Trophy News From Venice, Italy

A year late, but Brad Pitt finally received the best actor award he won from the Venice Film Festival in 2007 for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”

Now back as star of the Coen brothers’ “Burn After Reading,” which opened the festival, Brad Pitt was handed the prize at last.

“I guess you forgot something here years ago,” said the mistress of ceremonies, handing him the gold cup trophy.

“You can run but you can’t hide,” Pitt said accepting it. “It was an honor to receive this last year and it’s an honor to receive it this year. Thank you very much.”

It’s common for stars not to be present to accept the Venice Film Festival awards. The trophies are bestowed on the fest’s final night at which point most celebs have gone home. Sometimes winners turn around and hurry back to reap the trophy, but often they can’t. That’s what happened to Ben Affleck. Two years ago he found out that he won best actor for “Hollywoodland” soon after he landed in Los Angeles after returning from Venice. Affleck scrambled to try to arrange flights to get back before the fest officially closed, but without success.

It’s strange, however, that the Venice Film Festival didn’t ship the trophy to Pitt after he won. That’s how Affleck eventually caught up with his golden cup.

Pitt did not end up reaping an Oscar nomination for “Jesse James,” but that’s not unusual. Over the last 20 years, only two stars who won best actor at the Venice Film Festival were nommed by the academy: David Strathairn (“Good Night, and Good Luck”) and Javier Bardem (“Before Night Falls”). Neither won the trophy.

Originally Written by the Los Angeles Times Staff