12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, January 18, 2006

By MANUEL MENDOZA / The Dallas Morning News

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – This was the year it was fashionable to avoid making political statements backstage. That is, unless you were the journalist posing the loaded question.

KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/AP

Geena Davis and George Clooney both left with Golden Globes but kept their political opinions to themselves.

"What will it take to impeach George Bush?" George Clooney was asked after he won the Golden Globe for supporting actor in the political film Syriana. "He wasn't even elected."

Mr. Clooney's curt reply: "I'm not going to make any speeches. That's not my style."

Several other writers queried Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee, Capote star Philip Seymour Hoffman and Brokeback writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana after their victories about the gay politics of their films. None took the bait.

They said, or at least implied, that the best art ducks agitprop for something deeper and more ambiguous.

Mr. Hoffman said it wasn't any more difficult to play a gay character than a straight one. "It has no agenda. It has no message," Mr. McMurtry said of Brokeback. And Mr. Lee added that Middle America had seen through the gay-cowboy-movie label. "We have to give them more credit."

That line of questioning wasn't the most inane of the night, as winner after winner subjected themselves to inquiries that amounted to "How are you like your character?" It turns out it's not that easy to think of interesting things to ask stars right after they've won an award.

Geena Davis, who plays the president of the United States on ABC's Commander in Chief, may have endured the strangest set of exchanges.

"I'm fascinated by your facial expressions, so stoic and held in. Are you acting presidential?"

She was nonplussed, so the inquisitor moved on. "How do you rate George Bush's facial expressions?"

"I can't say I've studied it," Ms. Davis diplomatically answered.

Then the interview got weirder. "What is it tomorrow that will snap you back into reality?"

"I've got my first State of the Union address," she said, referring to an upcoming episode of her series. Some reality.

Joaquin Phoenix, best-actor winner for portraying Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, was asked – no kidding – "What would Johnny say to you if he could?"

"I don't know," he replied, trying not to look stunned.

And Reese Witherspoon, Mr. Phoenix's winning co-star, was queried, "If someone was making a movie of your life, what would they add from tonight?"

Mr. Hoffman and lifetime-achievement winner Anthony Hopkins were asked if they had any advice for fledgling actors. There's a good one for a change.

"Work hard. Work, work, work. And enjoy it," Mr. Hopkins said.

"You have to act wherever you can," Mr. Hoffman said. "You can't be picky. Even if you're just auditioning, if you get the chance to act in a room someone else paid to rent, do it. You get a chance to practice your craft."

Mary-Louise Parker, who upset four Desperate Housewives to win best comedy actress for Showtime's Weeds, was pretty crafty herself. "I think we were all desperate housewives. I just think mine was more desperate."

E-mail mmendoza@dallasnews.com