”

“Sideways” changed everything.

“I knew the movie was special, but I didn’t know people would respond the way they did,” Giamatti said.

The parts he got were different and people’s reactions to him were different, he said. And he never had to audition again.

Giamatti said he is never quite happy with how he’s played a role, and thought he was too serious or something with portraying Miles.

That’s why he keeps acting, he said. “One of these days I’m going to do it right.”

“You nailed it,” said Feinberg, who said he watched “Sideways” in theaters more than any other movie.

Giamatti said his favorite role was Inspector Uhl in “The Illusionist,” and getting to wear a period costume complete with hat and pipe. Even more than playing an orangutan in “Planet of the Apes,” he loved playing a detective, he said.

Giamatti is also well known for his role as John Adams in the same-titled miniseries. He recalled getting the huge script – two phone books stacked on top of each other – and realizing how much work it was going to be.

“Holy crap,” he said, “This was going to be nine hours of a guy who is a huge pain in the ass.”

He also talked about his roles in “12 Years a Slave,” “Straight Outta Compton” and the television show “Billions.”  

“Lord, I’ve played a lot of snakes, haven’t I?” he said.

“The Holdovers”

In “The Holdovers,” Giamatti plays “an embittered classics teacher at a boys’ school who smells like fish,” in his own words.  

Director Alexander Payne said of the character, “He’s not a nice man, but he’s a good man,” Giamatti said.

Calling the 1970s-set film a period movie “freaks me out,” Giamatti said – “I was alive!”

He specifically requested the coat his character Paul Hunham wears, because it reminded him of what his professor father’s friends wore at the time.

Giamatti said the film counts as a Christmas movie.

“None of this would happen if it wasn’t Christmas,” Giamatti said – the set-up with students staying at school over break, or the selfless sacrifice at the end of the film.

The Cinema Vanguard award and other accolades for his performance in “The Holdovers” are an affirmation, he said.

“It feels like maybe I did the right thing with my life.”

Madsen, who presented him with the award, said he’s an “actor’s actor” who honors the work of writers, directors, and filmmakers he works with.

“You illustrate what they’ve done and bring it to life,” she said.

Giamatti is nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in “The Holdovers.” The film is also nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

20 Years Since Sideways

It’s been 20 years since the film came out, and it continues to have an impact on Santa Ynez Valley wine tourism.

You can still book ‘Sideways’-themed wine tours and get maps of all the local restaurants, wineries and sites visited in the movie.

“While Santa Barbara County’s remarkable industry would eventually earn the respect it enjoys today, ‘Sideways’ galvanized it,” Noozhawk wine industry writer Laurie Jervis says.

“Giamatti’s reverence for pinot noir brought hordes of aficionados to our region, and they were not disappointed,” she said.

“I work in sales at a winery, and 20 years after its release, guests still ask my thoughts about ‘Sideways.’ It really highlighted the talent in our industry here.”