Breaking Baz: Nicole Kidman & Ariana DeBose Reunite At Glittering Chanel/Charles Finch Pre-Oscar Soirée; ‘Creed III’ Team, Jerry Bruckheimer & More

Nicole Kidman arrives at the Chanel/Charles Finch Pre Oscars soirée and dinner at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills and makes clear that she’s just stopping by to say hello. ”I have two daughters at home, and they’ll be up all night unless I put them to bed!”

Kidman was referring to Sunday Rose, 14, and Faith Margaret, 12.

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“The 14-year-old wants to accompany me to parties, but I have to be strict about that,” Kidman tells me as we chat in the Polo Lounge garden.

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I swerve to my right and greet Ariana DeBose, who won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award last year for her marvelous performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story.

Suddenly, Kidman realizes that Ariana is the Ariana she worked with on Ryan Murphy’s The Prom in 2020.

“Ariana!”     

“Nicole!”

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They hug and hug some more. There would have been tears, but you can’t cry at these events because, you know, the makeup runs. I have no personal experience of this, you understand, but I have observed such instances over many years.

DeBose tells me she’ll be heading to London for various projects including a one-night-only concert at the fabled variety house The London Palladium on April 1.

“Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, and Adele have performed on that stage,” says DeBose. “So there’s no pressure.”

London has been a home away from home of late for DeBose, having filmed Sony’s Kraven the Hunter and Apple’s spy thriller Argylle at studios there.

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Best Actress nominee Andrea Riseborough also was in attendance at the Chanel/Finch event, and she was welcomed by Charles Finch and Claire Ingle Finch, the managing partner of Finch and Partners.

DeBose gave the To Leslie star a warm embrace and a reassuring smile.

I see Michael B. Jordan and congratulate him on the success of Creed III, in which he stars and directs.

Inside the Polo Lounge, I’m introduced to Jonathan Majors, who plays the antagonist in Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. I do my Sidney Poitier thing, look him in the eyes, and tell him that I’ve been watching him since the beginning of his career and that this moment didn’t just happen — he worked hard for it.

Majors says he’s now working on two  Avengers films concerning his Kang character – Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers:The Secret Wars,and didn’t rule out the possibility of a return to the Creed universe.

Tessa Thompson, another star of the world of Creed, was deep in conversation with Daniel Kaluuya, while on the other side of the Polo Lounge garden, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Kristen Stewart were larking about before heading in for dinner. (Maguire then ended up skipping the meal, went out into the main lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel and disappeared into the night.)

Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern was there with filmmaker husband Simon Curtis (Downton Abbey: A New Era). McGovern tells me that she’ll be portraying Ava Gardner in Ava: The Secret Conversations at the Geffen Playhouse from April 4.

I pay my respects to Jerry Bruckheimer and wished him well for Top Gun: Maverick. 

Sony Pictures Classics Co-President Tom Bernard joked, “I’ve told Jerry to have a speech ready in his pocket, just in case.”

There’s certainly a Top Gun: Maverick vibe in the air.

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Other guests included Harvey Keitel, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris, Jason Clarke, Karim Saleh, Kelly Lynch, Kerry Condon, Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon, Leslie Mann, Judd Apatow, Melita Toscan du Plantier, Minnie Driver, Lauren Sanchez, Lily James, Rita Ora, Riz Ahmed, Sarah Polley, Sigourney Weaver, Sofia Boutella, Vicky Krieps, Ava DuVernay, Cleo Wade, Simon Kinberg, Derek Blasberg, Darren Aronofsky, Edward Berger, Emma Grede, Graham Broadbent, Iman Perez, Janicza Bravo, Jeff Bezos, Jen Brill, Jennifer Meyer, Jeremy O. Harris, Jeremy Kleiner, Kate Young, Kelly Sawyer, Laura Love, Laure Heriard Dubreuil, Nathalie Love, Nicole Avant, Ted Sarandos, Scott Stuber, Patty Jenkins, Rachel Zoe, Film4’s Daniel Battsek and Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon.

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