OSCAR NOMS’ CLASS PHOTO
Every year, all the Oscar nominees squeeze in together for a class photo.
With over 200 people nominated in 24 categories, it’s hard to recognize the persons in the class portrait. But some of the more familiar faces are seated in the front row. Among them is Matt Damon (sixth from left), nominated for producing Manchester By the Sea.
The Oscar winner is flanked by Emma Stone, nominated for La La Land, to the left and Oscar-winner Natalie Portman (nominated this year for Jackie) to the right.
Justin Timberlake (fifth from right) sits on the other side. He is nominated for Best Original Song for Can’t Stop the Feeling, the soundtrack to the movie
Trolls. To his right is fellow firsttime nominee Ruth Negga for Loving.
While most male nominees kept it formal with a jacket and a tie, Pharrell Williams kept it casual with a green cap and a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) sweatshirt. He stands on the third row, to the left of the Oscar statue. He is nominated for being one of the producers of Hidden Figures.
SPENCER: FROM ACTING TO PRODUCING
Octavia Spencer is up for her second Academy Award this year, but the star of Hidden
Figures said Monday that she has even bigger plans.
“The role I’m destined to play is to be one of the biggest producers in Hollywood,” Spencer said at the 5th annual Makers Conference, a women’s empowerment event sponsored by Verizon.
The actress shared her aspirations during a conversation with Gloria Steinem that kicked off the twoday conference in California.
Spencer received a Supporting Actress Oscar nod for playing Dorothy Vaughn, a black mathematician who worked at Nasa in the crowdpleasing best picture nominee
Hidden Figures. The actress celebrated her nomination earlier Monday at the film academy’s annual Oscar Nominees Luncheon.
Spencer told the Makers crowd Monday night that she wants to continue to tell stories “that haven’t really been told.”
“I want the movies that I produce to show a broader spectrum of people in the world,” she said.
Spencer said she is working on a project about the Jonestown Massacre for HBO and developing a story about pioneering entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker.
The actress won an Oscar for her role in The Help.