Annette Bening On 'Being Julia'

Film Available On DVD

(CBS)  Annette Bening gave one one the best performances of 2004 in "Being Julia", which makes its way to home video next week.

Entertainment contributor and People magazine senior editor Jess Cagle offers the details in The Early Show's Home Theater.

In "Being Julia," Annette Bening plays stage actress Julia Lambert, the toast of London's West End, who takes the word "diva" to the next level.

"There were so many colors in the script, and I know she's a diva," Bening says. "But I really fell in love with her because you see at her most vulnerable and her most bare emotionally, so it was all of those colors that I wanted to find."

Bening said it was a joy to find this character, even though she could only relate to her on the most basic level.

She explains, "It took place in the world of the theater, and that's where I got started as an actor. I really wanted to be a theater actress. That's why I became an actor. So I just wanted to make it work.

"When you're working along," she continues, "you never know what's going to come together and how it's going to be received, and whether it's going to work or not. You're just getting up every day, trying to believe in yourself and make it happen. So when it comes together, it's just a thrill."

Her performance certainly did come together. For "Being Julia," Bening was named best actress by the National Board of Review and won a Golden Globe. She was also nominated for her third Academy Award.

She says, "I love the picture. It was a great role, and I worked really hard, so I appreciate it very much."

Her other Oscar nominations were for 1990's "The Grifters" and 1999's "Amercian Beauty"

But Bening says she's been in the business long enough to know that you can't do it for the accolades.

"The work is really the joy," she says. "I'm lucky that I've done enough films that haven't been noticed and nobody does take any interest and love the process. You learn to really immerse yourself in it and then you let go as an actor because you have no control. So you say: 'OK, I'm going to do my best and send it out there and hope it goes well.' And that's all you can do."

Also available next Tuesday is "Finding Neverland," which stars Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, and received seven Academy Awards nominations, winning for Best Original Score.