LOS ANGELES – If the Oscar acceptance speeches are lame for the global TV audience during the 98th Academy Awards, you can’t say Hollywood stars weren’t warned to prepare.
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences president Lynette Howell Taylor laid out a six-point plan for speech success at the annual Oscars nominees luncheon on Feb. 10 in front of a Beverly Hilton hotel ballroom brimming with awards nominees − including Leonardo DiCaprio (“One Battle After Another”), Timothée Chalamet (“Marty Supreme”), Emma Stone (“Bugonia”) and Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”).
The objective: To put some immortal emotion into the speeches, which will be the soul of the live Oscars telecast on March 15 (ABC and Hulu, 7 p.m. ET/4 PT).
Taylor started by showing a sizzle reel of past unforgettable speeches.
“If you want to be on that reel next year, let’s get down to business,” Taylor said. “Inevitably, some of you in the room will be going home with a shiny gold statue on March 15. We’ve all seen − and maybe some of you have given − some great speeches, and some not-so great speeches.”
Here is Taylor’s speech plan:
Write the speech in advance. “You will not jinx yourself by doing so. Don’t say that you didn’t expect it. You do have a 1 in 5 chance of winning.”
Get to the stage quickly since there are only 45 seconds. The show producers “will play you off. This is not to stress you out. You can still say an awful lot in 45 seconds.”
Make the speech heartfelt and don’t list names. “Think about what [the Oscar] means and try to communicate that.”
Chose one speaker in a group. “Have a single voice.”
Be paperless and no cellphones. “It looks better on TV.”
Don’t lean into the microphone. “It will pick you up no matter where you are.”
Nominees luncheon is the one Oscar event where ‘no one has lost … yet”
Speech preparation is important, but the annual luncheon is a major schmooze-fest for nominees − a key event in which to be seen and even to have fun as everyone celebrates just being nominated.
Latecomer DiCaprio immediately had a lengthy talk with Steven Spielberg in the hotel lobby. Chalamet dove into a group selfie with the songwriters of “Golden,” from “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Songwriter Diane Warren, who has 17 Academy Awards nominations yet has never won a competitive Oscar, had a beaming smile over her nomination for “Dear Me” from the aptly named documentary “Diane Warren: Relentless.”
“I’m not going to call this my first rodeo, because I hate rodeos,” Warren tells USA TODAY. “But this my absolute favorite event of the awards season. Because no one has lost … yet. Check in with me in a month.”
Even the biggest stars wear magnetic name tags and are seated at random tables with varied industry members. USA TODAY drew lucky table 10 (literally a piece of paper from a glass jar) to be seated with Academy governor Rita Wilson, “Frankenstein” star Jacob Elordi (charming and taller even when sitting), “Song Sung Blue” star Kate Hudson (stunning) and “Bugonia” producer Ed Guiney.
‘Sinners’ star Delroy Lindo starts off the class photo
The crowning event of the luncheon is the annual class photo, where each nominee is called to stand on ballroom stage. “Sinners” star Delroy Lindo was the first called, followed shortly after by “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” star Rose Byrne, who was one of the many to navigate the steps in heels.
Each nominee received loud applause, mostly from “Frankenstein” director Guillermo del Toro, who pounded the table and found different shout-outs for each. “One Battle After Another” star Teyana Taylor was the last to take the stage.
Before the class photo was taken, Del Toro gave a final exhortation to his classmates to smile: Say “Tamales!”