Dick Pope: 'I have been called a lot worse'

Dick Pope is not going to let an already infamous name miscue detract from his Oscar nomination celebration.

The cinematographer for Mr. Turner made international news after Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science President Cheryl Boone Isaacs mispronounced his name during the nominations, calling him "Dick Poop."

She quickly corrected herself, but Twitter exploded with the news.

Pope took it all in stride, speaking to USA TODAY over the phone from London.

"You know what, I have been called a lot worse in my time," said Pope. "I don't think twice about anything like that. I am happy to be nominated."

The filmmaker didn't watch the nominations. He was in London's Tate Gallery, getting a private tour of J.M.W. Turner's portraits, the subject of the film directed by Mike Leigh.

"I was there amid all the work that we evoked in the film," said Pope. "And I was there when my phone started ringing. I came out and I was told the news."

While elated for the nomination, he also immediately heard the news about the name miscue.

"You don't need to explain it to me. I have had it explained one hundred times," said Pope. "I feel sorry for the lady who made the mispronunciation."

Nor was he impressed about the fact he was trending on Twitter.

"I have never been on Twitter and I don't know what trending means. I am completely naive," said Pope. "All I know is that I have a lot of e-mails here saying I am trending on Twitter. They might as well be saying I am landing on the moon, as far as I am concerned."

Pope said he planned on celebrating the nomination by attending the screening of his new film, Legend, about the Kray Brothers crime family in London, starring Tom Hardy.

Most importantly, he said the nomination was a big success for the team behind the Mr. Turner film.

"We're all very happy. It's wonderful news. But I represent a whole company and the whole film," said Pope. "I represent the people who work on it. We are all very pleased. Delighted."

It'll be a return trip to the Oscar ceremony for Pope: He received an Academy Award nomination for the 2006 film The Illusionist.