BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) 鈥� The casts of 鈥� 鈥� and 鈥� 鈥� gathered Monday at the annual nominees luncheon alongside dozens of less famous and first-time Oscar hopefuls for handshakes, hugs, a huge group picture and instructions on nailing an acceptance speech.
The event at the Beverly Hilton is a warm, feel-good affair where nominees in categories like best animated short get to rub shoulders and share tables with acting nominees like and .
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, and best actress, respectively, for 鈥淏arbie鈥� caused a major stir, both showed up for the nominations they did get, and were all smiles.
Gerwig, nominated for adapted screenplay, was surrounded by selfie-seekers as soon as she entered the banquet hall while Robbie, up for best picture as a 鈥淏arbie鈥� producer, beamed nearby as she hugged and chatted with a woman who got one of the best actress spots, Sandra H眉ller of 鈥淎natomy of a Fall.鈥�
The centerpiece of the event is a class photo of the entire group of nominees. Nearly all of them usually attend, both as part of the Oscars experience and as part of their unspoken campaigns for votes.
Gerwig and Robbie got some of the loudest cheers of the afternoon when their names were called during the class picture roll call that feels like a school commencement and is perhaps the day's most egalitarian tradition. The names are read and nominees called up to risers in an order that seems to make no accounting for fame.
In one typical trio, Carey Mulligan, best actress nominee for 鈥淢aestro,鈥� was summoned to the risers between David Hemingson, who was nominated for writing his first film, 鈥淭he Holdovers,鈥� and James Price, nominated for production design on 鈥淧oor Things.鈥�
Martin Scorsese, 81, nominated this year for best director on 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon,鈥� may have gotten the loudest ovation of the day when he was called up. He sat between the favorites in the actress category, Da'Vine Joy Randolph of 鈥淭he Holdovers鈥� and Lily Gladstone from his film. Both towered over the shorter Scorsese. 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� director Christopher Nolan reached across Gladstone to shake his hand as he sat down.
Gerwig got a happy greeting from 鈥淏arbie鈥� best supporting actor nominee Ryan Gosling, who kissed each of her cheeks.
The luncheon dress code is daytime casual. For Gosling that meant a lilac suit with matching shirt, for Robbie a light pink beaded business suit with a bared midriff. Colman Domingo brought in a bit of evening with a tailed black jacket, black shirt with a plunging neckline and white slacks.
The first attempts at the photo didn't go well. When they finally got a few that worked, Robert Downey Jr., supporting actor nominee for 鈥淥ppenheimer," who had been shouting joke instructions to the group of several hundred, leapt up, pumped a fist and shouted 鈥測eah!鈥� then turned and began applauding his fellow nominees.
Most major nominees including Cillian Murphy, a favorite for best actor for 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� and Bradley Cooper, one of his category competitors, spent the hours before and after lunch making the rounds of media outlets whose reporters are set up in cabanas around the Beverly Hilton pool.
Cooper was headed toward the pool when he ran into Messi, the dog with a key role in 鈥淎natomy of a Fall." Cooper knelt down and gave the border collie a long, thorough petting.
The nominees sat for a vegetarian meal of king oyster mushrooms and wild mushroom risotto while gave her annual remarks.
She used last year's luncheon to address what she called the Academy's "inadequate鈥� response to at the previous year's ceremony.
Her remarks this year had a much lighter tone, and dealt with more mundane matters more akin to a freshman orientation, like the timing of the Oscars ceremony.
鈥淚n case any of you have been in a nominations haze, we are this year,鈥� she said.
When she saw surprise around the room she said, 鈥淥oh, some people didn鈥檛 know! I鈥檓 glad I reminded you!鈥�
She drew groans when she added that the Oscars come on the first day of daylight saving time.
She also delivered the president鈥檚 annual instructions on victory speeches, mostly urging winners to be brief and stick to the 45-second limit but also 鈥渟peak from the heart,鈥� 鈥渇eel the moment鈥� and 鈥渁dd a bit of humor.鈥�
She then played a montage of past speeches that met the ideals, with clips from , and .
It ended with the academy鈥檚 Platonic ideal of a speech played in its entirety: of best supporting actor for 鈥淣o Country for Old Men.鈥� Total time: 37 seconds.
Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
