Kevin Costner, Zoe Kravitz and Lady Gaga were among the original list of leaders announced for the 94th academic awards in Thursday.
The trio of A-listers will be joined by Rosie Perez, Chris Rock and South Korean actress Yun Yu-jung, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the 2021 ceremony for the famous drama Minari.
The release of the first batch of presenters comes when the Oscars were immersed in controversy over the show’s decision to cut eight categories of live broadcasts and play only “the most powerful and emotional moments” of those reception speeches, according to The Hollywood reporter.
Will Packer and Sheila Cowan, producers of the Oscars TV show, announced the first group of presenters to follow before the March 27 ceremony.
“Movies inspire us, entertain us and unite us around the world,” Packer said in a statement. “This is the exact goal of the show this year and we are excited to welcome the first of the star cast to join the Oscars to help us celebrate the power of film and honor the best of the year in film production.
It is traditional for the Oscars to return last year’s winners for Best Actress and Best Actor for announcing these categories, although it is not yet known whether Francis McDormand – who won for Nomadland – or Anthony Hopkins – who scored a surprise victory for The Father – will return this year.
Costner, who was nominated for Best Actor in Dancing with Wolves since 1990 and won Best Picture and Best Director, is currently starring in the popular drama Paramount Network Western Yellowstone.
He plays the owner of a massive ranch bordering the iconic national park, as well as an Indian reserve and predatory land builders.
Former nominee: Rosie Perez, who was previously nominated for her role in Fearless vs. Jeff Bridges, was also part of the first group of announced presenters; seen Feb. 28 in New York
Talented band: Chris Rock will provide much-needed comedy for the broadcast, while Youn Yuh-jung is likely to announce one of the supporting categories
Lady Gaga made a lot of noise this year for her role as Patricia Reggini in Ridley Scott’s crime drama House Of Gucci.
Although the film performed well as an adult drama, it received mixed reviews, with several finding the film too tired, while others felt it missed some much-needed camp.
Gaga has been nominated for her performance by other award bodies, but the role is not praised as much as her acclaimed role in A Star Is Born.
Kravitz is expected to have a blockbuster in his hands with this week’s edition of The Batman, in which Robert Pattinson plays the eponymous fighter with the cloak crime.
She appears in a noir-influenced film about a superhero like Selina Kyle, better known as the Catwoman.
Revival of Television: Costner, who was nominated for Best Actor in Dancing with Wolves since 1990 and won Best Picture and Best Director, is currently starring in the popular Paramount Network Western drama Yellowstone
Missed: Lady Gaga made a lot of noise this year for her role as Patricia Reggini in Ridley Scott’s crime drama House Of Gucci. Although the film performed well as an adult drama, it received mixed reviews, with several finding the film too tired, while others felt it missed some much-needed camp; seen with Adam Driver
Blockbuster: Kravitz is expected to have a blockbuster in his hands with this week’s release of The Batman, in which Robert Pattinson plays the eponymous fighter against cloak crime. She appears in a noir-influenced film about a superhero like Selina Kyle, better known as the Catwoman.
Perez is a former Oscar nominee for his supporting role in “Fearless” against Jeff Bridges, and recently appeared in the well-received superhero film “Birds of Prey.”
Chris Rock’s last big role was in the sequel to Saw Spiral and he will probably add a comedy suitable for the audience to the broadcast.
Ian, who is well known in South Korea, won an upset victory for Best Supporting Actress last year among a high-profile group of nominees, including Olivia Coleman, Glenn Close and Amanda Seyfried.
She starred in the film as the mother of a Korean immigrant who dreams of starting his own farm after being forced to work in low-paid agricultural jobs after moving to the United States.
Superhero Transition: He recently appeared in the well-received superhero movie Birds Of Prey
Left Field Choice: Chris Rock’s last big role was in the horror film Spiral, a sequel to the Saw franchise
American breakthrough: Young stars in Minari as the mother of a Korean immigrant who dreams of starting his own farm after being forced to work in low-paid agricultural jobs after moving to the United States
The Oscars can hope that viewers will ignore the controversial changes in the show by announcing the hosts.
The Hollywood reporter wrote on Tuesday that the show will remove eight categories from the live show and instead present them in advance.
Reception speeches will be recorded, but only the “most powerful and emotional moments” of the speeches will be included, which raises the question of whether speeches that do not include any particularly “emotional moments” will simply be eliminated from broadcasting all together.
These winners are also unlikely to make the main stars who attend the Oscars see their victories, as the ABC makes them arrive later in a distributed way to cover the red carpet.
Excerpts from the reception speech will be shown on monitors in the theater.
The academy is reportedly making the changes – which sparked a storm of angry social media posts – at the behest of ABC.
The Yellowstone series is only available for Condition in Australia.
Cut: The Oscars remove eight categories from the TV show and broadcast only the “most powerful and emotional moments” of those speeches on the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter; The Oscars watched in 2020