Jonathan Ross is back hosting Oscars Live for ITV - and he’s planning to break out the Wensleydale if Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl wins.
Aardman Creations’ cheesy caper, which premiered on BBC One on Christmas Day, has been nominated in the Best Animated Feature Film category at the 97th Oscars ceremony and Jonathan Ross couldn't be more thrilled.
“I'm so excited and pleased to see Wallace & Gromit get nominated because those films are masterpieces,” the presenter, 64, says, though he’s realistic about its chances against another animated film.
“It's just unfortunate for them that they're in a year where there's another animated film, which is as good if not better than any other one made, which is Inside Out 2.”
The Pixar coming-of-age story grossed £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) worldwide, making it a strong contender for Best Animated Feature. "It has amazing scripting, amazing emotional connection," Jonathan adds. "So I suspect that's going to be the win on the night, but it's so heartening to see a Aardman getting nominated."
However, the Aardman film - the sixth of the Wallace and Gromit series - is not Britain’s only hope of a gold gong: Cynthia Erivo is nominated for Best Actress for her role in Wicked; Ralph Fiennes is up for Best Actor for Conclave; Felicity Jones is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Brutalist; Sir Elton John’s song Never Too Late is nominated for Best Original Song and British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s film Santosh is nominated for International Feature Film.
Earlier this February, Wallace and Gromit creators Merlin Crossingham and Nick Park scored two BAFTA awards for their latest creation. One for Best Animated Film and the other for Best Children's and Family Film - but will they meet the same success at the Oscars?
For the second year running, Jonathan Ross takes the reins of ITV’s coverage of the Oscars ceremony on March 2, while Conan O’Brien hosts the Oscars in the US for the first time. Jonathan is confident Conan will nail it.
“He'll be great,” Jonathan says. “His humour is funny and he's evolved.” But he warns the American chat show host not to follow in David Letterman’s footsteps, whose hosting style was vehemently slated after his performance at the Oscars back in 1995.
“It didn't go down that well with the crowd because he took his late night persona onto the show and it wasn't a comfortable fit,” Jonathan says. “Whereas Conan is much more adept at adapting.”
Jonathan has big plans for the night’s entertainment, promising engaging breakdowns. “We’re going to provide really entertaining and engaging packages about each movie so that you're aware of the film, its talking points and aware of what we think of the film, as well as what you might think at home,” he teases. “Hopefully it will feel more like an accessible and fun event than last year, though last year was fun.”
Though he’ll start the evening at 10.30pm, Jonathan will have to wait for presenter Ross King to provide live red carpet coverage at midnight before the night truly begins. And he’s keen to see the polished stars in action.
“I'm excited as well that ITV are giving everyone more chances to see the red carpet action, because we all love seeing people arrive,” he says, “it will feel like even more of a big, fun showbiz event than last year.”
When it comes to Best Picture, however, Jonathan has his eye on Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist and Emilia Perez. “I hope it goes to The Brutalist,” he says.
While he praises director Jacques Audiard’s work, Jonathan doubts the critically-acclaimed French director will pick up the prestigious award, particularly as he contends for Best Picture against Edward Berger’s papal thriller Conclave.
“Jacques Audiard is a great director. I love his other movies, Rust and Bone is tremendous, and A Prophet was extraordinary,” Jonathan says. As for the satirical horror The Substance, fronted by Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, Jonathan says he “loved” the film,” but he doesn’t expect it to earn the Best Picture award.
“It's no one's idea of Best Picture,” he says. The Substance is nonetheless shortlisted for five categories, including Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Original Screenplay, while filmmaker Coralie Fargeat is running for the Best Director award alongside Jacques, Brady, Sean Baker (Anora) and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown).
Jonathan says he’ll be satisfied, whatever the outcome. “One of the reasons that makes the night so much fun is, it's all subjective,” he says. “My opinion is valid, but it's just an opinion. Your opinion is equally valid.”
And he’s just as invested in the night as viewers are: “I could not be more excited! It is the biggest night in the film calendar and film is one of the two or three biggest passions in my life,” he says. “The other two, if you're interested, are food and comic books!”
After four decades of mingling with stars both at events and on his eponymous Saturday night talk show, Jonathan’s star-struck days are far behind him.
“I was starstruck by David Bowie the first time I met him,” he remembers. “David Lynch, I met him early in his career before many people were fans. But I'd always been an admirer of his.” He adds: “But I don’t get starstruck so much anymore. I just hope they're going to be nice people and easy to work with.”
The Oscars are taking place later than usual this year after wildfires ravaged 14,000 homes in Los Angeles. However, Jonathan Ross is determined not to let the tragedy overshadow Hollywood’s most important night of the year.
“It’ll be fascinating to see how they deal with California’s recent problems,” he says. “I’m sure there’ll be mentions. But really, I'm there to watch the show as much as anyone else is. The show is the main attraction.”
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