Scripters honor writers behind 'Beautiful Mind'

Sun Mar 17, 8:12 PM ET

By Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Author Sylvia Nasar and
screenwriter Akiva Goldsman received the 14th annual Scripter Award on
Saturday night. Nasar, who wrote the book "A Beautiful Mind," and
Goldsman, who adapted it, were honored by Friends of the USC Libraries
for the best film adaptation of a book or novella.

"It's wonderful to be finally honored for 'Batman & Robin,' " Goldsman
joked in his acceptance speech. He then turned serious, recounting how
he grew up surrounded by schizophrenia because his parents founded one
of the first homes for emotionally disturbed children and how he learned
a valuable lesson from these kids who were described as "being without
reason."

"If you are running from the man in the coat rack, if you are brushing
fire off your shoulder, or if you are gazing at a horse running in front
of your third-story window -- nothing these kids were doing was without
reason. We just didn't understand it," he said to the more than 300
guests gathered at USC's restored Doheny Memorial Library in Los
Angeles.

Goldsman added that "A Beautiful Mind" was not a biography nor a
clinical list of symptoms but rather a use of words and language to
simulate the experience of the illness.

"If, when you're going home from the theater, one person looks at that
man standing on that streetcorner screaming at empty air and sees him
differently, then we have done our job," he said.

In accepting her award, Nasar commented how writers tend to hate movies
inspired by their books.

"Some of my journalist friends were actually afraid to tell me how much
they liked the movie," she said. "The fact is that I found Brian Grazer
and Ron Howard's film to be tremendously moving. Yes, it's
semi-fictional, but it's fiction of the most truthful kind."

Nasar compared Goldsman to math genius John Nash Jr., "Mind's" main
character who developed his original idea by applying an insight from an
apparently unrelated field to a new context to solve a problem. "It was
pure genius on Akiva Goldsman's part to see that a device used in
science fiction could be applied to a story about genius and madness to
create a beautiful mystery about the human mind."

"Mind" actors Paul Bettany and Josh Lucas, along with actress Anne
Archer, were on hand as presenters. Veteran funnyman Hal Kanter served
as grand master of ceremonies, while Gavin MacLeod acted as emcee.
Guests included Walt Disney Studios chairman Richard Cook, author Helen
Fielding, "In the Bedroom" co-screenwriter Rob Festinger and actress
Mary Stuart Masterson.