This year’s Academy Awards luncheon took place in Los Angeles on Monday and was attended by 179 of this year’s Oscar nominees. The event is an opportunity for the nominees to mingle, enjoy a meal, and take the traditional “class photo”. While some nominees were unable to attend, there were plenty of highlights, including the presence of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, who were both nominees for La La Land in 2017 but are now nominated for different films. Actor Sterling K Brown and songwriter Diane Warren also stood out, with Brown acknowledging that he is not expected to win and Warren joking about her many previous nominations. Other highlights included the appearance of Godzilla and the famous dog from Anatomy of a Fall, as well as the presence of British and Irish stars. Directors Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese were also featured prominently in the front row, alongside hot acting contenders. Singer Billie Eilish made a fashion statement, and cinematographer Matthew Libatique struck a unique pose. Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were also present, despite not being nominated in their respective categories. Finally, there were some mishaps during the photo, including blinking and laughing at inappropriate moments.
The annual Academy Awards luncheon was held in Los Angeles on Monday, attended by 179 of this year’s contenders. Every year, the Academy gathers the nominees from every category together for some mingling, a meal (this year it was wild mushroom risotto) and the traditional “class photo”. Not every nominee was able to attend. The Color Purple star Danielle Brooks, for example, was unable to get away from filming Minecraft in New Zealand. But there were plenty of other celebrities, outfits, poses and unusual facial expressions to keep us entertained. Here are 10 highlights:
When we wrote about the class photo in 2017, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling were both there as best actor and actress nominees for La La Land. For anyone with a short memory, La La Land is the film which won best picture and then lost it again four minutes later thanks to a mishap involving an envelope. This year, Gosling and Stone have returned to the Academy Awards, but for different films – they are nominated for Barbie and Poor Things respectively. Gosling wore a lilac suit to the luncheon – likely intended as a subtle reference to his best picture-nominated film.
Actor Sterling K Brown and songwriter Diane Warren stood together in the back row – an appropriate placing given both are aware they are not exactly the frontrunners in their categories. Last week, Brown told Graham Norton: “I know that I’m not going to win, and I’m totally fine with it. I’ll tell you – [fellow nominee] Robert Downey Jr is going to win. And he’s incredibly deserving, he’s an incredible actor… I’m just happy to be in the room.” We take our hats off to the American Fiction star for following the awards race so closely and knowing what his odds are in the supporting actor race. But while Brown is a first-time nominee, Warren has been nominated a whopping 15 times for best original song – and never won. She probably won’t this year either, with What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish the hot favourite. Another Barbie song, I’m Just Ken, is also in the running, something Warren jokingly noted at the luncheon, telling Deadline: “You never know, they could cancel each other out.”
Yes, yes it is. Takashi Yamazaki, one member of the visual effects team nominated for Godzilla Minus One, brought a plus one to the event – Godzillla himself. For the last few months, Yamazaki has been bringing the figurine along with him to red carpets and premieres, so it’s only fair that the killer monster made an appearance in the class photo too. Anybody who knows anything about the history of cinema knows that the greatest acting performance in any film ever was the dog in this year’s best picture contender, Anatomy of a Fall. Known in the film as Snoop, the dog is in fact a border collie called Messi who flew from France to attend the luncheon, along with trainer Laura Martin Contini. Messi was extremely popular with the actors at the event, including Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, who was photographed meeting the dog. “The Coop meets the Snoop,” read the excellent caption. Sadly, Messi was not included in the class photo – something we cannot understand as he is the goodest of good boys. We have submitted a formal complaint to the Academy and will let you know how it progresses.
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