Sunday’s Oscars ceremony to blast back into the fairly recent past for inspiration

Ray Richmond
·6 min read
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If everything old really is new again, the creative team behind Sunday’s 96th Academy Awards from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood is hoping that putting forward some of the choices from past Oscar ceremonies will prove inspired this time around as well. During a virtual press conference this week with executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor, exec producers Molly McNearney (also host Jimmy Kimmel’s wife) and Katy Mullan, and music director Rickey Minor, they pointed to a few new wrinkles this time around – the most significant of which repeats a brainchild that drew raves during the first and only time it was attempted in 2009. That would be the introduction of each nominee in all four acting categories individually by a past winner.

It was done 15 years ago when Laurence Mark and Bill Condon conceived the idea of having each previous winner focus on a story involving a single nominee in a “Field of Dreams”-style format. People who remember it have been calling for the presentation to be repeated ever since. On Sunday, it’s finally being brought back in an arrangement dubbed the Fab 5.

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“When we were picking presenters this year, it was really about storytelling,” Kapoor explains. “We were really trying to find connections with our presenters. With the Fab 5 (format), we did a deep dive into Oscars history. And one of the best moments that we loved and has not been repeated until this year was (what Bill Condon did). It was lovely storytelling, and again, it came down to connection. It was past winners speaking to present nominees and just that lovely connection and human interaction. And so we thought we’d love to try it again.”

And so, as advertised, five former winners will present individually to the five nominees in Best Actor and Actress and Best Supporting Actor and Actress. While the academy isn’t in the habit of revealing whom will be presenting which category in advance, the list of confirmed presenters includes such past Best Actress winners as Sally Field, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron and last year’s winner Michelle Yeoh; Best Actor victors Nicolas Cage, Brendan Fraser (last year’s winner), Ben Kingsley, Matthew McConaughey, Al Pacino and Forest Whitaker; Best Supporting Actress winners Jamie Lee Curtis (the winner last year), Regina King, Rita Moreno, Lupita Nyong’o, Octavia Spencer and Mary Steenburgen; and Best Supporting Actor winners Mahershala Ali, Ke Huy Quan (last year’s winner), Tim Robbins, Sam Rockwell and Christoph Waltz.

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“We think it’s just going to be a great piece of storytelling and connection at home that you will maybe get to hear these personal stories and interactions,” Kapoor adds, “and you get to root for your favorite actor or actress in this really personal way. We’re really excited to have that come to life.” He notes that this year’s show will move beyond what came before and showcase the ways that the academy continues to evolve. “Past winners and nominees will be taking our stage and celebrating moments that have happened, but in clever ways,” he says. “There (till be) beautiful film packages, beautiful nomination packages. And I think some of the people that will be coming to the stage you may not have seen for a while.”

Another aspect of past Oscar shows that is being utilized again this year involves Kimmel himself. This is his fourth Academy Awards presiding as host, and his executive producer and spouse McNearney said on Wednesday, “Jimmy gets more and more comfortable, and I get more and more nervous,. It’s kind of our dynamic. Jimmy has really become very relaxed as a host. He knows the room really well, has a lot of respect for the room and likes to have fun with them. In terms of bringing things different, I think every year gets to feel a little different based on the movies and people we get to celebrate. So we’re always looking for new angles and we’ve found plenty…I think we’ll have a really good balance of joy and inspiration, some serious moments, some lighter moments.”

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Adds Kapoor: “I cannot speak more highly of anybody than Jimmy. He’s been an amazing partner and and he has just been so involved from the very beginning in the summer. He’s involved in all our creative decisions, from presenters, to pairings, to the pace of the show, to musical performances. He has a really strong creative vision.”

The Oscar show will also find all five of the nominated tunes for Best Original Song being performed live on the show, including such participants as Billie Eilish and Finneas, Ryan Gosling and Jon Batiste. Minor said on Wednesday that working with the artists on their performances this week “has been like old-home week. We had so much fun laughing. It’s going to be a really big celebration and I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.”

The production team also spoke to the one intangible that makes a live awards show so unique in the entertainment realm: the unscripted moments in speeches and elsewhere. “Those are the moments I love the most because we get to be surprised,” McNearney stresses. “That’s one thing Jimmy is great at: making the audience feel like we’re at this party together.”

Kapoor said that the In Memoriam segment honoring those in the film industry who have passed away over the last year will bring “something really beautiful and special” to the room “and we hope that connects. We think it’s going to really resonate with a lot of people.” And executive producer Mullan teased that there may be a few reunions at the ceremony that haven’t leaked out. “Movies are so nostalgic, and there’s so much history-making around the Oscars, so there’ll be moments acknowledging the past history – and then some surprise cameos as well.”

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