Oscar foretaste: many stars at the nominees' lunch

On March 27th the 94th Academy Awards will take place in Hollywood. Beforehand, the nominees met for a glamorous lunch in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles – This lunch in Hollywood is for invited guests only: Stars such as Kristen Stewart, Jessica Chastain, Steven Spielberg, Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Bradley Cooper appeared at the “Oscar Luncheon”, the traditional reception for the Oscar nominees.

Dozens of actors, directors, makeup artists and many other filmmakers celebrated their nominations in the ballroom at the Fairmont Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles.

Penélope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”) stood out in a pink mini dress alongside her husband Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”) – both are Best Actor nominees. Singer Billie Eilish, with jet black hair, and her brother Finneas O’Connell, in bright red shoes, mingled with the guests. The siblings are in the Oscar race with the Bond song “No Time To Die”.

Usually, the Oscar contenders line up shoulder to shoulder around a shiny golden Oscar statue for a group picture. According to the Film Academy, the organizers refrained from doing so this time. As a corona precaution, the participants also had to show proof of vaccination and a negative Covid test, as reported by the magazine “Vanity Fair”.

Show producer Will Packer, who wants to limit the length of the gala to three hours, gave the future winners tips for their acceptance speeches. Don’t read out the names of your managers and agents, but talk about yourself and what moves you, Packer said, according to Vanity Fair. Speeches are limited to 45 seconds, after which the music ramps up.

The 94th Academy Awards will be held in Hollywood on March 27th. With twelve nominations, the film “The Power of the Dog” is this year’s Oscar favorite, while the science fiction epic “Dune” received ten nominations. Films like “West Side Story”, “King Richard” or “Belfast” also have several chances of winning. dpa