Oscar Nominee ‘The Holdovers’ Screenwriter David Hemingson Reveals Which Scenes Are True Stories From His Own Life

Antonia Blyth

23 January 2024 at 0:37 pm·2-min read

Following the announcement of his Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination Tuesday morning, The Holdovers screenwriter David Hemingson revealed to Deadline that some dialogue and scenes were taken verbatim from his own life.

Hemingson had originally written a pilot based on his own boarding school experience before connecting with director Alexander Payne and developing The Holdovers script. The Focus Features film follows Paul Hunham, a beleaguered boarding school Classics teacher who has retreated into misanthropy, until he is forced to take care of a student (Dominic Sessa) over the holiday break, with the help of the school cook (Oscar nominee Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

More from Deadline

Speaking with Deadline in the wake of the nominations announcement, Hemingson recalled the dialogue and scenes borrowed from his real-life uncle, a man he says was filled with “quiet heroisim”.

“I feel like so much of him is in the movie,” Hemingson said. “I mean, so much of the dialogue and things that he would say to me, like, ‘Life is like a henhouse ladder—shitty and short,’ or, ‘Sex is 99% friction, 1% goodwill.’ That was all him.”

Some scenes were taken from events in Hemingson’s childhood, too. “The encounter with the hooker, which was at the bookshop in Boston, actually happened to me on First Avenue and 30th Street with [my uncle] when I was seven years old. This woman walked up on an incredibly cold day and solicited and said, ‘The kid can wait around the corner.’ That is an actual incident from my life. The cherries jubilee thing is something that happened to me with my mother. So many of the things in the movie are just a love letter to my mom and my uncle and my dad.”

Aside from this first-time nomination for Hemingson, The Holdovers is Oscar-nominated for Best Picture, Lead Actor (Paul Giamatti) and Supporting Actress (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

Best of Deadline

The Telegraph
‘My electric car has been soul-destroying – I can’t wait to go back to petrol’
Ray Bestwick bought an electric car last May in the hope of hassle-free motoring.
Hello!
Michael Schumacher's heartbreaking health situation: reclusive life and everything we know
Formula One legend and former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, 55, has lived a reclusive life with his family away from the glare of the spotlight since his skiing accident in 2013…
The Independent
‘Stanley Johnson caused our flight to be cancelled’ – claim from passengers on BA plane diverted to Heathrow
Exclusive: At one stage airport police were summoned to deal with an altercation, passengers say
The Telegraph
Old, rich and living on benefits: welcome to the state pension capital of Britain
East Preston feels an unlikely stronghold of benefits dependency. The genteel village on the West Sussex coast might be the closest thing that Britain has to a moneyed pensioner utopia.
Manchester Evening News
Footage shows out-of-control XL Bully being chased by armed cops before being shot dead following horror attack on woman
GMP said the dog had to be destroyed 'as the last possible option'
OK! Magazine
Carol McGiffin's blunt 4-word statement on friends Ruth and Eamonn split
Former Loose Woman Carol McGiffin has opened up with her true thoughts about Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes' split - two people she is friends with and admits she 'loves' equally
OK! Magazine
Amanda Holden takes brutal swipe at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with five-word comment
Amanda Holden has claimed that the British public don't "really care" about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and argued the press make "too much" of the couple's moves
Bournemouth Echo UK
UK to be hit by second heatwave in a matter of days from Mediterranean airstream
The UK is set for a second heatwave this summer as weather forecasters suggest Mediterranean airstream will bring hot weather.
Manchester Evening News
'I gave up Diet Coke for a month and I couldn't believe how it transformed my life'
Paul Turner was stunned by the results
The Independent
Led by Donkeys interrupt Nigel Farage speech by lowering huge Putin banner
Nigel Farage was initially unaware that the Russian president was on the poster, with the words ‘I heart Nigel’ written below
CNN
Russia wants to confront NATO but dares not fight it on the battlefield – so it’s waging a hybrid war instead
When someone tried – and failed – to burn down a bus garage in Prague earlier this month, the unsuccessful arson attack didn’t draw much attention. Until, that is, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala revealed it was “very likely” that Moscow was behind it.
The Independent
A pair of siblings were stabbed and the sister’s dying words were that the killer was a man from Detroit. Thirty-four years later, he’s been arrested.
Pamela Sumpter, was raped and stabbed, and her brother John Sumpter was stabbed to death, at their Georgia home on July 15, 1990
OK! Magazine
Katie Price reveals the results of her 17th boob job
Katie Price has proudly shown off her new body online after underoing the knife for a whopping 17th time, but this time to make her boobs smaller for the first time
News Shopper
Busy London station CLOSED with major police presence and cordons in place
A busy central London train station has been closed, with a major police presence at the scene.
FTW Outdoors
‘Ever vigilant’ elephant stamps out threat to calf at watering hole
Dramatic footage captured in India shows "what maternal instinct is all about” as crocodile limps away empty-handed.
OK! Magazine
BBC Breakfast's Charlie Stayt forced to apologise live on air after broadcast blunder
BBC Breakfast face a huge broadcast blunder on Saturday morning's show and long-standing host Charlie Stayt was forced to apologise to viewers for the sound mishap
The Guardian
London Pride: Sadiq Khan leads 32,000 marchers through capital
Annual LBGTQ+ celebration takes place with march between Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square
Manchester Evening News
Giovanni Pernice says 'it's happening' as he's reunited with Strictly Come Dancing star amid support
It comes after the BBC confirmed the professional dancer line-up for the upcoming 2024 series earlier in June
The Telegraph
Donald Trump is going to turn Starmer’s Britain into an international laughing stock
Grandfather Robert Blackstock, a retired engineer from Nottinghamshire, became the “Brenda from Bristol” of this election campaign when he asked Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer during Wednesday night’s TV debate: “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of our great country?”
The Telegraph
Can Asda’s new ‘cut-throat’ owners succeed where the Issa brothers failed?
Customers arriving at Asda’s Bournemouth superstore this month would have been forgiven for immediately turning around and going home.

Latest stories