Cruise top gun at luncheon
For the privileged few embarking on an Oscar campaign, the path to a nomination asks you to hobnob with your competitors who can begin to feel like classmates.
But on Monday afternoon, at a luncheon held in Beverly Hills, Calif. for this year’s Oscar nominees, the arrival of a new student caused quite a stir.
That would be Tom Cruise, nominated this year as a producer of the megahit best picture contender “Top Gun: Maverick.”
He was among the first notable names to walk into the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton. The 60year-old star had sat out both the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards this season, so many of his fellow nominees were encountering him for the first time.
“I love you, I love you, oh, my God!” said “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star Ke Huy Quan, exclaiming, “I want a picture with this man!” Director Guillermo del Toro went over for an embrace, as did nominated actors Brendan Fraser, Angela Bassett and Michelle Williams. Cruise even posed for pictures with Steven Spielberg ,a once-frequent collaborator.
The nominees luncheon is supposed to be an egalitarian affair where big stars and behind-thescenes technicians are on equal footing, but there was no mistaking Cruise as the ballroom’s top dog.
In the schmoozy hour before lunch was served, he was so mobbed by his fellow nominees that he was hardly able to move more than a few feet. “Elvis” star Austin Butler drifted with slow, inexorable determination toward Cruise, who finally pulled the younger man toward him by clamping a hand on his shoulder.
“Top Gun: Maverick” producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who’s better known for making explosive action movies than Oscar fare, said, “It’s my first time at the luncheon. After 50 years in the business, I finally get here.”
Songwriter Diane Warren is back in contention this year for the song “Applause,” from the film “Tell It Like a Woman.” “It’s my favorite day,” Warren said. “No one’s a loser yet, everybody’s a winner.”
Academy President Janet Yang addressed the fallout from the organization’s handling of the Will Smith slap at last year’s ceremony. “It was inadequate,” Yang said. “We learned from this that the academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions, and particularly in times of crisis, we must act swiftly, compassionately and decisively.”
The nominees were then called one by one to the front of the stage, where they would pose together for one massive “class photo.”
The first name announced was Jamie Lee Curtis, who had earned her first Oscar nomination this year for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”