Getting in some shmooze moves at awards time
For a film and TV nerd, this is a fantasy come true. That’s what I was thinking last week, when I was invited to a special lunch where I got to chat with Leonardo DiCaprio, dine with NBC late-night host Seth Myers and rub shoulders with Martin Scorsese.
I also had a front-row seat to watch as one A-lister after another paid homage to Will Forte. Only two years ago he was on “Saturday Night Live.” Now he’s sitting at my table — and he’s got a chance at snagging an Oscar for his role in “Nebraska.”
“It’s nerve-racking,” Forte says over lunch, speaking about all the fawning attention.
Rob Reiner shambles up to Forte to praise him for his intimate portrayal of a son who road-trips with his addled father (Bruce Dern). In the movie, the stubborn old crank is convinced, after receiving an obvious mail-scam letter, that he’s won a $1 million sweepstakes.
“This is something that I’m still not used to,” Forte says meekly.
After Reiner, Richard Gere comes over to our table to praise Forte. Meyers, Forte’s longtime pal and former “SNL” co-star, can only grin and look on proudly. Like an older brother.
“I still can’t believe this,” Meyers mouths at me.
Seated between us is the great character actor Bob Dishy, who I remember vividly from his appearances on “Barney Miller,” “Columbo,” “All in the Family” and more recently “Law and Order: SVU” and “Blue Bloods.”
We talk about how cold it is outside — and how difficult it is to get the waiter’s attention.
I briefly chat with DiCaprio and his “Wolf of Wall Street” costar Jonah Hill. They both talk about how grateful they are to have worked with Scorsese — and how excited they are to attend events like this.
I think they were b.s.-ing about the latter, but just as I was about to press them on this, Cristin Milioti — the mother from “How I Met Your Mother” (and a “Wolf of Wall Street” star — squeezed by. I lost my train of thought.
This sure seems unreal. But it’s really happening — because we are in the heat of awards season. Studios jockeying for Golden Globes, Oscars and a half dozen other trophies believe brief-but-intimate moments with their biggest stars can help impress journalists and award voters.
So there are many such events — more so this year because there are so many good movies out there. Studio execs think that in exchange for face-time with people like DiCaprio or “12 Years a Slave” star Chiwetel Ejiofor, journalists might develop a more positive relationship with the actors. The theory goes: After lunches like this, it’s hard to cook up negative coverage.
Does it work? I’m not sure yet. I’m still waiting for my ride on Leonardo’s yacht.