Nominees hobnob at Oscar luncheon

PARTY TIME: Jared Leto, Bono at the 86th Annual Oscar Nominees Luncheon.

In a town obsessed with VIP status, it is a refreshingly meritocratic event. At the Motion Picture Academy’s annual Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton earlier this week, A-list stars such as Bono, Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio dined with Hollywood’s more anonymous craftsmen, the sound mixers, documentary short directors and makeup artists who share with them one special quality — they are all among this year’s 203 Oscar nominees.

“I guess at the Oscar luncheon we all mix and mash together like a giant gumbo,” said DiCaprio, nominated for lead actor for The Wolf of Wall Street, upon arriving at his table with his father, George. More than 150 of this year’s nominees attended, with the notable exception of Woody Allen, who never comes — even in years when he’s not engulfed in controversy.

For some, the luncheon was a chance to forge new and unlikely connections. Across the bread basket, Leonardo DiCaprio spotted indie rock vocalist Karen O, nominated for original song for The Moon Song from Her. “Huge fan!” DiCaprio said.

“No, I’m a huge fan!” O replied, before the two launched into a conversation about one of her performances. “This is just surreal,” said their tablemate Daniel Sousa, director of Feral, an animated short film, who had flown in from Rhode Island for the event. “It’s like a pop-up book.”

Beside them, former academy president Sid Ganis talked with Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos about the new season of the streaming media company’s House of Cards and the challenges of doing business in China. Sarandos was attending on behalf of the nominated feature documentary The Square, which Netflix produced.

As the nominees kibitzed, the producers of this year’s Oscar telecast, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, took to the podium to offer some advice on speeches. Whether anyone will listen is another story.

“The show is successful if the pacing of the evening feels brisk,” Zadan said, pausing for effect. “You understand? The words should be spoken from your heart and not from a list on a piece of paper.”

He warned that winners would have 45 seconds to speak before the orchestra started, and that group winners should select a spokesperson.

“I was told not to remind you there will be over 1bn people watching from more than 225 territories throughout the world,” Zadan said. “Don’t be nervous.”

Meron told the group that the theme for the evening would be a “celebration of movie heroes.”

The day wasn’t all air kisses and well wishes, however.

Shortly before the cocktail hour got underway, a group representing the Service Employees International Union took to the valet line of the Beverly Hilton chanting, “Oscars, Oscars you can’t hide. We can see your greedy side.” Police moved the group, which was protesting the academy’s use of a nonunion security firm at the Oscars, from the Hilton grounds to Wilshire Boulevard. — By Rebecca Keegan,  Los Angeles Times/MCT

Scarlett wants to be versatile like Brad Pitt

Actress Scarlett Johansson wants to follow in Brad Pitt’s footsteps and establish herself as a versatile actress. In an attempt to explore more avenues, Johansson gave her voice to the operating system named Samantha in the Oscar-nominated film Her. “If you want to grow out of the stereotype the media stamp on you as an actor you have to focus on challenging yourself and taking on diverse roles. Brad Pitt has managed to do that. While he has always been regarded as ‘so gorgeous’ he has never let that prevent him from being a character actor, which is what he is and what I have always wanted to be,” Johansson said in a statement. The 29-year-old says she would prefer to be known as a character actor than be classified as the romantic comedy queen. “There is nothing wrong with an acting career in which you play the romantic lead or America’s sweetheart or the romantic comedy queen, but I have never thought of myself as playing those kinds of roles. I have always wanted to be a character actor,” she added. — IANS

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