May 07, 2019
Oscar Wild!
By Vicki-Ann Downing
Peter Farrelly ’79 thanked his family and “the entire state of Rhode Island” when he took the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in February to accept two Oscars — Best
Motion Picture and Best Original Screenplay — for Green Book, a film he directed and co-wrote.
“They say if you want to go somewhere fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together,” Farrelly said. “I got a lot of people to thank, starting with the entire state of Rhode Island — thank you very much.”
Green Book, set in 1962, is the story of a working-class Italian-American man, played by Viggo Mortenson, who works as the chauffeur and bodyguard for a gay, African- American pianist, played by Mahershala Ali, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
“The whole story is about love,” Farrelly said. “It’s about loving each other despite our differences, and finding out the truth about who we are. We’re the same people.”
They were Farrelly’s first Academy Awards in a 25-year career as a writer, director, and producer. He thanked his brother and longtime collaborator, Bobby, “who got me into this business;” his wife, actress Melinda Kocsis; and their children, Robert and Apple. He also mentioned his sister, Kathryn Lee Farrelly, “who died a week before we started shooting, but never left my side.”
Farrelly grew up in Cumberland, R.I., a son of Mariann Farrelly and Robert L. Farrelly, M.D. ’59, who died in 2013. He studied accountancy at PC. Following graduation, he studied writing at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and at Columbia University. He made his first film, Dumb and Dumber, in 1994 with his brother. He is the author of two novels, Outside Providence (Main Street Books, 1998) and The Comedy Writer (Main Street Books, 1998).
Farrelly lives and works in California, where he regularly meets PC students who visit through the PC in Hollywood program.
