Oscar reactions!

The Associated Press has gathered the following reactions from some of the nominated stars and craftsmen to this early morning's announcement of their nominations for the Oscars.

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Reactions to Academy Awards nominations

By The Associated Press

What they said upon learning of Tuesday's Academy Award nominations:

"This is my fifth nomination and I'm more proud of that than all the rest of it, I think. Getting nominated, to me, that's the plateau. After you're nominated, it's like a crap shoot, it's like throwing dice." — Morgan Freeman, best actor nominee for "Invictus."
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"It was a phone call that interrupted a wonderful night's sleep that I was having. It was the phone call. It was the phone call that you always hear people saying, 'I was awoken by the ring of the phone' and that's exactly what happened with me." — Sandra Bullock on how she learned of her first Oscar nomination, for best actress for "The Blind Side."
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"As soon as I heard, I jumped up and down and for some reason I kept screaming, 'I'm gonna get a car, I'm gonna get a car.' I don't know why." — Gabourey Sidibe, best actress nominee for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire."
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"(I feel) like I'm 6 and I'm just getting in line for Disneyland or something. I never could have imagined feeling like this again, this sort pure exhilaration. I'm so honored in so many ways. It's a massive triumph for all of us." Jeremy Renner, best actor nominee for "The Hurt Locker."
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"I'm going to D-I-S-N-E-Y-L-A-N-D!" Jason Reitman on how he's celebrating his best director nomination for "Up in the Air." (He had to spell out Disneyland so as not to ruin the surprise for his young daughter.)
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"I thought I was managing my expectations, but on hearing the news I discovered new and unfamiliar vocal tones. Perhaps I should do another musical." — Colin Firth, best actor nominee for "A Single Man" (whose other film credits do include a musical, "Mamma Mia!").
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"I'm just going to carry on with my life and be thankful and that's it. My celebration days, which were huge, are now slightly modified, shall we say. At my exalted age I can't quite do the old 24-hour nightly shifts that I used to." Christopher Plummer, age 80, on receiving his first Academy Award nomination, for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Leo Tolstoy in "The Last Station."
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"It's never old hat. It's too special. It's too special to ever become that. Actors are not greyhounds. They don't go into their work as if they're going into a race, thinking they're going to win — they're not running toward this prize." Helen Mirren on her fourth Oscar nomination, for best actress for "The Last Station." She won the best actress Oscar in 2007 for "The Queen."
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"I certainly, if one can give the impression that the impossible is possible, then I am perhaps overwhelmed with joy. But I do think that I hope someday we can lose the modifier and that becomes a moot point whether the person is male or female and they're just filmmakers making statements that they believe in." Kathryn Bigelow on becoming only the fourth woman nominated for a best director award, for "The Hurt Locker."
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"After 82 years, it's the first film nominated for best picture directed by an African American. Isn't that great? It's so exciting. How can you lose? You can't lose!" Lee Daniels, best director Oscar nominee for Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire."
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"I can't crack champagne because I've been cracking champagne throughout all these awards ceremonies and I'm on this psychotic diet, so I'll celebrate in the gym. It is an Oscar diet. I gotta fit ... in that tux." Daniels on his plans to celebrate becoming only the second black director nominated for an Academy Award.
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"It was like a really good, friendly punch in the stomach. It's a good feeling, but it's like a jolt. You can be in as many top-five lists and have as many people say things to you on red carpets as you like, and it doesn't for a single second make you honestly think that you're going to get nominated." — Carey Mulligan, best actress nominee for "An Education."
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"My son is obsessed with the remote so he kept switching off the station and throwing the remote across the room, but we managed to scramble and turn it on right before my name came up. So it was high-stakes drama but wonderful." Vera Farmiga on how she learned she had been nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for "Up in the Air."
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"We popped a bottle of champagne at 5:30 in the morning. We each had three sips of it. It felt really wrong to be drinking that early before the sun is up. ... It mostly made me want to go back to sleep, and I'm like really tired right now because I got up so early, but I'm so afraid of going to sleep and finding out this is all like a fever dream." Anna Kendrick, best supporting actress nominee for "Up in the Air,"
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"It's been a bit of a ride for this film. It started as a small-budget indie film and now it's standing shoulder to shoulder with 'Avatar.' It's a victory for small films and I'm delighted. — Barry Ackroyd, best cinematography Oscar nominee for "The Hurt Locker."
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"Maybe with the nomination, people will have a chance to understand what a Palestinian living in Israel is. It will put us on the map." — Scandar Copti, one of the two directors of "Ajami," nominated for best foreign language film.
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"I think of all these actors, all of the directors who have been in this same place, all of those lovely people who have made me dream and want to do what I do today and, in many respects, brought meaning to my life. So what am I feeling? In short, immense gratitude." Jacques Audiard, director and co-writer of "A Prophet Un Prophete," nominated for best foreign language film.
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"That's pretty amazing. We treat these films just like movies, regular movies, whether they're animated or whatever, so to be treated like that is amazing, really cool." Writer-director Pete Docter on his film "Up" becoming only the second animated feature nominated for a best picture Oscar.
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"It's nice to be taken seriously." Henry Selick, director of "Coraline," which was nominated for best animated feature film.
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"I'm so grateful to Marion Cotillard for doing such a beautiful job with that song. It's a very special honor to be singled out by the Academy and the world of film and my first foray into that world." — Tony winning Broadway composer Maury Yeston on his first Oscar nomination, for best original song, for "Take It All," from "Nine."

