Palm Springs Film Fest: ‘The Holdovers’ Star Paul Giamatti Set for Icon Award (Exclusive)

Paul Giamatti, the revered character actor who has elevated projects on screens big and small, will receive the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Icon Award, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The 56-year-old, who is receiving rave reviews and Oscar buzz for his lead performance in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, will — along with a host of this award season’s other standouts who are lined up for honors — be feted during a dinner at the Palm Springs Convention Center on Jan. 4.

An Oscar nominee and winner of Emmy, Spirit and Critics Choice Awards, two Golden Globes and three SAG Awards, his past credits include 2003’s American Splendor, 2004’s Sideways, 2005’s Cinderella Man, 2006’s The Illusionist, the 2008 limited series John Adams, 2012’s Win Win, 2013’s 12 Years a Slave and the drama series Billions, which ran from 2016 through earlier this year.

“In The Holdovers, Paul Giamatti inhabits a complex character who is both challenging and rewarding, and ultimately reminds us of what it means to be connected as human beings,” PSIFF chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a statement. “For his storied career of quintessential cinematic roles, it is our honor to present him with the Icon Award for this career-best performance.”

Past winners of the Icon Award include Glenn Close, Willem Dafoe, Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Lady Gaga, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.

Others who will be honored at this year’s PSIFF Awards Gala include Danielle Brooks (Spotlight Award, Actress), Colman Domingo (Spotlight Award, Actor), Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (Chairman’s Award), Greta Gerwig (Director of the Year), Carey Mulligan (International Star Award, Actress), Cillian Murphy (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Breakthrough Performance Award), Emma Stone (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress), Jeffrey Wright (Career Achievement Award) and Killers of the Flower Moon (Vanguard Award).