The Oscar Experience: Lexi Alexander Attends the Nominees Luncheon
I don't have to tell you that the Academy Awards stand tall above all the other awards given for film achievement, maybe even for any artistic achievement, in their overall tradition, professionalism, and commitment to the importance of their awards. Just one of the small examples of how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences really does a classy job in making the nominees feel special is the annual Nominees Luncheon. The Luncheon for the 75th Annual Academy Awards was held this past Monday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Everyone who is nominated for an Oscar this year was invited, and most everybody showed up. The five leading Actress contenders even posed for a wonderful picture with the Oscar 75 statue.
Of course, producer Gil Cates gave his usual spiel about keeping your acceptance speeches short, and even told the nominees "If you pull out a piece of paper and start to read a list, you're done, the music will go up." So they're obviously encouraging everyone to speak from the heart, which always makes for a better speech anyway. Cates also stated to the nominees and to the press that the Academy Awards show will go on, even if we are embroiled in a war in Iraq. He did say that if we go to war "the telecast will reflect that reality both in those parts of the show that we can control and those parts that we can't control -- your acceptance speeches. The show will go on and our purpose remains the same as it has for 75 years -- to celebrate our art form and honor its most accomplished practioneers."
Most of the stars present were asked to comment on the prospect of war and holding a show like the Oscars, and it was good to hear a number of stars saying that they really preferred to keep their politics to themselves, even though Daniel Day-Lewis admitted that it would "seem a bit obscene if we (danced) up a red carpet while people were dying."
Of course the usual "class" photo was taken of all the Oscar nominees, which was followed by the handing out of nomination certificates for everyone nominated.
That's the story of the luncheon that everybody knows ... now it's time to get a more in-depth look as I continue to chronicle the Oscar Experience directly by one of the nominees whose name you may not have heard. In Part 2 of my series interviewing Lexi Alexander and her experiences being nominated and attending the Oscar events, Lexi tells us about Monday's Nominees Luncheon and her preparations for Oscar Night, now just 10 days away. If you recall from my first article a few weeks back, Lexi Alexander is the writer and director of Johnny Flynton, which is one of the five nominees this year for Best Live Action Short Film. My Oscar Experience Series is profiling the complete Oscar experience from nominations to Oscar Night of the people we don't hear as much about.
Latest Articles