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Here's Mike Ryan's story on the reactions he gathered from various mediums... pretty interesting too!

Oscar Nominees React to the Big News

posted by Mike Ryan
The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced earlier today. With the announcements came a wide array of reactions from the newly crowned nominees. From the elation of a familiar name's nomination -- hello, Penelope Cruz -- to the sheer glee from a surprised first-time nominee -- hi there, Carey Mulligan -- it's been a banner day for many movie stars.

Sandra Bullock spoke to the "Today" show by phone and admitted that it was the first she had heard of her nomination. The "Blind Side" star said she slept through the announcement, which isn't entirely surprising, given that the nominees were read at 5 a.m. PT.

When asked how she would prepare for the Oscars, Bullock joked, "I do believe some liposuction is in order, a very strict diet regime, and I will acquire a very light English accent." She added, "I was going to say that I should start wearing glasses, but I already wear glasses, so I am already sort of there."

However, not everyone could sleep through the anxiousness surrounding today's big news. "Up" director Pete Docter spoke to New York Magazine and admitted he was wide awake and ready for a reaction.

"My wife and I woke up early, grabbed the computer, sat in bed, and listened to the nominations," Docter said. "It's surreal to have your name read out over the Internet at 5:30 in the morning."

Always an Oscar favorite, Penelope Cruz said she was "completely surprised and elated" by her nomination for her "Nine" performance, and thrilled to have been given the nod for work she so thoroughly enjoyed.

"['Nine' director] Rob Marshall is not only a genius, but an absolute joy to work with," Cruz said. "I woke up every morning excited to collaborate with this amazingly talented group of actors. Filming this movie was such a special experience and to be nominated for this role makes me so happy."

Carey Mulligan -- scoring her first nomination for the indie favorite "An Education" -- was openly blissed-out by the news.

"This is beyond anything I've ever dreamed of," 24-year-old Mulligan gushed. "I've definitely never felt such excitement and nausea this early in the morning!"

Also showing elation -- on live television, no less -- was "The Hurt Locker" actor Jeremy Renner, who watched the announcement from the "Today" show studios alongside costar Anthony Mackie. Renner immediately embraced his fellow "Hurt Locker" alumnus upon hearing the news, an embrace so long it seemed as though it might last through the entire day.

"Pretty fantastic," Renner said of his feeling about being nominated. "I jumped on this guy. He held me up like he did for the entire movie, anyway." Commenting on his stiff competition in the Best Actor category, Renner joked, "I've got to break some serious legs."

Kathryn Bigelow, only the fourth female director to ever be nominated for an Oscar, was clearly stunned by the news.

"I certainly, if one can give the impression that the impossible is possible, then I am perhaps overwhelmed with joy," Bigelow said. "But I do think that I hope someday we can lose the modifier and that becomes a moot point whether the person is male or female and they're just filmmakers making statements that they believe in."

(Bigelow also appeared on the "Today" Show, along with the two stars of the "The Hurt Locker," and artfully dodged every single question concerning her ex-husband and fellow Oscar favorite, "Avatar" director James Cameron.)

Awards dynamo Mo'Nique, also speaking to "Today," almost broke down in tears on the phone (a preview of her Oscar acceptance speech?).

"I am floating," the "Precious" actress said. "I am that little girl standing in the mirror with the towel wrapped around her, baby, brush in hands, singing my song."

"As soon as I heard, I jumped up and down," Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique's "Precious" co-star said. "For some reason I kept screaming, 'I'm gonna get a car, I'm gonna get a car.' I don't know why."

"This is my fifth nomination and I'm more proud of that than all the rest of it, I think," Morgan Freeman, who stars alongside Oscar-winner Matt Damon in "Invictus," said. "Getting nominated, to me, that's the plateau. After you're nominated, it's like a crap shoot, it's like throwing dice."

"I thought I was managing my expectations, but on hearing the news I discovered new and unfamiliar vocal tones," said best actor nominee, Colin Firth (who showed off his vocal tones in "Mamma Mia"). "Perhaps I should do another musical."

A lot of nominees took to their Twitter accounts, but some couldn't express themselves in 140 characters or less.

Anna Kendrick, best supporting actress nominee for "Up in the Air," addressed this conundrum with a tweet that read: "I'd love to say that 140 characters couldn't cover how I'm feeling right now, but I'm honestly speechless."