HER OSCARS WIN IS SIMPLY DA’VINE
Randolph is Best Supporting Actress for ‘The Holdovers’ and Downey is Best Supporting Actor for ‘Oppenheimer’
Robert Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph were early winners Sunday at a 2024 Oscars ceremony that started a little late.
Downey won Best Supporting Actor for “Oppenheimer” and Randolph took home Best Supporting Actress for “The Holdovers” at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, punctuating an awards season that saw both stars sweep the major ceremonies.
The win marked the first win out of three career Oscar nominations for Downey, who starred in “Oppenheimer” as Lewis Strauss, an adversary of the film’s titular “father of the atomic bomb.”
Randolph, too, is a first-time winner for her emotional portrayal of a grieving mother in one of 2023’s biggest-surprise and best-reviewed hits.
“For so long, I’ve always wanted to be different,” Randolph said. “And now I realize I just need to be myself. And I thank you. I thank you for seeing me.”
Sunday’s 96th Academy Awards were scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. in Hollywood), marking an hour earlier start time for a ceremony notorious for stretching past three hours. The show started about five minutes late, however, as protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war congregated near the Dolby Theatre, causing traffic and delaying Oscar arrivals.
“The show, as you know, is starting an hour early this year, but don’t worry, it will still end very, very late,” host Jimmy Kimmel quipped during his opening monologue. “In fact, we’re already five minutes over, and I am not joking.”
Kimmel’s opening address also made multiple references to the monthslong screenwriters and actors strikes that halted Hollywood productions last year. He ended his monologue by bringing out behindthe-scenes workers who didn’t cross the picket line, a gesture that earned a standing ovation.
Other early winners included “Anatomy of a Fall,” starring Sandra Huller as a widow seeking exoneration in her husband’s death, for Best Original Screenplay, and “American Fiction,” starring Jeffrey Wright as an author whose attempt to satirize Black stereotypes doesn’t go as expected, for Best Adapted Screenplay.
“Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s spare-no-detail biopic about the complicated creator of the atomic bomb, led all films with 13 nominations. It entered Sunday’s ceremony as the favorite for Best Picture after winning equivalent honors at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, BAFTAs and SAG Awards.
Nolan was also considered a runaway Oscars front-runner for Best Director after wins at the Globes, Critics Choice Awards, BAFTAs and Directors Guild of America Awards. Cillian Murphy, who stars in the epic as the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer, was a favorite for Best Actor following similar awards-season success.
That awards dominance solidified “Oppenheimer” as a rare film to excel with both voters and commercial audiences. “Oppenheimer” grossed nearly $958 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-earning movie of 2023. The year’s top-earning film, “Barbie” ($1.45 billion), came out on the
same day last July as “Oppenheimer,” fueling the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon in which theatergoers committed to double features of the polar-opposite movies.
“Barbie,” too, was up for Best Picture at Sunday’s show, though director Greta Gerwig and lead actress Margot Robbie did not receive individual nominations in what many decried as snubs.
“What an achievement to take a plastic doll nobody even liked anymore. … Now, Barbie’s a feminist icon thanks to Greta Gerwig, who many believe deserved to be nominated for Best Director,” Kimmel told the cheering audience. “I know you’re clapping, but you’re the ones who didn’t vote for her.”
“Poor Things,” starring Emma Stone as a Frankenstein-like woman on a journey of self-discovery, finished second with 11 nominations, while Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which depicts the Osage Nation murders that plagued oilrich Oklahoma during the 1920s, followed closely with 10. Both were nominated for Best Picture as well.
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, “Poor Things” won early awards Sunday for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Stone, a 2017 Oscar winner for “La La Land,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” star Lily Gladstone each earned accolades throughout awards season for their performances, making Sunday’s Best Actress the most polarizing category among prognosticators. Momentum shifted slightly to Gladstone following her Best Actress win at last month’s SAG Awards, which are considered a strong Oscars predictor.
“Barbie” received eight nominations, while the Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro” was up for seven, including Best Picture, and Best Actor for Bradley Cooper.
The other Best Picture nominees were “The Holdovers,” “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Past Lives” and “The Zone of Interest.”
The ABC late-night star Kimmel hosted the Oscars for the second year in a row and the fourth time overall. His first hosting gig came in 2017, when presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway infamously announced “La La Land” as the winner of Best Picture instead of the rightful recipient, “Moonlight.”